#[1]publisher [2]alternate

#[1]publisher [2]alternate

RNZ [3]RNZ
RNZ

[4]Skip to content Menu
* [5]Home
* [6]News
+ [7]New Zealand
+ [8]World
+ [9]Politics
+ [10]Pacific
+ [11]Te Ao Māori
+ [12]Sport
+ [13]Business
+ [14]Country
+ [15]Local Democracy Reporting
+ [16]Comment & Analysis
+ [17]In Depth
+ [18]Weather
* [19]Radio
+ [20]National
+ [21]Concert
+ [22]Pacific
+ [23]Programmes
+ [24]Presenters
+ [25]Latest Audio
* [26]Podcasts & Series
* [27]Topics
+ [28]Music
+ [29]Science & Environment
+ [30]Plays & Stories
+ [31]Kids & Young Adults
+ [32]Books & Authors
+ [33]Life & Society
+ [34]Food & Recipes
+ [35]Arts & Culture
+ [36]Movies
+ [37]Business & Economy
+ [38]Politics
+ [39]Sport
+ [40]Comment & Analysis
+ [41]Media & Technology
+ [42]Country
+ [43]Pacific
+ [44]Te Ao Māori
+ [45]Nature & Environment
+ [46]Collections
+ [47]Current Affairs
* [48]Pacific
+ [49]News
+ [50]Programmes
+ [51]Schedules
+ [52]How to Listen
+ [53]About RNZ Pacific

* [54]Search
* Listen Live
Nothing playing
RNZ National
100 2021 redesign master morning report 720x720

[55]Morning Report
Monday to Friday
[56]National live stream
RNZ Concert
100 daybreak july 2021 by belinda robins sq

[57]Daybreak
[58]Concert live stream
RNZ Pacific
100 rnz pacific language news

[59]News in Pacific Languages
[60]International live stream
[61]More ways to listen
* [62]Playlist

Your playlist
[63]Launch player
[64]Close
+ No items
[65]Audio help [66]Launch player

Navigation for News Categories

* [67]New Zealand
* [68]World
* [69]Politics
* [70]Pacific
* [71]Te Ao Māori
* [72]Sport
* [73]Business
* [74]Country
* [75]Local Democracy Reporting
* [76]Comment & Analysis
* [77]In Depth
* [78]Weather

[79]New Zealand [80]In Depth
7 Jul 2021

Who's eating New Zealand?

10:29 am on 7 July 2021

Share this
* [81]Share on Twitter
* [82]Share on Facebook
* [83]Share via email
* [84]Share on Reddit
* [85]Share on Linked In

Farah Hancock
[86]Farah Hancock, Data journalist, In Depth
[87]@KiwiFarah [88][email protected]

If you imagine New Zealand's sheep meat as a plate of 10 meatballs, Kiwis
would get to eat half of a meatball. So where's the rest going? In the first
story in a new series, Farah Hancock crunches more than 30 years of data to
find out who's eating New Zealand.

No metadata

New Zealand produces enough food to feed about 40 million people but
given our population is just 5 million, who are these people we're
feeding and what are they eating?

And in the land of milk and honey, how much is left behind for Kiwis?

RNZ has looked at some of our biggest merchandise export earners and
some of our highest profile products to see who has been eating and
drinking New Zealand over the past 30 years.
No metadata

New Zealand exports a whopping 95 percent of the dairy it produces,
which earned the country nearly $16 billion in 2020.

China has emerged as our biggest customer in recent years, its spending
on dairy growing from $13.5m in 1990 to more than $5.5bn in 2020. China
now accounts for about a third of our dairy exports.

Press the red play button on the chart below, or click on the years at
the bottom of the chart, to see who's been buying our dairy products
since 1990.
No metadata
No metadata

New Zealanders get to eat about 13 percent of the beef produced in New
Zealand. The United States has been our biggest beef buyer since 2010.
However, since 2012 China has entered the top 10 buyer ranking and in
2019 bumped the US out of the top spot, spending over $1.6bn on Kiwi
beef. In 2020, the US regained the top spot.
No metadata
No metadata

If you imagine New Zealand's sheep meat as a plate of 10 meatballs,
Kiwi's would get to eat half of a meatball.

In 1990 the United Kingdom was the biggest buyer of NZ sheep meat but
for the past seven years China which has held the top spot, increasing
its spending from $119m in 2010 to $1.6bn in 2020.

The United Kingdom spent $420m in 2020, down from $606m in 2010.
No metadata
No metadata

Green, gold and now red. Since 1996 we've exported 8.6bn kg of fresh
kiwifruit and earned around $25.6bn. In 2020, exports were a record
breaking $2.7bn.

New Zealanders only get to eat around 10 percent of what's grown here.
Domestic sales are limited by regulation, says Zespri Chief Global
Supply Officer Alastair Hulbert. In 2020 round 2m trays of green
kiwifruit are sold domestically, as well as 800,000 trays of gold and
10,000 trays of the new, red variety.

The biggest international customers are Europe, Japan and China.
No metadata
No metadata

There's no easy answer to what percentage of commercially caught
seafood is exported and what percentage is eaten locally. The industry
body, Seafood NZ, says there's been no need to collect the information.

Previously published figures include [89]90 percent, [90]77 percent,
and numbers on [91]Seafood New Zealand's website say approximately
450,000 tonnes of seafood is caught each year, with 276,901 tonnes
exported. This comes out at around 63 percent - but working on caught
weight versus exported weight isn't accurate. Fish is gutted and often
filleted before export, so it's impossible to match the caught weight
up with export data. Sealord, one of the large quota-owning companies,
says it exports [92]more than 90 percent of its catch. Sanford's
[93]2019 annual report says around 56.1 percent of its sales are export
sales.

In the 1990s Japan, Australia and the United States were the biggest
buyers of our seafood, but by 2011 China emerged as the top buyer. In
2019 China purchased almost $690m worth of seafood, while the second
biggest buyer was the United States, spending $245m.

Earnings from seafood have largely risen, with a small fall in 2020,
while the weight exported has decreased from nearly 300m kg in 2005 to
231m kg in 2020.
No metadata
No metadata

Our humble onions are hot property abroad, in fact by value they've
been New Zealand's top export vegetable crop since 2012. We send around
85 percent of them offshore, leaving just 15 percent to be eaten in
Aotearoa. In 2020, New Zealand exported more than 200,000 tonnes,
earning $154m.

Their long-shelf life makes them ideal as an export product and as we
harvest at the opposite time of year to northern hemisphere growers,
our onions fill a gap in global production.

Indonesia and Malaysia are big onion buyers, along with Germany and the
Netherlands.
No metadata
No metadata

Around 86 percent of apples grown in New Zealand are sold overseas. In
2020 they earned a record $910m, tantalising close to the industry's
goal for 2022 of $1bn. The goal was set in 2012, when exports were
sitting at $340m.

China was our biggest apple buyer in 2020, followed by Vietnam and
Taiwan. The United States and United Kingdom slipped into fourth and
fifth spots.
No metadata
No metadata

Lockdown tipples may have been behind the record-breaking $2bn worth of
New Zealand wine sold to the world in 2020. Of the wine we produce, 85
percent is drunk offshore.

Wine is one of the few New Zealand exports that isn't dominated by
Chinese buyers. We mainly produce sauvignon blanc, which sells well in
the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia.
No metadata
No metadata

With news stories about mānuka honey selling for nearly $3000 a jar in
London, you might think New Zealand would be exporting a huge
proportion of our honey. In fact, in 2019 we exported less than half
what we produced. Adding in honey purchased by tourists visiting our
shores in 2019, around 46 percent of honey ended up offshore. Without
tourists this figure would have been 38 percent.

China is our biggest buyer, followed by the USA and Japan.
No metadata
No metadata

Despite high-profile controversy about global beverage giants bottling
our water, exported New Zealand water actually represents a small
proportion compared to what's sold locally.

An exact figure for local sales is hard to come by, but 2018
information published on the [94]Ministry for the Environment's website
suggests only 17 percent is exported.

In recent years China has emerged as the top buyer of our water;
previously the US and Australia were the biggest purchasers.
No metadata
No metadata

Dairy outstrips all our other food and beverage exports. Since 1990
it's earned $231bn. Sheep meat comes in second with $71bn, with beef
third at $59bn.
No metadata
No metadata

Between the 1870s and 1940s, the UK was our main export market, taking
between 60-90 percent of our exports. This began to wane and by the
time the UK joined the European Economic Community (now the European
Union) in 1973, it was taking less than 30 percent of our goods.
No metadata
No metadata

Since China and New Zealand signed a free trade agreement in 2008,
China's contribution to our export earnings has significantly
increased. In 2007 China accounted for 5 percent of our earnings from
dairy produce. Now 35 percent comes from China. For sheep, there's been
a jump from 3 to 42 percent, and for beef it's gone from 0.09 to 33
percent.
No metadata

Photography by Claire Eastham-Farrelly. Visuals by Vinay Ranchhod.

Where the data came from

Dairy: Dairy Companies Association of New Zealand and StatsNZ trade
data items with a harmonised system description containing "Dairy
produce"

Beef: Beef + Lamb New Zealand from September 2019 to September 2020 and
StatsNZ trade data for items with a harmonised system code between
201100000 to 202331999.

Sheep: Beef + Lamb New Zealand from September 2019 to September 2020
and StatsNZ trade data for items with a harmonised system code between
204100000 to 204431000.

Kiwifruit: Zespri International 2019 data and StatsNZ trade data items
with a harmonised system description containing "Fruit, edible;
kiwifruit"

Seafood: Various sources and StatsNZ trade data for items with a
harmonised system code between 301910000 to 308909000.

Onions: Onions New Zealand Inc and StatsNZ trade data items with a
harmonised system description containing "Vegetables, alliaceous;
onions".

Apples: New Zealand Apple and Pears and StatsNZ trade data items with a
harmonised system description containing "Fruit, edible; apples".

Wine: NZ Wine and StatsNZ trade data items with a harmonised system
description containing "Wine".

Honey: Apiculture NZ and StatsNZ trade data items with a harmonised
system description containing "Honey".

Water: Ministry for the Environment and StatsNZ trade data items with
the following harmonised system descriptions: "Waters; mineral and
aerated, including natural or artificial, (not containing added sugar
or other sweetening matter nor flavoured), other than in metal
containers", Waters; other than mineral and aerated, (not containing
added sugar or other sweetening matter nor flavoured), ice and snow,
other than in metal containers" , "Waters; mineral and aerated,
including natural or artificial, (not containing added sugar or other
sweetening matter nor flavoured), in metal containers", "Waters; other
than mineral and aerated, (not containing added sugar or other
sweetening matter nor flavoured), ice and snow, in metal aerosol
containers, not containing chlorofluorocarbons" , "Waters; other than
mineral and aerated, (not containing added sugar or other sweetening
matter nor flavoured), ice and snow, in metal containers, not aerosol"

Share this
* [95]Share on Twitter
* [96]Share on Facebook
* [97]Share via email
* [98]Share on Reddit
* [99]Share on Linked In

Copyright © 2021, Radio New Zealand
Subscribe to RNZ's Daily Newsletter

____________________
____________________ Subscribe
[100]View latest newsletter

Who's Eating New Zealand?

* [101]The surprising rise of New Zealand's pizzle exports
* [102]NZ 'sleep-walked' into conflict between China and Western
allies - expert
* [103]Who's eating New Zealand?

Get the RNZ app

for ad-free news and current affairs
[104]Download from Apple App Store [105]Download from Google Play Store
[app-ad-news-device-one-0e70920522a6ab0a63c7cabd93c74ed9e62caad8c7c7145
3801117f3f5ced312.png]
[app-ad-news-device-two-aae3cd6c4a148cc0103b3206b0cc7bea1454c6e00485172
9d93df642d98b3591.png]

Top News stories

* [106]Tech-savvy Kiwis able to use scripts to snap up MIQ spots
before others
* [107]Olympics: Tokyo bans spectators amid Covid-19 emergency
* [108]Middlemore Hospital: Council forced unconsented work to stop
* [109]Flying Fijians touch down in Dunedin for All Blacks match
* [110]Covid-19: Vaccination programme picks up steam in Northland

Subscribe

Subscribe to RNZ's Daily Newsletter

____________________
____________________ Subscribe
[111]View latest newsletter

[112]Who's Eating New Zealand? RSS

[113]Follow RNZ News

RNZ stations

* [114]National
* [115]Concert
* [116]RNZ Pacific
* [117]Parliament - live stream

Latest & popular

* [118]Latest audio
* [119]Popular audio
* [120]Latest video

How to watch & listen

* [121]Audio help
* [122]Radio
* [123]Follow our podcasts
* [124]Sky, Freeview & Satellite
* [125]YouTube
* [126]RNZ apps for iPhone and Android
* [127]RNZ Flash Briefing for Amazon Alexa
* [128]RNZ News for Google Assistant

About RNZ

* [129]About
* [130]Contact
* [131]Formal Complaints
* [132]Media Releases
* [133]Jobs
* [134]RNZ Your Media Matters
* [135]Local Democracy Reporting
* [136]RNZ Commissioning

Join & Follow RNZ

* [137]RNZ on Facebook
* [138]RNZ on Twitter
* [139]RNZ on Youtube
* [140]RNZ on Instagram
* [141]Sign up to RNZ Newsletters

shielded
* [142]Terms of use

© Copyright Radio New Zealand 2021

References

1. https://plus.google.com/105231754464729614147
2. https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/whoseatingnewzealand/446357/who-s-eating-new-zealand
3. https://www.rnz.co.nz/
4. https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/whoseatingnewzealand/446357/who-s-eating-new-zealand#documentContent
5. https://www.rnz.co.nz/
6. https://www.rnz.co.nz/news
7. https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national
8. https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/world
9. https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political
10. https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/pacific-news
11. https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/te-manu-korihi
12. https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/sport
13. https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/business
14. https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/country
15. https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/ldr
16. https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/on-the-inside
17. https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/in-depth
18. https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/weather
19. https://www.rnz.co.nz/radio
20. https://www.rnz.co.nz/national
21. https://www.rnz.co.nz/concert
22. https://www.rnz.co.nz/international
23. https://www.rnz.co.nz/programmes
24. https://www.rnz.co.nz/presenters
25. https://www.rnz.co.nz/audio
26. https://www.rnz.co.nz/series
27. https://www.rnz.co.nz/topics
28. https://www.rnz.co.nz/music
29. https://www.rnz.co.nz/topics/science
30. https://www.rnz.co.nz/topics/plays-stories
31. https://www.rnz.co.nz/audiences/kids/
32. https://www.rnz.co.nz/topics/books
33. https://www.rnz.co.nz/topics/life-society
34. https://www.rnz.co.nz/topics/food-recipes
35. https://www.rnz.co.nz/topics/arts-culture
36. https://www.rnz.co.nz/topics/movies
37. https://www.rnz.co.nz/topics/business-economy
38. https://www.rnz.co.nz/topics/politics
39. https://www.rnz.co.nz/topics/sport
40. https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/on-the-inside
41. https://www.rnz.co.nz/topics/media-technology
42. https://www.rnz.co.nz/topics/country
43. https://www.rnz.co.nz/topics/pacific
44. https://www.rnz.co.nz/topics/te-ao-maori
45. https://www.rnz.co.nz/topics/nature-environment
46. https://www.rnz.co.nz/collections
47. https://www.rnz.co.nz/topics/current-affairs
48. https://www.rnz.co.nz/international
49. https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/pacific-news
50. https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/programmes
51. https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/schedules
52. https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/listen
53. https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/about
54. https://www.rnz.co.nz/search
55. https://www.rnz.co.nz/audio/live/national
56. https://www.rnz.co.nz/audio/live/national
57. https://www.rnz.co.nz/audio/live/concert
58. https://www.rnz.co.nz/audio/live/concert
59. https://www.rnz.co.nz/audio/live/international
60. https://www.rnz.co.nz/audio/live/international
61. https://www.rnz.co.nz/listen/amfm
62. https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/whoseatingnewzealand/446357/who-s-eating-new-zealand
63. https://www.rnz.co.nz/audio/player
64. https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/whoseatingnewzealand/446357/who-s-eating-new-zealand
65. https://www.rnz.co.nz/listen/audiohelp
66. https://www.rnz.co.nz/audio/player
67. https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national
68. https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/world
69. https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political
70. https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/pacific-news
71. https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/te-manu-korihi
72. https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/sport
73. https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/business
74. https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/country
75. https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/ldr
76. https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/on-the-inside
77. https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/in-depth
78. https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/weather
79. https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national
80. https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/in-depth
81. https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=Who's eating New Zealand?&url=https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/whoseatingnewzealand/446357/who-s-eating-new-zealand
82. https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/whoseatingnewzealand/446357/who-s-eating-new-zealand
83. mailto: ?subject=Who's eating New Zealand?&body=I thought you might be interested in this page https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/whoseatingnewzealand/446357/who-s-eating-new-zealand from RNZ.
84. https://www.reddit.com/submit?url=https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/whoseatingnewzealand/446357/who-s-eating-new-zealand
85. https://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&url=https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/whoseatingnewzealand/446357/who-s-eating-new-zealand
86. https://www.rnz.co.nz/authors/farah-hancock
87. https://twitter.com/@KiwiFarah
88. mailto:[email protected]?subject=Who's eating New Zealand?
89. https://comcom.govt.nz/__data/assets/pdf_file/0024/72609/388.pdf
90. https://rescuefish.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Westpac-Report-March-2016.pdf
91. https://www.seafoodnewzealand.co.nz/industry/key-facts/
92. https://www.sealord.com/nz/our-business/our-business/
93. https://www.sanford.co.nz/assets/announcements/SAN090-AR2019-v7a.pdf
94. https://environment.govt.nz/assets/Publications/Files/water-bottling-in-nz.pdf
95. https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=Who's eating New Zealand?&url=https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/whoseatingnewzealand/446357/who-s-eating-new-zealand
96. https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/whoseatingnewzealand/446357/who-s-eating-new-zealand
97. mailto: ?subject=Who's eating New Zealand?&body=I thought you might be interested in this page https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/whoseatingnewzealand/446357/who-s-eating-new-zealand from RNZ.
98. https://www.reddit.com/submit?url=https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/whoseatingnewzealand/446357/who-s-eating-new-zealand
99. https://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&url=https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/whoseatingnewzealand/446357/who-s-eating-new-zealand
100. http://us6.campaign-archive2.com/home/?u=211a938dcf3e634ba2427dde9&id=b3d362e693
101. https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/whoseatingnewzealand/446513/the-surprising-rise-of-new-zealand-s-pizzle-exports
102. https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/whoseatingnewzealand/446358/nz-sleep-walked-into-conflict-between-china-and-western-allies-expert
103. https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/whoseatingnewzealand/446357/who-s-eating-new-zealand
104. https://itunes.apple.com/nz/app/rnz/id407890305
105. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=nz.co.radionz.android&hl=en
106. https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/446516/tech-savvy-kiwis-able-to-use-scripts-to-snap-up-miq-spots-before-others
107. https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/sport/446508/olympics-tokyo-bans-spectators-amid-covid-19-emergency
108. https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/446514/middlemore-hospital-council-forced-unconsented-work-to-stop
109. https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/sport/446520/flying-fijians-touch-down-in-dunedin-for-all-blacks-match
110. https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/446523/covid-19-vaccination-programme-picks-up-steam-in-northland
111. http://us6.campaign-archive2.com/home/?u=211a938dcf3e634ba2427dde9&id=b3d362e693
112. https://www.rnz.co.nz/rss/whoseatingnewzealand.xml
113. https://twitter.com/rnz_news
114. https://www.rnz.co.nz/national
115. https://www.rnz.co.nz/concert
116. https://www.rnz.co.nz/international
117. https://www.rnz.co.nz/parliament
118. https://www.rnz.co.nz/audio
119. https://www.rnz.co.nz/audio/popular
120. https://www.rnz.co.nz/video
121. https://www.rnz.co.nz/listen/audiohelp
122. https://www.rnz.co.nz/listen/amfm
123. https://www.rnz.co.nz/listen/podcasts
124. https://www.rnz.co.nz/listen/sky
125. https://www.youtube.com/user/radionz
126. https://www.rnz.co.nz/listen/app
127. https://www.rnz.co.nz/listen/alexa
128. https://www.rnz.co.nz/listen/google
129. https://www.rnz.co.nz/about
130. https://www.rnz.co.nz/about/contact
131. https://www.rnz.co.nz/about/formalcomplaints
132. https://www.rnz.co.nz/media
133. https://www.rnz.co.nz/jobs
134. https://www.rnz.co.nz/yourmediamatters
135. https://www.rnz.co.nz/ldr
136. https://www.rnz.co.nz/commissioning
137. https://www.facebook.com/RadioNewZealand
138. https://twitter.com/radionz
139. https://www.youtube.com/user/radionz
140. https://www.instagram.com/radionewzealand
141. https://www.rnz.co.nz/about/newsletters
142. https://www.rnz.co.nz/about/legal