"New Zealand needs to prepare for changing eating trends"
“Functional, nutritious, convenient food is not just sought after but it is expected as we become educated and aware of the growing consequence of health,” the report says. The health properties of fresh fruit and vegetables are being increasingly demanded, but not as traditionally presented. Ready-to-eat, conveniently packaged food, such as Leaderbrand’s baby beets, will progressively become the norm.
The changes will not stop there. Meat being replaced by plant-based proteins will have a massive effect on agriculture and horticulture. Reliance on animal proteins will progressively reduce, in part with a reduction in the number of animals being farmed, so that countries such as New Zealand can meet their Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) targets. The move to plants as the main source of our food in developed countries will become more pronounced. KPMG notes that positioning plant proteins as “clean food” rather than “synthetic food” is a master stroke, and that substitution will occur as people swap animal proteins - increasingly expensive due to less intensive animal farming - for cheaper plant proteins.
Consumers’ focus on sustainability, and the environmental effects from how their food is grown, will influence their purchasing decisions. KPMG observes that, increasingly, customers are looking at the actions that companies are taking to transform their businesses when they are determining who they choose to deal with.
"New Zealand needs to prepare for these change, and take the lead to maintain our competitive advantage" says Mike Chapman, CEO of Horticulture New Zealand. "Reliance on traditional agriculture will not secure us a prosperous future. We need to make the move now to embrace consumers’ focus on convenience, health, how the food they eat is grown, its effect on the environment, and the move to plant protein in place of animal protein."