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Locally grown grain for Countdown Grain growers are over the moon that Countdown will use 10,000 plus tonnes of Canterbury-grown wheat to make in-store baked bread and rolls and hope this will catch on with other supermarkets. United Kingdom chains such as Tesco and Sainsbury’s have, along with Australian supermarkets, trumpeted locally grown produce and grower suppliers would like New Zealand operators to be more parochial with their food buying. Most New Zealand made bread is made from Australian wheat, which has always irked local growers. Federated Farmers Mid Canterbury Arable chairwoman Joanne Burke said Countdown’s pledge to buy locally grown wheat each year would give growers confidence to grow more milled wheat. The extra demand would strengthen wheat contracts, she said. “That’s huge for us as if we go into the supermarket most of the grain products are from Australia. Even bags
Tim Cronshaw
RURAL REPORTER
of flour are from Australia and anything we can do to get them to use New Zealand product would be welcomed.’’ Most mills in the province are foreign-owned, with the exception of a locally-owned mill in Timaru. Burke said Australian supermarkets had run a campaign a few years ago to stock locally supplied food and removed New Zealand goods. She said growers would love to see New Zealand supermarkets stock more local produce. “I go through supermarkets for every single product and a lot are Australian … We would think the chocolate and black velvet cakes in boxes are from here but they are all Australian.’’
Countdown’s head of perishable, deli and bakery goods Nikhil Sawant said the multi-year commitment would mean growers could have the confidence to invest in their businesses after a tough few years of low wheat prices. He said Countdown was increasingly partnering directly with growers and farmers and the relationships had given them a better understanding of the challenges they faced. “Giving wheat growers a guaranteed market in our supermarkets provides longterm surety of supply and the knowledge that if they plant crops, we will take them.’’ He said knowing the provenance of food and supporting Kiwi producers was increasingly important for customers. United Wheatgrowers vice chairman Syd Worsfold said wheat growers would welcome the move as they could plant crops, knowing they would be used. He said it was a fantastic result also for customers as it provided them with
traceability of their food and quality assurance. The in-store baked bread and rolls from local wheat are available in 177 Countdown stores nationwide.
Federated Farmers Mid Canterbury Arable chairwoman Joanne Burke
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