“We feel the New Zealand brand resonates really well with consumers up here. The grass-fed system has also put us at a really high pedestal - it’s even considered higher than organic in terms of quality.”
Getting into the US market is a huge opportunity for the company because the market was developed and growing, he said.
“It’s far bigger than people would realise. The USA imports around 25-30 million kilos of premium sheep cheese annually. That’s a market that’s very stable and and growing.
“It’s also not being particularly well-serviced by Europe - they have struggled to keep up with sheep milk volumes - so there’s a really amazing opportunity for us to come in here and build a major growth platform.”
Hammond said the first commercial volumes of New Zealand produced sheep milk cheese will go into US speciality stores later in the year.
- RNZ
