Protein SuperPower

Using an analogy to Saudi Arabia’s commanding role in the oil sector, Charles Elworthy of Craigmore Research calls New Zealand a “protein superpower”. With a population of 4 million people, New Zealand produces enough food to feed 100 million people.

Specifically, New Zealand produces 35% of international wholesale trade in milk and 65% in sheep meat.

In making the case for investing in New Zealand agriculture, he notes the efficiency of production and the unlikelihood of an export bans. Another factor in New Zealand’s success in proteins is the effectiveness of transportation. For many of the markets they serve, the cost of shipping from New Zealand by sea to the destination port is a tiny portion of the cost of domestic distribution inside the importing country. Road and rail transportation is a bigger part of the cost infrastructure for protein in importing countries.