Kapiti looks set to become a big cheese in US

By PHILIPPA STEVENSON

A move by Kapiti Cheese into the lucrative American market has been given a boost by a priceless promotional coup.

Two of the Paraparaumu company's speciality cheeses were given an illustrated, half-page write-up in the prestigious New York Times in August.

New managing director Tim Gibson - formerly Fonterra's director of international trade - said the exposure was the stuff of marketers' dreams.

The promotional value of the short article in the paper's food and wine section probably exceeded Kapiti's annual advertising budget.

As a direct consequence, Kapiti had been approached in recent days by two more US speciality food distributors, Gibson said.

Importantly for Kapiti, among the readers of the New York Times were literally millions of the discerning and affluent consumers the company is targeting.

"The top end of the [American] East Coast food market is entirely consistent with the consumer positioning we've adopted in New Zealand," Gibson said.

Kapiti was only just establishing a beachhead in the US market, where there was now strong interest in the whole New Zealand food brand.

Kapiti made its move after investigating inquiries for its products from the US.

Gibson said the market was at the formative stage "but if the level of inquiry is anything to go by we believe it does have potential, and the repeat orders are starting to come through which is very encouraging".

Stores, such as the monarch of New York delicatessens, Zabars - billed as the world's best deli - were doing their own promotion featuring "the unique proposition of a New Zealand speciality blue cheese", Gibson said.

But given the interest in one of the world's richest markets Kapiti was making it a priority to work on promotional support, he said.

Access to the protected market is difficult, forcing the company to pay high duty and bumping up the price of its cheeses.

The mature cheddar highlighted in the New York Times article is selling at a little under $50 a kilogram while the price of the Kikorangi creamy blue matches that of the top Roqueforts at around $60 per kilogram.

Gibson said Kapiti's New York agent, a New Zealander who has good contacts with food writers, encouraged the interest which led to the August article.

Headlined "Aged Four Years in New Zealand, Then a Little Longer on the Trip", the article by Florence Fabricant described the Kapiti cheddar as deep ivory in colour with a "mild but richly complex flavour, with a firm, slightly crumbly texture".

It went on to describe the triple-cream blue, pictured with the story as being "a tangy, mouth-filling, gently flavoured cow's milk cheese that comes in a fat cylinder" before mentioning where the cheeses sold, and their price.