Counterfeiting forces Wattie's hand

Wattie's-branded frozen vegetables are being launched in China. Photo / File

Chinese counterfeiting of Wattie's produce has persuaded the company to launch the brand in China.

Heinz Wattie's managing director Mike Pretty said the company was "in the throes" of launching a range of frozen vegetables in China under the Wattie's brand, with the vegetables sourced from its Canterbury operation.

Answering criticism that Heinz Wattie's had not capitalised on New Zealand's overseas reputation for quality and safety by using the Wattie's brand, Mr Pretty said Wattie's frozen vegetables were "quite big business" in the Middle East, South Africa and across Asia.

"We are the brand leader in frozen vegetables in Kuwait," he said. "I know from my experience of marketing Wattie's products in many countries it is a brand that has a reputation - we think it is a brand that travels.

"Trade and Enterprise are doing a great job of promoting New Zealand. Certainly in China we have seen rip-offs of our brand, which says to us there is an equity that we should be capitalising on."

Wattie's exports nearly two-thirds of its New Zealand produce and is one of Hawke's Bay's biggest employers.

This year, Wattie's was named the country's most influential brand in the packaged-goods category, beating off heavyweights such as Sanitarium, Cadbury and home-grown Whittaker's. Judging factors were: leading edge, trustworthiness, engagement, citizenship and presence. Wattie's was founded in Hawke's Bay in 1934, supplying pulped fruit for jam.

In 1992, US-based Heinz purchased Wattie's from Goodman Fielder and expanded into the disused freezing works at Tomoana in Hastings.

Global giant Heinz, which sells more than 650 million bottles of tomato sauce a year, was bought by investor Warren Buffett and Brazilian firm 3G Capital in 2013 for $34 billion.

And 3G lived up to its reputation for swift lay-offs with hundreds of jobs shed across New Zealand and Australia.

Last week, the merger of Heinz with Kraft was finalised, creating the fifth largest food-and-beverage company in the world. Mr Pretty was in Hawke's Bay recently meeting growers to help organise lobbying against a proposed relaxation of anti-dumping measures.