Imports ease hunger for taste of home

By ELLEN READ

The British have some strange habits - they like their peas mushy and their beer warm.

An Auckland man has turned this to his advantage, running an importing business that caters for homesick - and hungry - expats as well as New Zealanders hankering for a taste of the old country.

Bruce Bathurst's company, Interlink, imports about 40 6m containers of food and drink a year from Britain. In the first three months of this year, the value of these imports was about $15 million.

The company supplies supermarket and retail chains and also acts as a broker for grocery wholesalers.

Brands it imports include Bovril drinks, Ambrosia rice and Harrington's chocolates.

Interlink has seven New Zealand employees and several agents.

Its small size is not a problem in sourcing and ordering the items - the company is hooked into the trade promotion services provided by the British consulate-general in Auckland - but the fact that many of its suppliers in Britain are cottage industries does cause a few headaches.

Bathurst said one local supermarket operator, Progressive Enterprises, required an additional payment to display and sell the imported goods.

This might be several thousand dollars, which some of Interlink's small British customers could not afford.

"This is where you run into trouble being a small company. The companies we deal with in Britain might be small themselves so they just don't have the money for promotion," he said.

"Some supermarkets want promotional money. They already work on a 30 per cent markup but they also want co-op fees three times a year, which could be up to $2000 a time."

Bathurst said this meant the supermarkets did not stock the products, which meant less choice for shoppers.

"They are not doing their customers any great favours."

Another hurdle is New Zealand's new legislation on food labelling, which is more prescriptive than some other countries.

Bathurst said small British firms simply could not afford to do a special run of labels just to fill a minor order from New Zealand.

If the company already exported to Australia, which had similar requirements, then new labels could be feasible, he said.

The fluctuating New Zealand dollar also made life difficult, he said.

"Our exchange rate with the pound isn't that great but it's more the lack of stability, so people can't plan."

The quantities traded are often not enough to make currency hedging worthwhile.

It is not all bad news, though. Bathurst travels to food shows around the world and is also visited by trade missions organised by the consulate-general.

"That's really important that the UK companies come out here and see the environment. Then they understand it more," he said.

Also, on a per capita basis, New Zealanders eat and drink a lot of British products, and the range available is expanding.

For example, the consulate-general is showcasing a whole range of new products at the National Hospitality Show for the trade this weekend.

A survey done by the consulate at a hospitality trade show in New Zealand this year showed British food and beverages are definitely on the menu.

Almost 70 per cent of the 200 visitors to the consulate-general stall said they bought British products in New Zealand and could specify at least one brand.

Almost half of all the participants said they bought British products because of quality and familiarity, but many bought simply through brand loyalty.

Visitors were also asked if they had any favourites not available in New Zealand. Replies included Jaffa Cakes, Walkers Crisps and Penguin and Club biscuits.

Trade Partners UK