Zespri officially opened its Middle East office in Dubai earlier this week to manage its growing sales and marketing programmes in this region and other developing markets.
Zespri Chief Executive Lain Jager said at the event that Zespri was growing its presence across the Middle East, India and Africa and the new office would support this growth.
“More consumers in the UAE and these regions are enjoying the great taste of premium quality, healthy Zespri Kiwifruit, with sales set to increase by more than 50 percent over the next five years to over 4 million trays of New Zealand fruit and over 2 million trays of global supply (Northern Hemisphere) fruit.
“Zespri’s gold variety SunGold has proved particularly popular with consumers in the Middle East who enjoy its sweet, juicy taste and powerful health properties. Our team in-market is working hard to expand distribution across the region to introduce more consumers to our premium quality fruit and get more of them to buy Zespri Kiwifruit each week,” says Mr Jager.
Zespri’s aim is to grow overall kiwifruit consumption around the world and increase kiwifruit’s share of the global fruitbowl from a fraction of a percent, and building new markets like the Middle East, India and the United States is a key part of this.
A Maori cultural delegation led by kaumatua Kihi Ngatai officially opened and blessed the new office, installing a traditional Maori whakairo (carving) in the office. The carving is named Te Hau Marama which translates to the Wind of Understanding and embraces traditional architecture of the region which takes advantage of desert winds to keep a comfortable breeze for its inhabitants. The carving is made of kauri, traditionally used for pare (lintels) over doorways in wharenui (tribal meeting houses) in New Zealand which provided a boundary between the physical world outside and the spiritual world inside the wharenui.
It is made by James Tapiata who has made several other carvings for Zespri offices in New Zealand and around the world.
| A Zespri release | March 29, 2017 |||
More subdued growth, due to persistent spare capacity in the global economy following the global financial crisis, has been a key feature of the current New Zealand business cycle.
This is a key take-out from a review of the current business cycle, published today in the Reserve Bank Bulletin. Listen to the Behind The Bank Bulletin
The article summarises developments in the New Zealand economy since 2008 through the lens of monetary policy.
The article identifies five key phases: the global financial crisis of 2008-09; ‘green shoots’ recovery (mid-2009 to mid-2010); domestic caution and global uncertainty (mid-2010 to late 2012); commodity boom and construction upswing (early 2013 to mid-2014); and persistently low inflation (mid-2014 to present day).
Despite extremely accommodative monetary policy settings, growth in major advanced economies has proved to be slower than in past expansions. Growth in New Zealand has also been more subdued than in past business cycles, in large part due to weakness and uncertainty abroad. Against this international and domestic backdrop, consumer price inflation in New Zealand has been low.
A follow-up Bulletin article — due to be released in the coming weeks — will present some of the key features of the business cycle and the insights for monetary policy that have emerged or been reinforced.
| A RBNZ release | March 29, 2017 |||
Palace of the Alhambra, Spain
By: Charles Nathaniel Worsley (1862-1923)
From the collection of Sir Heaton Rhodes
Oil on canvas - 118cm x 162cm
Valued $12,000 - $18,000
Offers invited over $9,000
Contact: Henry Newrick – (+64 ) 27 471 2242
Mount Egmont with Lake
By: John Philemon Backhouse (1845-1908)
Oil on Sea Shell - 13cm x 14cm
Valued $2,000-$3,000
Offers invited over $1,500
Contact: Henry Newrick – (+64 ) 27 471 2242