Green means go for picky buyers

By ELLEN READ

New Zealand companies wanting to export would do well to heed Kea's environmental and sustainable practices.

A study being issued today at the Employers and Manufacturers' Association Go Global conference shows that being green is worth it.

"It certainly is for those companies exporting primary products and trying to get into European, US and Japanese markets," study author Jo Hume said.

"It's becoming more and more essential that you are looking after the land and looking after your employees."

Most of New Zealand's exports are primary produce, and key markets have an increasing interest in the social and environmental integrity of our products.

For the study, co-sponsored by the Business Council for Sustainable Development, Hume interviewed 29 current or potential customers in Britain, Europe and the US.

She also reviewed the policies of another 15 customers and identified common themes in attitudes towards exports of primary production goods including timber, seafood, meat, dairy and fresh produce.

Her findings show that demand for sustainability is growing, although it comes mainly from retailers and brand owners, not the end customers.

"They are terrified of bad publicity, activists and media campaigns," Hume said.

International companies were working to build "trust us" into their brands and taking steps to avoid the enormous brand damage that exposes or boycotts can do.

They were implementing rigorous assurance schemes that provide traceability right back to the forest or farm gate.

The combined turnover of the companies Hume studied is $1.2 trillion.

"Walmart is in there and they're not moving on this yet," she said. "Their view is that their customers don't give a toss. So long as the price is right, inequality is okay.

"But they're watching the world change around them, and it's only a matter of time before they have to start asking questions about the stuff they sell."

Another study subject, Tesco, had more than 25 per cent of the British grocery market and an annual turnover of around $73 billion. It was demanding more and more in terms of the environmental and social integrity of the produce it sold, Hume said.

"The key message is that it's crucial for New Zealand exporters, particularly in the primary production area, to know that their customers are starting to think about, and in some cases demand, some sustainability performance," Hume said.

She said staying GM free was also vital to continued export success.

"I didn't even ask that question and people were saying to me, 'You'd be mad to introduce GM because you're an isolated island country so you could stay GM free'."