Clean green grass of home a sure winner for NZ food industry

By LIAM DANN

New Zealand is ideally placed to lead the world into a new era of food processing and marketing, says British food technologist Professor Jeya Henry.

Henry, head of food sciences and nutrition at Oxford Brookes University, has been speaking to food industry groups throughout the country as part of a visit sponsored by New Zealand Beef and Lamb.

Henry said consumer power was growing in the food industry.

"The days when the industry could run its course without introspection and dialogue are gone," he said. "It's a new era."

Suddenly food producers were being held accountable on issues such as food safety and nutrition, he said.

"There is an increasing dialogue between scientists, the industry and consumers. The industry has to re-tool itself in a way that it hasn't done in the past because suddenly consumers are able to hold industry accountable for health concerns."

New Zealand was in a unique position to lead the world as food producer because of its relatively traditional production system, he said.

"New Zealand is a remarkable country in terms of the purity of its food," he said. "You have a lamb and beef stock that is eating what it should be eating - grass."

Henry believes the biggest growth markets for New Zealand meat will be developing countries. Beef and lamb consumption in places like China was likely to mirror the growth in demand that had occurred for dairy products as per capita income grew, he said.

"New Zealand's key advantage will be to retain its primary food production using raw ingredients rather than feeds."

The food safety fears generated by the BSE scare were starting to wane in Europe, he said. It had provided a good lesson: "We shouldn't be tampering with our feed stock,"

New Zealanders needed to appreciate that they were living in an unusual society in terms of food production.

Much of the economy remained focused on food production but the country was also in the fast lane in terms of technology, he said.

"So how you marry those two is quite exciting,"

Henry said he had been impressed by the quality and variety of food in New Zealand.

"What I'm really here for is to get people thinking about food, to think about what a wealth of fantastic food this country has and get some discussion going about nutrition and food."