Covid-19 coronavirus: New Image lifts production amid soaring demand for dairy-based health foods

Māngere-based New Image says sales have lifted in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Photo / Supplied

Specialised dairy and nutritional products company New Image says it has increased production by 50 per cent in response to higher demand resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic.

The company, which delisted from the NZX in 2013 when founder-chairman Graeme Clegg took it private, said there had been a 75 per cent increase in demand through its direct selling channel over the past few months.

New Image Group exports nutritional products, colostrum supplements, infant formula products and a range of consumer-ready milk powders throughout China, Hong Kong and South East Asia and Africa.

The company said in a statement that it had just entered the Egyptian market and planned to expand into Chile, the United Kingdom and Europe.

Clegg said the group had a "blended" business model comprising science and research, manufacturing expertise and three channels of distribution: traditional brand marketing, online and direct sales.

New Image, which specialises in colostrum-based health products, is ranked at 33rd in the Direct Selling News Top 100, behind the likes of Amway and Avon.

Chris Macbeth, chief executive of New Image's marketing unit, NIG Nutritionals, said the company had partnered with local freight forwarders to fly the equivalent of two 787 Dreamliner loads of products to China.

New Image is headquartered in Māngere Bridge and has multimillion-dollar manufacturing, packaging and warehousing facilities, including a $50 million spray drier and plant for infant formula at Paerata, south of Auckland.

The company claims colostrum - the first milk produced by mammals - has been shown to effectively support the body's immune system response.