I’m less likely to trust them too
No, not Clark and Key this time. In the Business section of the Dominion Post today:
More than half of Chinese consumers say they are now less likely to trust New Zealand food products after the melamine contamination scandal, according to a just-released survey.
And:
Sinogie Consulting chief executive Bruce McLaughlin, who is based in Shanghai, said he was surprised New Zealand’s reputation as a food producer had not suffered more.
“People are well aware that it was Fonterra who was involved with Sanlu,” he said.
Which is a good reminder how important our reputation as a clean, green producer of food is to us, and how easily it can be dented by reckless profiteering. Meanwhile, in the Philippines, Fonterra’s Anchor range is also taking a hit to its reputation, with three products being called in for testing for melamine by the Philippines’ Bureau of Food and Drugs .
And, possibly the bit we should be most worried about is towards the bottom of that story:
New Zealand’s Food Safety Authority has said that, from tomorrow, customs checks would identify risky consignments at the border and these would be tested.
Tomorrow? That’s only like 46 days since New Zealand was alerted to the melamine scandal in China.
September 29th, 2008 at 8:06 pm
Woah! Always interested in poll methodologies, but I think the point stands. However, I don’t think China has taken much of a hit with their exports, and they’ve been ‘done’ several times, along with having a much poorer reputation than NZ. I think cost will still win out.
September 29th, 2008 at 10:30 pm
Who owns the other 57% of Sanlu?