More Singapore consumers digging New Zealand products

SINGAPORE — Singaporean consumers are changing, with more becoming increasingly discerning about what they put in their mouths and preferring, more often than not, the healthier option. This is observed by New Zealand Trade Commissioner Tony Robinson, who is in town for the annual Taste New Zealand fair that is jointly organised by New Zealand Trade and Enterprise and Cold Storage.

In the past, people will buy products that taste great without thinking too much about the nutritional content, noted Robinson. “Now, consumers are looking at healthier alternatives and more will go for natural ingredients with no artificial flavours, preservative or colours”.

To that end, New Zealand’s products fit into these changing preferences. “Many products from New Zealand are made from natural ingredients and make it simple for consumers to understand the nutritional content with clear product labelling,” added Robinson.

Winstone Chee, Fresh Food Director of Cold Storage, said that he has also observed more consumers becoming health-conscious and opting for foods that “have added nutritional benefits”.

“At Cold Storage, we have seen an increase in the demand for agricultural products from New Zealand, such as apples and seasonal stone fruits. Some of the other products that consumers are buying more of are the wines, healthy snacks and dairy products such as cheese from New Zealand,” he shared.

Pointing out that Singapore is an extremely important market to New Zealand, Robinson said that the country is currently one of the largest importers in Southeast Asia of food and beverage from New Zealand, with imports valued at S$538 million for the year 2015.

Dairy products, he shared, make up 57 per cent of the value of food and beverage imported from New Zealand to Singapore. And products that are “showing fantastic growth” include vegetables, which are up 38 per cent compared to last year, eggs, which increased by 30 per cent, and honey, which increased by 25 per cent, he added.

Consumers don’t have to worry about food contamination, with New Zealand’s stringent food safety standards and biosecurity measures in place.

Robinson said food factories are required to supply formal documentation about how food safety risks are managed, and this process is inspected by the country’s Ministry for Primary Industries’ (MPI) approved inspectors. Scientific testing of food samples is carried out by companies that process dairy, meat and other food products and also independently by the ministry, he noted, adding that the MPI undertakes more than one million scientific tests each year.

Meanwhile, at this year’s Taste New Zealand fair, consumers get to sample new products such as Cowell’s pavlova, Whitestone artisan cheese, The Collective Dairy Doughnut Yoghurt, frozen cheese cake from The Dollop Co, lamb and venison from Silver Fern Farm, Heartland Potato Chips, and Vogel’s Cafe Style muesli. A total of 457 products are available at Taste New Zealand this year, of which 54 are new products.

The event serves as a “perfect test-bed” to bring in new products, said Dan Leonard, Operations Director of Cold Storage, adding that the aim is to eventually sell them in their stores long term.

“Our purpose is to help New Zealand businesses grow bigger, better, faster in international markets like Singapore,” added Robinson. “New Zealand Trade and Enterprise works closely with retailers and distributors in Singapore like Cold Storage to bring the best products from New Zealand to Singaporean consumers.”

Taste New Zealand is running until this Sunday (May 29) at Plaza Singapura Atrium.