This has sparked a flurry of debate over whether we prefer our Wattie's peaches from Hawke's Bay or whether we don't really care if it comes from China or not.
It's also prompted a statement from Wattie's asking us to support local growers. In other words, can we please buy New Zealand made?
Now, that is a very nice sentiment, but let's be honest, that's all it is. It is a sentiment and it's not going to work.
I mean, this is me, this is not me being cavalier about how hard this must be for the Hawke's Bay peach growers who are losing their Wattie's contracts. For them, this must be absolutely devastating and I feel terrible for them.
But this is me being realistic about the prospect of any 'Buy New Zealand Made' campaign working.
Wattie's New Zealand peaches, according to Pak’nSave's online store, are $3.90 a can. Pam's cheap peaches are 99 cents a can. That's a no-brainer, you're gonna buy the 99 cent can.
Who is buying the $3.90 can? Grey Lynn? That makes no sense whatsoever.
I mean - look, maybe if I thought about it a little bit, which I don't, but if I did, maybe I would pay 10, 20 cents, 40 cents at a push, more for a New Zealand made product. But I would not pay four times as much, it's far too expensive.
And I wouldn't even do it in the first place because buying New Zealand made never works, does it? It never has. If it did, we would still be wearing Bata Bullets and buying Juliet Hogan and eating Sanitarium peanut butter.
We wouldn't be reading about the closure of manufacturing businesses every other month, which today, by the way, is the Carter Holt Harvey mill in Tokoroa.
I do the shopping in our house 90 percent of the time and I don't even know the provenance of the food I'm buying. I do not know where the canned food comes from, I absolutely do not know where the dried goods come from. And often, I'm not even really looking where the fresh fruit comes from.
Yep, I know where the meat comes from, but that's basically a given, isn't it?
It's simple economics, it always will be.
And even if Wattie's has this tiny little hope that there might be a last-minute public rally for the New Zealand grown peaches, I think they already know the outcome, which is why they've already cut the contracts.
Heather du Plessis-Allan is a journalist and commentator who hosts Newstalk ZB's Drive show. This article was sourced from Newstalk ZB.
6 comments:
I cannot understand how a country of a billion, vast numbers who have been near starvation for centuries, and which has little land for inefficient crops, can grow or import fruit, process, then freight thousands of miles and market for little more than the cost of the can.. The transport makes a nonsense of CO2 avoidance. It beats me how NZ achieves such an elevated standard of living just from milk powder and pine logs. Low price jam formerly claimed to be made here is now imported from Poland and baked beans from Italy. Meanwhile we support thousands on the dole. One wonders what checks are made for contaminants. Product labels are misleading "made in NZ from imported components". I have read that for smoked ham of the "local and imported" component only the smoke is NZ. Or "packaged in NZ" possibly just involves sticking on a label.
Buy NZ made was always a terrible idea.
Let the free market reign forever instead.
It's the only true form of democracy and it's beautifully simple and pure.
The consumer votes by purchase on demand. The supplier survives by satisfying the consumer.
Perhaps this is how politicians should be paid?
Don't tell me what to buy, I prefer to remain free to make my own choice.
If you don't like the free market?
Go live in socialist state and experience their take on freedom.
I always buy NZ made. The apricot jam which I bought by mistake is nowhere as good. Besides, If you don't care about the nz producer, ( which is very short-sighted, because it will be your Superannuation which comes from this economy,) what about the planet? Transporting this stuff half-way around the planet is sheer madness. I am disgusted.
“I mean - look, maybe if I thought about it a little bit, which I don't, but if I did”
HDPA knocking it out of the park again!
Do not be swayed by any statement from Heinz- Wattie's re peaches as grown in Hawkes Bay.
The growers where advised what was to happen, the media 'got wind of' - and the story appeared in our news.
Also Heinz- Wattie's have "made the statement" that they seek the growers, who were contracted to them, to remove the fruit trees.
My source 'tells me", that this is to stop anyone or other "agent' from acquiring the fruit for the purpose of -
- re-sale in the public domain
- re-sale to another canning operation, that Heinz - Wattie's would immediately see as competition both within NZ & on the International market.
In simple terms - Heinz - Wattie's do NOT want competition.
Yes Heather, in 99% of cases the market should determine the prices we pay for the products we sell and buy,
However in a country like ours where we are almost totally dependent on the produce we sell on overseas markets, it just makes sense to make the best use of what we grow irrespective of how we market it for sale,
It just so happens that we are limited in what we grow well which can be sold on markets on the other side of the world at a profit sufficient to cover the cost of our own existence and then some.
And l’m not talking about subsistence living - our history is one where successive governments have been able to find markets that have paid for a standard of living to which we have become accustomed.
However things have changed and one of the traditional farm components contributing to our overseas income (ie. crossbred wool as distinct from fine wool) has become unattractive to our overseas buyers - so much so that these wools are no longer economical to grow.
Unfortunately it matters little that farmers reaction to this change in the market place is to breed sheep that shed their wool in the paddock.
One could be forgiven if the original fear was the nation’s hill county would look like an explosion in a mattress factory.
As Corporal Jones would say “Don’t panic!”
Well, given that we haven’t but the problem of what to do with the nation’s remaining clip still exists and better minds than me are still looking for a solution, may l offer my idea of what we should do next and how these suggestions could benefit not only the growers but the nation as a whole environmentally.
I am suggesting that our government decrees that it is no longer acceptable to import synthetic (carpets and home insulation) products for use in the building industry.
With a stroke of a pen, we could provide our crossbred wool farmers with a price for their product sufficent to cover the cost of production and provide a return that justifies its existence as part of the annual farm income sources.
On the other side of the equation, the nation would benefit environmentally from having a biodegradable and fireproof product protecting our homes.
For most rational people this solution would appear to be a “no brainer” but my guess is that in order to make it happen, voters may need to make it an election issue and that course of action may be the only thing that makes the neanderthals sit up and take notice.
It’s about time don’t you think.
Why don’t we make them squirm.
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