Te Mata Exports was founded in 2000 by Murray Tait with the MG Group taking a 50% shareholding in 2012. The NZ business has predominantly been an exporter of NZ apples and cherries however there was always the intention to develop an international trading business. In December 2019 Sarah McCormack was brought onboard to establish Te Mata Exports Australia, together with Paul Scheffer & Te Mata Exports 2012 Ltd, a NZ based export business that is majority owned by the MG Group.
"Paul and I have both had long established careers in fresh produce and have a lot of experience across the Asia/Pacific region, so it made sense for us to join forces," explains Sarah.
"It was a challenging time to establish a new business in Australia just as the global pandemic hit but we have been fortunate to have had support from some key growers and customers and we have a great team in place which has allowed us to grow the business over the past three years."
In August 2022, the decision was made to merge the Australian and NZ businesses to strengthen their overall competitiveness and form a fully integrated Australasian produce company. Sarah took on the role of CEO for the combined businesses at that time.
"We will have some further changes coming up in the next couple of months when Murray Tait retires as a shareholder and director at the end of October. Murray has built up a solid business over the last 23 years and is well respected among customers and growers alike. We are fortunate that he will be staying on in the role of Advisor."
Te Mata Export’s strong presence across the Asian market is linked to the export of New Zealand apples and cherries, along with Australian citrus and grapes.
"We are in the process of expanding our export business out of Queensland and will begin melon and mango exports before the end of the year. Through our partnership with VECS in South America we are also handling products out of Chile and Peru, with our main focus being on grapes."
The company's main markets are Japan, China, Thailand, Taiwan and Vietnam. Sarah said they have seen strong growth in Vietnam over the past few years and it’s interesting to see how the product mix has changed during that time as more retailers have started importing direct.
"Our customers are always on the lookout for something new and we are very excited to have three new apple varieties in the pipeline out of New Zealand. First up we have Bay Queen, which is a Gala sport exclusive to Te Mata. This is one of the first varieties available out of New Zealand at the beginning of the season. We shipped some trial containers this year which were extremely well received, and our volume will steadily increase over the next few years. We are currently reviewing the Bay Queen branding to better define and position the variety," said Sarah.
Te Mata also has the exclusive marketing rights to SnapDragon, a mid-season apple out of New York state that has HoneyCrisp parentage. They also have marketing rights for Cosmic Crisp out of NZ, and are currently working with growers to establish hectarage of these two varieties.
Promoting products in the different Asian markets
"It is really about understanding the size, grade and packaging requirements for each market in the first instance and delivering on that. A big part of it for us is the strong relationships we’ve developed and the fact that customers trust that we’ll provide safe, quality fruit that they can rely on.
"We have shipped more volume into China out of Australia this year, but have also been growing our business across a much broader range of geographies. Like other markets, we are seeing that inflation and the pandemic has had an impact on Chinese consumer’s purchasing power, so we need to be mindful of that when planning our sales programmes. We have also seen growth from other southern hemisphere countries like South Africa and Peru that are shipping into China, which is having an impact on the Australian sales.
Impact of major weather events
We have been affected by weather issues in both countries. In New Zealand, Cyclone Gabrielle caused widespread damage across Hawke’s Bay and many growers suffered crop damage. For Te Mata, the biggest impact has been on our apple volumes which have been significantly reduced as a result. In Australia, the table grape season was a month late starting due to weather but finished early so it was a short sharp season. Citrus is having its challenges as well, with weather impacting size and quality. We are expecting an early finish to the Queensland mandarin season.
Asia Fruit Logistica is back in Hong Kong after a three year absence and Sarah is looking forward to being back.
"It seems that there will be a lot more people from various countries travelling to Hong Kong this year so it will be great to catch up with everyone again. It’s good to have AFL in the regular timeslot, which also gives the South American suppliers a chance to attend before their cherry season gets underway.
Te Mata will on the New Zealand stand Hall 3, 3J16
For more information:
Sarah McCormack
Te Mata Exports
Tel +64 21 622 768
[email protected]
www.temataexports.co.nz
