New Zealand’s 100% pure image has taken a beating in early August.
New Zealand products sell well in China because they are seen as pure and untainted. However, that illusion was shattered at the start of the month: Fonterra, the New Zealand dairy giant, revealed that products including infant formula were potentially contaminated with Clostridium botulinum, a bacterium linked to botulism, which can be fatal.
The scare prompted recalls of some baby formula products and sparked consumer panic in overseas markets, particularly China, the dairy exporter’s biggest market.
Meanwhile, a report emerged from the Ministry for the Environment declaring that the water in 61 percent of New Zealand’s rivers is not safe to swim due to pesticide run off from intensive farming as well as household cleaning products.
So where does that leave New Zealand’s pure image?
In the shit, claimed Britain’s Daily Mail: an imaginative sub-editor turning 100 percent pure into 100 percent manure.
I can’t say I’m surprised that the purity of New Zealand is in question – when I moved here, I was surprised at the poor public transport system and its backward recycling schemes. Everyone has to own a car here and instead of putting money into trains, buses and cycle lanes, the government builds more roads. One reason New Zealand remains relatively untouched is that the population is a mere 4 million. In my opinion, Kiwis are no more environmentally conscious than western Europeans.
Do the recent events tarnish the purity of New Zealand’s wine and other agricultural products?
Hopefully not, but New Zealand wine producers can’t hide under a rock and hope this will go away. Its slogan is “Pure discovery” and with the Fonterra scare and the dirty rivers story going global there may be questions asked.
So I asked Philip Gregan, CEO of the country’s wine marketing body, New Zealand Winegrowers, about the potential fall-out. “We are always concerned about anything that might affect the reputation of New Zealand wine,” he said.
“New Zealand wine’s reputation rests quite strongly on the reputation of New Zealand so they are somewhat inseparable.”
The country’s wineries need to make sure this doesn’t turn to manure for them, and communication is key. It prides itself on its sustainable credentials (whatever that means to the end consumer): by the end of 2012, 94 percent of New Zealand’s total vineyard area was certified sustainable while another 3 to 5 percent operates under other accreditation schemes. It’s also hoped that 20 percent of the country’s producers will have converted to organics by 2020.
At the moment it’s unclear whether or not the wine industry or any other agricultural product will feel some negative effects caused by the Fonterra PR disaster. NZ Winegrowers reports that it has not received any enquiries relating to the integrity of the country’s wines.
There’s one slightly silver-ish lining, if you scrabble around looking for it: the day after the Fonterra scandal emerged, the New Zealand dollar took a hit against other major currencies. It’s regained strength since, but a weaker New Zealand dollar wouldn’t hurt wine exporters!!
