Leading New Zealand fresh produce software company, Radfords, has been announced as a Focus Customer with international
business development agency, New Zealand Trade and Enterprise (NZTE).
Chief executive officer, Adam Cuming, said the collaboration would drive and accelerate Radfords' growth from its
traditional New Zealand base to existing and expanding markets including Australia, Europe, the United States and South
America during the next five years.
Radfords was announced as an NZTE Focus customer in April
"We've worked with NZTE for several years in a networking capacity. However, after sharing our ambitions for growth,
NZTE has brought an intensive focus to provide specific market intelligence of our target markets to match our growth
objectives," Mr Cuming said.
"We need deeper insights into various global markets, fresh produce sectors and client personas to identify
opportunities, build strong relationships and tailor innovation in our products.
"We need to understand the culture of the people we're partnering with and the nuances of how they operate to help them
optimise their business which, in turn, drives our mission to grow the world's food basket. Understanding different
market contexts will inform how we innovate our product to create the right value for that market. A relationship with
NZTE is critical to accelerate that understanding."
Radfords already had a footprint in Australia and had identified a technology gap in the central markets' space where
most wholesalers continued to manually record data, he said.
"A key difference in doing business with Australia, is that the domestic consumer market is far bigger than New
Zealand's, which, in contrast, has a more finely developed export background.
"Approximately 1,500 Australian fresh produce wholesalers exist, many of which are vertically integrated. This aligns
with Radfords' extensive knowledge and suite of products that provide full traceability along the supply chain.
"By reviewing year-on-year macro data for fresh produce, you can also see an increasing proportion of total sales moving
to export markets where margins are higher for quality produce. This also plays well with our capabilities in matching
inventory to various export compliance requirements."
Fine-tuning strategies for growth
Mr Cuming said Radfords also planned to work closely with NZTE's Beachhead advisors - a network of private sector
experts who offered perspective and insights to help customers shape the direction of their growth strategies.
"This gives us the opportunity to bounce ideas off professionals, many of whom have scaled up their own businesses. They
can provide an honest critique of our strategy, identify gaps in our critical thinking and enable us to tighten up our
strategy," Mr Cuming said.
"In coming months, we'll talk to NZTE reps in Europe and South America to unpick fresh produce opportunities for
Radfords there. Then, we'll liaise with Beachhead advisors in the technology sector who will support Radfords' plans to
go global.
Emerging markets promise rich pickings
"At a very broad level, the United Nations expects food demand from consumers worldwide will double by 2050. It would
follow that fresh produce will double at a faster rate because global wealth and consumer trends toward healthy food are
accelerating.
"Most of this will come from emerging markets such as China where the burgeoning middle and upper classes are intensely
invested in the provenance story.
"Many of these consumers value not only the quality of fresh produce but that it is safe to eat. To us, traceability
from field through the packhouse process to outbound market is a critical part of that story. Fresh produce businesses
will need to rely on a company that supports their processes through software. That's where we come in.
"Ten or 15 years ago, global consumer focus was on packaged consumer goods. Today's focus is on freshness and how well
fresh produce satisfies quality standards."
Mr Cuming said Radfords had "cut its teeth" on New Zealand's kiwifruit industry including deployment of its software
products to all of the post-harvest sector that supplies Zespri International Limited's supply chain out of New Zealand,
Italy, France, Korea and Japan. Radfords' diversification began 12 years ago with a foray into apples, glasshouse
tomatoes, avocados, mushrooms, citrus and, more recently, mangoes, pineapples, onions, squash and even organic chicken.
Radfords now has over 80 clients. Australian fresh produce clients include leading producers and technology adopters,
Piñata Farms and Kirra Pines Farming, Queensland; Red Rich Fruits and Seeka Australia, Victoria; and Fruit Hub and
Packing Station of Western Australia.