Yoke Har Lee: Local content key to sales strategy

Michael Barker, from Barkers of Geraldine, with a jar of their jam. Photo / Simon Baker

Barker's of Geraldine has strong roots in the South Island town where six generations of the Barker family have lived. It is a name Michael Barker hopes will help sell more jams and preserves as he puts a bit of the family's tradition into every jar.

With 120 full-time staff, the company is the largest employer in Geraldine, a picturesque town southwest of Christchurch.

"My father was the typical No. 8 wire inventor and engineer. That's where we come from - and that's where we are going. That's why we have decided to tell our story on our packaging," Barker says of a move to update the company's brand.

Anthony Barker, who died in 1999, was a man of multiple talents. He learned all his preserving skills from his mother.

The Barkers had been farming since the mid-1800s, and after the family farm was split up, Anthony Barker ended up with a property that was not of an economic size. He turned his inventive mind to developing products.

"My father then started developing wild elderberry wine and developed a very successful cottage industry," says Michael Barker. From elderberry wine, he tried blackcurrant liqueur and even managed to export some of his production.

The ample blackcurrant crop - "the kiwifruit of the South Island" - gave the family another business idea. In the 1980s machines were brought in and unsweetened blackcurrant syrup was made.

"Our blackcurrant syrup remains a leading brand, not to be confused with the Barker-Halls brand which is our competitor," says Barker.

Anthony Barker also invented the Kent log fire, and sold "hundreds of units" before he sold the business to a subsidiary of an oil company.

This story of settlers, the land, and the food they make is a heritage hard to beat. That's the story Barker hopes will lend a bit of magic to his company's products in their competition against colossal brands.

That move to emphasise its local connections has seen Barker's add "of Geraldine" to its name, and launch new-style labels for its products.

Never mind that the company is a David from Geraldine battling the Goliaths - Heinz-Wattie's, Cerebos and others - in the jams, preserves, chutneys and syrups segment on supermarket shelves.

"We are competing against international brands. Our point of difference is we are a family-owned business. Some consumers like to buy a story and we have a wonderful heritage. Our culture is that of a small town. Here you are part of a community. We are different from a suburbia industrial park," Barker says.

Barker's of Geraldine expects to bring in close to $40 million in sales this year. About 1000 tonnes of fruit gets processed at its factory - fresh apricots from central Otago, fresh plums and blackcurrants.

The factory makes nearly 50 products, ranging from jams, sauces, chutneys and pickles for the consumer market, to fruit fillings for bakeries and speciality stores, and other products for food manufacturers. In 2007 Barker's took over the Anathoth brand of jams and pickles and recently it formed a joint venture to make and market the Tandoori Palace brand of Indian sauces, started by Anup and Sadhana Nathu about 18 years ago. "Since we have taken over the Tandoori Palace brand, sales have doubled," says Barker.

As a manufacturer, Barker's of Geraldine's biggest challenge is recreating authentic tastes that resemble homemade products. It tries to avoid overhandling of its fruit. For example, instead of boiling fruit until it caramelises, the fruit is vacuum cooked.

Using flexible manufacturing is also vital because of the wide range of products.

"We may make up to 30 products a day," says Barker. "Everything is designed so things are changeable to deal with batch manufacturing."

He is also mindful of having a vision that is attainable. "Our objective in life is not to be the No 1 brand but to be an exciting flavour maker. We plan to keep innovating to keep our consumers happy."

A big move on the company's part is its commitment to using New Zealand produce as first choice. Another move is implementing country-of-origin labelling, which presents a mammoth challenge.

This country-of-origin policy is prompted by the fact that many consumers in New Zealand are now demanding to know what goes into their food. "There is a huge logistics challenge and cost to it," says Barker, "particularly if something sells well and you haven't got enough."

To meet its needs for New Zealand produce, the company has long-term supply relationships with farmers. Tropical produce such as passionfruit is sourced from Ecuador while boysenberries come from Canada and the United States.

"Our policy is to use New Zealand fruit first and foremost, and to tell people where our fruit comes from," Barker says, adding that the labels for jams, chutney, condiments and sauces will be phased in over the next three months.

A growth area is the development of speciality ingredients including fruit-based fillings, condiments and sauces for food manufacturers, bakeries, caterers and restaurants. Some 20 per cent of its business is in the export of food ingredients to Australia and the Pacific, Barker says.

Despite operating in a recessionary environment, sales have held up. "Our business model - that of creating a point of difference - is working for us. The challenge has been the huge consolidations going on in the industry," Barker says.

Another legacy left by Anthony Barker is the company's independent board, which Michael has kept to provide strong governance.

In future, the company will look towards developing more exports.

For now, the challenge is to tell its story through a jar.

"We strive to make the best product - we don't always get it right, we always keep trying," Barker says. "This culture is special - it is this culture that is living in every jar."