How Kiwi farmers are meeting global demand for sustainable meat.

The Markets is a monthly segment on The Country where a guest takes a closer look at the red meat export markets. Recently Rowena Duncum spoke with Mark Tanner, the founder and managing director of Shanghai-based China Skinny, a marketing, research and digital agency, in a two-part interview on what the Chinese market means for New Zealand’s exporters. Meanwhile, Jamie Mackay caught up with Gavin Hodgson, Sainsbury’s director of agriculture, aquaculture, and horticulture, to learn more about the UK supermarket chain’s ambitious goal to become a net zero business by 2035. He also spoke with Silver Fern Farms’ chief executive Dan Boulton about opportunities in sustainability.

Mark Tanner (part one)

New Zealander Mark Tanner is the founder and managing director of China Skinny, a marketing, research and digital agency based in Shanghai, he talked to Rowena Duncum about opportunities for Kiwi exporters in China.

Tanner said China was a huge market where New Zealand had a unique advantage over other countries.

“Chinese love New Zealand and New Zealand products, whereas living in North America, I found a lot of North Americans don’t even know where New Zealand is.”

Also in this interview: Tanner discusses which market could be “the next China” and how Chinese consumers are becoming more discerning.

Mark Tanner (part two)

While New Zealand products were well-loved in China, Tanner said exporters still needed to stand out to gain cut-through in the market.

As China had almost 100 cities with over one million people, Tanner advised against trying to be “everything to everyone”.

He said it was important to understand the country and its culture.

“All of these cities are not the same – a lot of people come into China, and they localise and think it’s just one homogenous market, but it can be incredibly diverse across the different climate zones and the different food tastes and lifestyles.”

Also is this interview: Tanner talked about technology and its influence on how consumers purchase food.

Gavin Hodgson

Sainsbury’s director of agriculture, aquaculture and horticulture Gavin Hodgson caught up with Jamie Mackay to talk about how the UK supermarket chain plans to become a net zero business by 2035.

Hodgson’s honest answer was that the company didn’t yet know how to achieve this ambitious target in the next 11 years, but it was an opportunity to take stock of the current situation.

“The bit that we can work on today is where we are and then start to build up where we think we can get to, and then what choices we need to make between now and then.”

As for New Zealand, Hodgson said Sainsbury’s targets would create great opportunities for those willing to do things differently.

Mackay pointed out that Kiwi sheep and beef farmers were the cleanest, greenest, and lowest emission producers in the world.

Hodgson, who has over 20 years’ experience in the agricultural industry, said this was the advantage New Zealand had over other countries.

“I would say that whenever I come here, I am genuinely really impressed with how this country and the agricultural sector and everybody within it organises themselves to show where they are, show what they’re working on, and show what their priorities are and where they’re going to be in the future.

“I think you do have an advantage, in the fact that you understand more about where you are as a country versus some other areas where we may source product from, and that gives you a leading edge in the conversation today, and that should give you a platform for moving forward at a great pace.”

Also in this interview: Hodgson discusses who should set climate change targets, and how to sell nature-positive products to customers on a post-pandemic budget.

Dan Boulton

The chief executive of Silver Fern Farms spoke to Jamie Mackay in December to address criticism that a commitment to sustainability meant the company was going “woke and broke”.

Boulton told Mackay he believed Silver Fern Farms could attain meaningful premiums from low-emissions meat.

“We’re seeing some really strong drivers coming through from our high-value customers…and what we’re seeing is…they have set some pretty ambitious sustainability targets, and I can tell you they’re moving at pace to achieve them…and they’re wanting to work with companies like Silver Fern Farms to help solve those.”

Boulton used Sainsbury’s as an example, saying the UK supermarket chain had £1 billion put aside to invest in their supply chain to achieve net zero by 2035.

“So, there’s huge opportunities to unlock some of that.”

Boulton said Silver Fern Farms’ leadership position in sustainability was attracting deeper partnership offers from customers in key markets, to help them attain their own sustainability targets.

“I think that’s an excellent outcome for farmers and something that’s worth celebrating versus fighting.”

Also in this interview: Boulton talked about sustainability in the Chinese market, why New Zealand still needed to reduce methane emissions, the threat of pine trees to the red meat industry, and whether good lamb prices would continue in 2025.