Value added by primary exporters

By LIAM DANN primary industries editor

Nearly half of New Zealand's primary sector exports are now "added- value" products.

The findings of a new study by Massey University Institute of Food, Nutrition and Human Health challenge the traditional belief that our primary industries are bulk commodity traders, says Professor Ray Winger.

Initiated by New Zealand Trade and Enterprise (NZTE), the study found that 46 per cent of the country's $16 billion food and beverage export trade is in added-value products.

By industry sector, cereal products and seafood had the highest proportion of added-value exports: 91 per cent and 72 per cent respectively.

But our biggest export sectors - meat and dairy - also showed they were now dynamic and innovative industries, Winger said.

Meat exporters earned 51 per cent of their total returns from added-value products. In the dairy sector 35 per cent of exports were added-value.

NZTE food and beverage strategy director Peter Bull said the study showed much room for improvement but the key findings were encouraging. They dispelled the notion that New Zealand was a nation of commodity traders, he said.

"It indicates that there are a significant number of New Zealand food and beverage firms already exporting added-value products and reducing the risks inherent in a primary processing commodity driven economy," Bull said.

NZTE was committed to encouraging accelerated growth in the added-value area, he said.

One of the goals of this study - the first in a series on the food and beverage sector - was to identify opportunities, he said.

As the study was the first of its kind, it was too early to to identify meaningful trends, the study's authors concluded.

They said it would be useful to compare the results against those of other food-exporting countries.