The return of health and food safety to front of mind in China could bode well for New Zealand-farmed venison.
A recent food scandal in China involving cooking oil transported in uncleaned gas tankers has revived long-standing concerns about food safety among Chinese consumers.
The scandal could result in a renewed hyper-awareness of food traceability and quality assurance among Chinese consumers, according to one Kiwi with local knowledge of China.
Mark Tanner runs China Skinny, a consumers insights firm based in Shanghai, from between China and Wellington.
In a newsletter following the scandal, Tanner wrote that interest in foreign brands and products is likely to increase, with organic and natural foods continuing their climb in popularity.
Tanner said potentially consumers will pay close attention to ingredients, as well as country of origin, and that brands with traceability technology built into their products would likely benefit.
As with other food scandals, Tanner predicted home cooking could see an increase in popularity.
All this, he said, could bode well for NZ venison, a product pitched as restaurant quality but available at home, that is a natural superfood due to high protein and iron, underpinned by company quality assurance and government regulations.
“During the pandemic and previous scandals, when there was an inherent uncertainty around the safety of food, we have seen Chinese consumers and retailers placing more emphasis on traceability and other ways to assure that the food they are considering will not make them sick, or worse,” Tanner said.
“This means targeting the wealthier populations in top-tier cities such as Beijing, Shanghai and the southern tech hub of Shenzhen where these are consumers who are very online, hyper educated, and who take health, and to a lesser degree sustainability, more seriously than the general populace.”
With the China Health Policy 2030 using diet as one of its pillars for improved national health, a shift away from the traditionally preferred pork to leaner meats with higher protein is a shift that has the potential to greatly impact dietary habits.
“Health is generally in the top one to two drivers for food choices in China, with its importance accelerating since 2020.
“In addition to clean ingredients, low salt, low sugar and low fat, food safety is intrinsically linked to Chinese consumers’ perception of healthy food.
“This is where the systems that NZ has in place, right the way from the National Animal Identification and Tracing (NAIT) programme to the deer industry’s own VelTrak for velvet traceability to the opt-in NZ Farm Assurance Programme (NZFAP) can ease the minds of both regulators and consumers, not just China but in all of our overseas markets.
“There is considerable potential for both NZ venison and velvet, even more so if the quality assurance bona fides come along for the ride,” Tanner said.
Meanwhile venison companies are actively negotiating with their European customers for the 2024 new season chilled contracts and are starting to secure contracts that are slightly higher prices than last year.
The latest DINZ e-News reports Silver Fern Farms (SFF) and First Light Venison offering suppliers contracts with prices around $10.50 a kilogram.
Other marketers are also anticipating similar prices, though they are still in negotiations.
The companies report European buyers showing reasonable interest, but they remain cautious.
Premium middle cuts are selling well with strong demand, while interest in leg and shoulder meat is weaker, due in part to competition from European domestic wild venison. There is also pressure on co-product prices.
Duncan NZ is focused on lifting market prices “in line with the need to offset rising costs throughout the entire supply chain”.
While its customers do understand price increases are necessary, there is concern that if prices rise too high, “restaurants may take venison off the menu in favour of cheaper protein options”.
While chilled venison is a smaller part of Mountain River Venison’s portfolio, the company is also offering seasonal minimum price contracts slightly up on last year.
Aiming to maintain the farmgate price over the season for its suppliers, Mountain River anticipates more demand than supply this year.
Exporters are also keeping a close eye on the US market where sales are reported as “going well”.
In addition, a recent market visit to China for SFF highlighted softer demand for venison in that region.
Discussions showed the “desire to buy was there, but that pricing was an issue”.
In Focus Podcast: Full Show | 30 August
