Photo: KPMG
KPMG's global head of agribusiness, Ian Proudfoot, has five topics on his mind: new food protein choices, large multi-national companies swallowing up small companies, Biosecurity issues in New Zealand, farmer resilience, and Mount Albert Grammar School's farm.
Proudfoot says the recent announcement by a major US meat processor that it is "protein agnostic", is a wake up call for New Zealand meat companies, and the move away from all meat based protein is happening quickly and permanently.
He says Tyson Foods, the world's second largest processor of chicken, beef and pork, is investing heavily in non meat protein.
This company is now saying it doesn't matter where the protein comes from, it just wants to provide it to enhance people's lives, and as a result it's invested in Memphis Meats that provides plant based meats.
Traditional meat is not being ignored, but it's "improving the story" it tells around meat in terms of its sustainability and animal welfare, he says.
Proudfoot believes one CEO of an Italian company got it right this month when he said "'What we're seeing is not a fad, it's a substantive shift in the way people are thinking about food', and we need do to be open to those changes."
Proudfoot also says New Zealand food producing companies need to think about how they can deliver their products for individual consumers now that there is a trend for large multi-national companies like Nestle to invest in small food businesses.
Normally these firms would only invest in companies turning over billions, now they're interested in companies turning over tens of millions.
"And the reason they're looking for these entities is they're trying to find the innovation and they've recognised the size of their organisations is just too big to innovate quickly enough to meet the needs for consumers.
"They're trying to do that through aquisition and buying up some really interesting start-up businesses and buying them at a very early stage....they're really focused on how they can deliver a portfolio of products that are all about functional foods, health and nutrition, and much less about just trying to provide one solution fits everybody."
He also also has a personal interest in the Mount Albert Grammar School farm which is gearing up to provide 25,000 Auckland school children a year, with a primary industry experience from forestry and fishing, to agriculture and horticulture.
The farm has just received a $250,000 grant to employ an experienced centre development manager, a "flagship leader for the project", which will include a purpose built facility which should be completed by 2020.
"We're looking for a super star.... the best person in New Zealand to really build a strong relationship between Auckland and the primary sector," he says.
For more information on the Mt Albert Grammar School farm job click here.
