The food imported into New Zealand mirrors the consumers` increasingly culturally diverse tastes, boosted by globalization. Despite the unique, secluded location in the Pacific Ocean,  the island country of New Zealand is home to 5.2 million ethnically diverse population, majorly concentrated around the most populous cities: Auckland, Hamilton, Christchurch or the capital Wellington.
Food importers in New Zealand are constantly on the look for partners who can provide new, unique food products, to enrich their portfolios and maintain the success of the international food segment.

 Food exporters who desire to enter New Zealand will find a transparent, developed country, with confident buyers and a small but sophisticated market, with one of the most business-friendly climates worldwide, due to its past reforms to liberalise international trade and improve foreign investment.

Rice Imports

Rice remains a staple food in New Zealand and imports are significant and stable. In 2023, the country imported $61.7 million USD worth of rice.

Importers purchased the product from nations known for their rice production, including India, Thailand, Vietnam, and Cambodia. Australia was the first-largest supplier, providing mostly medium-grain varieties like japonica. While risotto is popular, arborio rice from Spain and Italy makes up only a small portion of imports. In total, New Zealand imported 59,382 tonnes of rice last year, averaging around 11kg per person.

Wheat Imports

Wheat is another essential staple for New Zealand, with much of it imported whole and milled locally.

Despite local production, finding New Zealand-grown flour in supermarkets is challenging. Iconic brand Edmonds, for example, had to remove the “made from NZ wheat” label from its packaging in 2022, citing difficulties in sourcing suitable wheat. Today, most of the domestically grown wheat is used for animal feed. As global wheat supplies face strain—due to factors like the war in Ukraine, a major wheat producer—there’s been talk of increasing wheat production in New Zealand, particularly for both human consumption and livestock.

Imports of wheat reached $243 million USD in 2023, and the main suppliers were Australia, India, Argentina, Canada and China.

Fresh fruit – bananas imports

Bananas are among the most popular items in New Zealand supermarkets, with nearly all of them imported from abroad. Banana imports reached $79.9 million USD in 2023

Ecuador, the world’s largest banana exporter, supplies the majority of New Zealand’s bananas, followed at a large distance by the Philippines and Mexico. While some local growers are attempting to cultivate bananas domestically, New Zealand remains heavily reliant on imports from Ecuador. This dependency on a single source poses potential risks, as any disruption—such as a fungal disease or climate change impacts—could affect the supply of the Cavendish bananas New Zealanders are accustomed to.

Consumer demands & trends

New tastes

After the liberalisation of immigration, New Zealand`s culinary diversification has put the country on the map of food enthusiasts. Ethnic foods and ingredients, especially from the Asian, Indian, or South African cuisine is of steady high demand in New Zealand mirroring the population’s homesick feeling as well as intensified hunt for new tastes. Besides consumers increasingly sophisticated tastes, the food processors and the hospitality industry is also on the look for raw materials, especially during the tourist season. New Zealand`s growing wealth and thriving food tourism bring huge opportunities for any businessmen interested to invest, especially since many youngsters today are avid for unique food experiences.

Convenience

Modern, fast-paced lifestyles translate into time-efficient and cost-effective ready-to-eat meals. With the recent panic stockpiling behavior induced by the recent Covid-19 outbreak, the demand for processed foods, frozen products and frozen ready meals has spiked up the sales of these categories and remain forecasted to continue in the next years due to their convenience, long shelf life, and the safety feeling of eating at home. As hot beverages are a star segment in New Zealand, coffee and tea offer a great opportunity for exporters with unique products.

Accurate labels

The modern consumer goes beyond taste, affordability and convenience, thinking health is the new wealth. As food options are today more complex than ever, food labels need to be accurate and transparent about ingredients, their origin and quantity, allergens, storage instructions, preparation, nutritional values and animal and environmental welfare.

About 25% of the country`s population is affected by a form of allergy, thus there a steadily growing demand for food items free from allergens. Consumers in this category are the most attentive to what the label contains.

Healthy & premium foods

Due to the diversity of imported food available on the market, sedentary lifestyle and few regulations on junk food and drinks, many New Zealanders are trying to break free from the predilection towards processed food, to adopt healthier diets.

• Many residents are now focused on foods with healthy properties like organic or fortified foods.
• Plant-based food alternatives, including meat and dairy substitutes, has been a top category for clean eating in 2023.
• Honey takes the spotlight due to its immunity-boosting, anti-bacterial properties.
• Nuts, seeds, mixes and spreads based on these products have also become a consumer favourite, with significant sales growth due to snacking.
• Rising home cooking has led to a growth in edible oils demand due to their healthy fat reputation.

As New Zeelanders have embraced the health and wellness lifestyle, many consumers have become conscious of the quality and the nutritional properties of the ingredients and the food they consume, leading to a sales growth of premium foodstuff and artisanal products, free of artificial flavours, excessive salt, sugars or other harmful additives.

Market structure

New Zealand`s market is structured into supermarkets, grocery stores, specialty stores and convenience stores in all major cities. Although supermarkets hold the supremacy for imported food, fast food outlets, the hospitality sector, cafes, or pubs are also contributing to food sales. Specialized stores like gourmet supermarkets have been gaining momentum and successfully attract high-income consumers who enjoy qualitative, artisanal products. Grocery e-commerce is annually the fastest-growing category online and most used as a complementary sales channel.

Most buyers prefer to be supplied from a local importer who also usually handles storage and distribution to supermarkets. Producers should consider taking part in international food events as food importers in New Zealander frequently connect with producers they meet through these occasions. Food exporters who desire to enter the New Zealand food market should also invest in advertising and sampling of their products.

In terms of competition, Australia is a major food supplier due to low transport cost and favorable economic relations, but consumer-oriented food items also come from Canada, United States, Indonesia, China, Malaysia, Spain or Ireland.

3 Food Importers from New Zealand:

 Iberian Foods
Address: Po Box 69256, Auckland, Auckland
Phone: +64 9 376 4247
Website: https://www.iberianfoods.co.nz/

Universal Trade Limited
Address: 264 Great North Road Auckland, Auckland, 1020
Phone: +64 9-813 9693
Website: www.universaltrade.co.nz

Jr Wholesale Meats
Address: 102 Portage Road Auckland, Auckland, 1062
Phone: +64 9 634 0597
Website: https://jrwholesale.co.nz/

To access a list of more active food importers from New Zealand, you can access one of the BestFoodImporters databases.