A new report published by New Zealand economic consultancy, Infometrics, has identified New Zealand’s apple and kiwifruit exports as having “untapped potential'.
Defined by Infometrics as the difference between the potential market and the value of the country's exports to that market, the untapped potential cited in the report refers to New Zealand’s apple exports to Saudi Arabia.
“Saudi Arabia bought $38m in apples a year. New Zealand exported NZ$1m of apples to Saudi Arabia meaning that that country's “untapped potential” to New Zealand was $37m,” reads the report.
Infometrics chief forecaster, and report author, Gareth Kiernan said New Zealand’s horticulture exports appear to have benefitted from the pandemic.
“Covid-19 [has resulted in] overseas consumers with excess savings substituted towards consuming healthy and high-quality produce at home.”
The report, titled Food for thought – export potential from the Top of the South, draws on extensive analysis from a new export intelligence service from Infomerics, Export Market Finder, which works to determine how organisations can grow their exports by prioritising countries that offer the most untapped potential.
“Our data-driven, evidence-based approach to identifying potential export markets is especially effective in identifying less obvious markets,” noted Kiernan.
“This approach also moves market identification away from anecdote and gut feel, which has often been the basis for decisions in the past.”
