Napier business makes a Middle East move, using its long-time relationship with McDonald's

Susan White said Future Products Group remains the only globally approved provider of food display cabinets for McCafé. Photo / Paul Taylor

A Napier company has made a tricky move into the Middle East, courtesy of its ongoing relationship with one of the world's fast food giants.

Future Products Group has now spent 20 years in partnership with McDonald's and has provided food display cases for it in over 40 countries.

The relationship with McDonald's started in New Zealand in 1999.

FPG's global marketing director Susan White said they had to meet the strict requirements demanded by McDonald's and to date FPG remained the only globally approved provider of food display cabinets for McCafé.

"Twenty years on and we are still supplying food display cabinets to McDonald's - right now, we're supplying McDonald's Middle East and Africa," White said.

The move into Middle East comes with its own set of issues with different customs compliances having to be met.

"We've had to learn quite a bit about country-specific customs compliance programmes such as SASO for Saudi Arabia and KUCAS for Kuwait to help make this contract work," White said.

"It's an expensive process for us and it takes time, but we do it because we value the relationship with McDonald's and our solutions approach is a core part of our differentiation strategy."

FPG has also have been actively engaging with McDonald's in Japan and several South American countries.

FPG sales director Paul Campbell said that the partnership model developed over the past 20 years with McDonald's, along with the company's emphasis on quality, had contributed to the significant growth achieved.

"We value the business from all our customers," Campbell said.

"By working closely with them we can design and deliver quality retail solutions to help them to not only sell more, but to get excellent value through the extended life of the equipment."

White said that the company was in the process of expanding the further distribution of their products in to other countries such as Mexico, India and Indonesia and continued to grow the business.

"That it's going to be a busy year is an understatement," White said.

FPG also have food cabinets in both BP NZ and Australia, Foodstuffs and 7-Eleven Australia.