New Zealand's fresh-food producers need to be aware customer tastes can change quickly and that global food prices are increasingly volatile, says David Hughes, emeritus professor of food marketing at Imperial College, London. He addressed an invited audience of Bay of Plenty food producers at Zespri International this week.
"We have a great respect for Professor Hughes' in-depth knowledge of our sector," said Zespri CEO Lain Jager.
"Zespri has brought him out to New Zealand before to talk with our growers and staff, and we wanted to extend this invitation to the wider Bay of Plenty food-producing community.
"His wide-ranging and highly engaging presentation gave us the space to stand back from our day-to-day operations, and really look at the global arena we compete in and where it's heading," Mr Jager said.
Professor Hughes told the audience that the bigger the brand, the bigger the risks for the brand owner. Major suppliers of all inputs will carry the "brand integrity torch" for the brand owners, and branded supply chain partnerships will be closer and longer-lasting than commodity supply chains.