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Demand for country of origin food labels is growing after a major food retailer said it would introduce them labels because of customer pressure.
Foodstuffs NZ hopes to have the new labelling policy fully implemented by December for its stores nationwide. It will apply to fruit, vegetables, meat and seafood sold in Pak 'N Save, New World, Write Price, Shoprite supermarkets and Four Square stores. It will not apply to processed foods, which often have more than one ingredient.
Foodstuffs executive manager Melissa Hodd said the policy was customer-driven, and not a food safety issue.
It comes after a Green Party petition called for mandatory country of origin labelling for foods with one main component.
Food safety spokeswoman Sue Kedgley hailed the Foodstuffs move as a "victory for consumers" and has challenged other food retailers - including Progressive Enterprises - to do the same.
"Clearly there was a bit of a consumer backlash when people realised how much food is being imported. I challenge all retailers to follow suit.
"Consumers want to know for a variety of reasons so they can support local businesses, and avoid food from countries with a poor food safety record."
Progressive Enterprises - which runs Foodtown, Woolworths and Countdown supermarkets - has a policy of using country of origin labels on fresh fruit and vegetables imports.
It has no plans for now to spread the policy to meat and seafood.
The Government has rejected calls for mandatory country of origin labelling for food, saying it is not an issue of safety. Such issues are at present managed by the NZ Food Safety Authority.
Ms Kedgley said where food was made was a safety issue, in light of recent scandals involving China.
In April the United States rejected 137 shipments of food from China because of banned chemicals and organisms such as salmonella.
In California, health officials issued a warning not to eat ginger from China because it might contain a pesticide.
Importers Institute secretary Daniel Silva said the amount and range of imported foods had risen sharply in recent years, with the major surge being in foods from parts of Asia.
Imported goods from China rose from just under $2 billion worth in 2000 to a shade under $5 billion last year, with big leaps in fish and vegetable imports.
Ms Kedgley said the issue was becoming more important as New Zealand's reliance on imported foods continued to grow.
"I'm still pushing for regulation. There are a lot of grocers around New Zealand and there's always a temptation to not label things if it's not to their benefit."
The Foodstuffs announcement follows Sanitarium's decision, after consumer inquiries, to reinstate its Australia-made products, which it had stopped making after moving production to China last year.
The company said its China-made products were safe, but that it wanted to give consumers who favoured produce made closer to home a choice.
Ms Hodd said Foodstuffs would work with suppliers over the next few weeks on the best way to implement the policy.
Import figures
Meat: $92.6 million in 2000, $136.9 million in 2006.
Fish: $52.4 million in 2000, $69.8 million in 2006.
Vegetables: $59.1 million in 2000, $90.3 million in 2006.
Fruit and nuts: $198.9 million in 2000, $264.6 million in 2006.
From China
Fish: $3 million in 2000, $19.6 million in 2006.
Vegetables: $3.2 million in 2000, $14.1 million in 2006.
(source: Statistics NZ).
