Listen to this articlePress release: New Zealand Riverlands Foods
Global pet food brands hungry for manufacturing opportunities in New Zealand will soon have access to a new state-of-the-art canning facility.
Built by an experienced team of pet food entrepreneurs, the ultra-modern Canterbury factory will annually produce 30 million cans of high-value pet food, mostly for international clients.
Set to open next month, the plant established by New Zealand Riverlands Foods is a first for New Zealand. It will be manufactured exclusively for their clients only, removing the logjam that has limited New Zealand as a go-to destination for third-party manufacturing.
Although there are other plants, they may be very small, operating at full capacity producing their own brands, or on long-term contracts for a small number of large clients, i.e. smaller and Innovative brands cannot produce their pet food in New Zealand.
“Not creating our own brand gives us a real point of difference. All customers are treated equally. It also gives us the flexibility to meet changing market needs like no other different product textures and formulations,” said Michael Dance, general manager of Riverland Foods.
New Zealand is known for its high-class ingredients and the country’s strong brand and reputation, leaving pet food companies frustrated that they can’t produce a product here.
Dance and colleagues, all veterans of the pet food industry, saw the manufacturing gap in New Zealand, so in 2022 plans began to develop for the Hornby facility.
“With global sales of cat and dog food at $US58 billion predicted to more than double by 2030, there is a huge need for access to modern manufacturing facilities that are both flexible and innovative,” added Dance.
“Initial investment in the project has exceeded $US20 million but additional funds have been committed for a future phase of development.”
Alongside Sayaw, the team driving the Riverlands includes Head of Operations Tom Coughlan. Coughlan and Dance are both former managers of New Zealand pet food company ZIWI.
Coughlan, who ran a meat processing business before moving into pet nutrition, is focused on providing high-quality cat and dog food made from the best ingredients to sparsely populated and primarily rural areas. of the South Island of New Zealand.
“We chose Christchurch because of its proximity to processing plants and quality raw materials,” Coughlan said.
Another advantage of Riverlands is the ability to quickly adjust recipes as demand for cat food changes, with different cats preferring different textures such as mousse, pate or chunky- with-gravy styles.
All of these textures have a different ‘feel’ in the mouth and for cats that’s really critical,” says Dance. “Because cats can change suddenly whether they like a texture or not, a cat will stop eating one texture over another, forcing the pet food company to stock a range of textures – or they’ll lose a customer.
“Riverlands’ ability to create many different textures gives brand owners the opportunity to touch their customers within their brand,” adds Dance.
Dance said Riverlands is already in talks with brand owners in North America, Asia and Australia to manufacture their products. While ready to work for Kiwi-based brands, New Zealand’s pet food market of around $500 million in 2023 is dwarfed by the $104 billion global industry, which mostly makes food for cats and dogs .
Due to the increased popularity of pet ownership, and demand for healthier food, researchers predict that the global pet food industry will grow to sales of $163 billion by the end of the decade.
“We want to play an important part in the health and longevity of pets and help put New Zealand on the pet food map of the world,” Dance said.
