High quality branded NZpork launched in Singapore

For Immediate Release

High quality branded New Zealand pork launched in Singapore

Five Star Pork (NZ) Ltd, in conjunction with the New Zealand Pork Industry Board, created history for the New Zealand pork industry, when it unveiled its range of top quality branded pork products in Singapore this week.

This is the first time the New Zealand pork industry has launched a fresh, premium quality, branded product into any export market and is the culmination of three years work carried out by Five Star Pork, and the Pork Industry Board.

Five Star Pork has developed a range of products to be sold under the Koru FarmsTM brand, which will also carry the New Zealand Pork Industry Board’s Trim Pork® label.

The Board’s Chief Executive Angus Davidson said the development and launch of the top quality, branded product for a niche export market was a strategic milestone in the evolution of trade between New Zealand and Singapore.

“Moreover, it is of enormous significance for the New Zealand pork industry as the first step in becoming an exporter of value-added food products for the discerning consumer,” he said.

Five Star Pork, which is based in Palmerston North, is a major wholesale marketer of New Zealand grown quality pork and sources its pigs from more than 30 farms in the North Island.

The company’s General Manager, Carl Wills said the target market for the new product range are wealthy and well-travelled Singaporean consumers who are passionate about food, interested in trying something new, are health conscious and keen to cook fast, tasty and nutritious meals. They will also be attracted by New Zealand’s fresh clean image.

Five Star Pork is utilising the existing Trim Pork® range of cuts under the Koru FarmsTM brand, which has been developed using Singapore’s national colours, and the koru to link to the Pure New Zealand campaign, which signifies New Zealand as a clean, beautiful country of innovators, sensible farmers and friendly people.

Carl Wills said the company will work in conjunction with Singapore's premium supermarket chain Cold Storage and Tiong Lian Food Suppliers to supply what will initially be a small number of up-market supermarkets, but plans are to quickly extend both the range of products and number of stores stocking them.

“We are exporting small quantities of an absolutely unique niche product which will command a premium position in the market place. That means we are supplying the Singaporean retail trade with pre-packed, pre-priced packs, carrying both the Trim Pork® and Koru FarmsTM labels, with prices set on a per pack basis, not a per kilo basis. The standardised pack sizes are designed to contain just the right amount of meat that our target consumers would wish to purchase. Because Koru FarmsTM Trim Pork® is a no-waste product, which is quick and convenient to cook that means the value proposition is very appealing,” he said.

Angus Davidson said that the New Zealand Pork Industry Board had agreed to give Five Star Pork exclusive rights to the Trim Pork® brand, which has 25 years of brand equity, for two years.

All Trim Pork® cuts are approved in New Zealand by the New Zealand Heat Foundation and have low fat and sodium levels.

Tiong Lian will cut pack and label the pork to New Zealand Trim Pork® specifications in Singapore from primal cuts supplied from New Zealand by Five Star Pork.

Industry consultants Prime Consulting International Ltd have been retained by Five Star Pork to assist with project management and market development.

The range of cuts offered is new to the Singapore market and offers a fresh additional choice for consumers compared with the existing product categories currently available. It is backed by innovative recipes and other unique point of sale material.

Angus Davidson said he was absolutely delighted that the large amount of work that had been undertaken since the project that began three years ago, when eight Singaporean meat importers and two Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority officials visited New Zealand, was finally coming to fruition.

“Since then the Board has been taking a number of industry initiatives to ensure that there are no market access issues or barriers to entry, as well as working through a research and development programme partly funded by the Foundation for Science, Research and Technology,” he said.

“It also illustrates the value of Free Trade Agreements, and the work that New Zealand Trade and Enterprise are undertaking. At the same time it underscores the fact that New Zealand is now part of the global marketplace and in this sense it is appropriate that the New Zealand pork industry looks to alternative high value export markets which can complement our domestic market for pork producers,” Angus Davidson said.

He believes that establishing an enduring, high value brand at the top end of the market in Singapore will serve as a basis for the development of further niche markets throughout Asia.

“Pork consumption is already high, in fact it is the world’s most widely consumed protein, and with the emerging wealth of Asia there is huge scope to build further niche markets for unique, top quality pork products in the region,” he said.

ENDS

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