New Zealand Poultry Meat Firm Aims for Further Global Growth

NEW ZEALAND - Hot on the heels of being named New Zealand’s 'Supreme Exporter', chicken and turkey meat processor, Tegel, says it intends to continue its global growth.

17 June 2014

3 minute read

By: Jackie Linden

Oceania

The iconic Kiwi brand, renowned for producing healthy, safe chicken and turkey, has seen its exports more than double in the past three years to more than NZ$100 million a year.

That success was a major factor in the company winning the Supreme Award at the 2014 Air New Zealand Cargo Export NZ Auckland export awards last week.

The judges said Tegel had been an iconic brand in New Zealand for more than 50 years and began developing export markets 11 years ago.

“The company’s growth has come about following significant capital investment in plant and people, and adopting a structured export growth plan ... Tegel’s export growth over the past three years has been spectacular and future growth prospects appear very strong,” said the panel.

Tegel also won the BDO Food & Beverage Exporter of the Year category award.

“We’re absolutely delighted to win these awards, which honour our team’s incredible hard work and the focus and investment we have put into developing our export markets,” says Tegel’s general manager sales and marketing Christine Cash, who accepted the award from Prime Minister John Key.

The company has launched Tegel premium New Zealand chicken in Japan, Hong Kong and United Arab Emirates in the past three years, expanding beyond its home markets of NZ, Australia and the Pacific. The export potential saw the opening of a new $20 million production line at Tegel’s Henderson plant in 2012 and the creation of 500 new jobs in New Zealand.

Ms Cash added: “We now have our sights set on launching Tegel into other emerging markets in Asia, Africa and the Middle East. By combining our strength in primary industry with high-tech engineering and food technology, we are able to create high value branded exports, elevating our Customer and Consumer offer from an otherwise commodity market.”

Now offering more than 1,200 product lines, Tegel premium quality chicken is raised in open plan barns, with a high quality grain-rich diet. Tegel says it proudly delivers pure New Zealand premium chicken that is: