NZ Supermarkets Fall Behind The Global Trend

Across the Western world, supermarkets have been gearing up for the holiday season. Christmas is coming and most are keen to celebrate in style. Food has always been a huge part of the festive time and most parts of the globe are showcasing their vegan selections. All the different companies have great plant-based alternatives, from delicious desserts to roasts that will please, recognising the need and desire from their customer base. It doesn’t hurt that it helps them meet their climate goals too. The lack of similar here is deafening.

European supermarkets are working hard to meet their climate targets, as across the globe, all industries are looking at how they can reduce their impact on the planet. There is only so much that reducing or swapping energy providers can help reduce carbon emissions. Other areas need to be looked at, and two easy options are packaging and products. Plastic has become a major source of pollution and thus many are looking to reduce plastic packaging, in line with consumer preferences.

The supermarkets and government food advocacy groups have also been working together to create a policy of ensuring a ratio of at least 40:60% of plant-based: meat/dairy on the shelves. The plan is to increase the ratio to 60:40% by 2030. This means more plant-based options on the shelves which are produced with considerably less impact on the environment than their animal counterparts.

In Aotearoa, the opposite seems to be happening, with many supermarkets opting to remove plant-based products from their shelves. 2019 saw a huge growth in plant-based alternatives being available across the nation, now with the cost-of-living crisis, many people are choosing cheaper and more healthy wholefoods to get their plant-based proteins. Is this the reason that we are seeing less of these products available?

Talking to some plant-based companies gave some interesting insights to this process. Some had noticed that sales were declining in the alternative meat/dairy categories, but the sales of wholefoods such as tofu and tempeh were increasing and continuing to do well. Supermarkets seem to take a long time between reviews of shelf space and that means they are always out of step with the actual market, noted one brand.

Other companies had noticed a reduction of their products despite continued good sales, nothing that would indicate a reason for this. Perhaps it is media hysteria forcing this? Imported goods are at an all-time low due to shipping costs and low volume of product requirement in New Zealand. This then reduces the shelf space for plant-based goods.

Alice Shopland of Angel Food said “the distribution of Angel Food products remains very good, and we are planning on bringing our parmesan back. We also need the NZ export market to increase their plant-based options”

Flip Grater of Grater Goods said “NZ grocery could and should be embracing NZ made plant proteins wholeheartedly. It's what consumers are looking for and it's what our country needs to be pivoting towards. It's the perfect moment for our homegrown alternatives to cut through and reach sustainable sales volume.”

Dan Chalmers of Tonzu said “We need government guidelines to ensure that all companies meet the requirements of BCORP. We need sustainable, ethical companies throughout the nation and across the board, not just in supermarkets”

All the companies agreed that an active policy in place to help supermarkets meet their climate targets would help increase the product range of plant-based alternatives into the fold. They all agreed that the market was very hard at the moment, but no one I spoke to were discontinuing their products. Still very much looking to expand their brands and products, which is great news for vegans, flexitarians, vegetarians and those with allergies, and really good news for the planet.

Unfortunately, Aotearoa is falling behind in its commitment to meeting climate agreements, so a policy such as this would really improve the standing in the global community, as well as meet our targets. How would such a policy work? Given that there are really only two major supermarkets here, it would be relatively easy to put into place. As always, what is lacking is the political will to take climate change seriously and to address NZ’s part in it.

This country has a large amount of underused horticultural land, fertile soil that could support more crops of all kinds. Aotearoa should be making food sovereignty a high priority. Growing more plants, reducing reliance on a dairy industry set up to produce milk powder for the Chinese market, not looking after its own people. It is cheaper to buy many NZ food products abroad than it is here! This should not be possible!

New Zealand grows lots of wheat, yet this wheat feeds the dairy industry, not the people of Aotearoa. Instead, NZ imports wheat from Australia for our daily bread. These are just a couple of examples of where the holes are. This needs to be addressed and the sooner, the better.

The current health costs associated with diseases that are prevalent amongst the omnivore population are large and growing. An Otago University study reported these costs at $42 million! Moves towards eating less meat and dairy could have a huge impact on human health, as well as saving many costs to our health service. This country needs a just transition towards a plant-based economy, which would benefit everyone, the animals, and the planet.

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