Arable sector launches new trademark to champion NZ grain over imports

The mahi of New Zealand's arable farmers is being celebrated with a new certified trademark that champions the use of locally-grown grains in our kai.

After years of development, the Foundation for Arable Research (FAR) launched its new Grain Mark certification on Tuesday to help shoppers identify foods like breads, rolled oats or plant milks made only with locally-grown wheat, barley, oats and maize.

Not-for-profit Eat New Zealand hosted the launch of the new trademark during its two-day national hui in Auckland, featuring government officials, chefs including Nadia Lim and local food advocates and leaders.

New Zealand produced around 100,000 tonnes of milling wheat each year, mostly in Canterbury, that were milled into flour to make breads and other baked goods.

But at least three-quarters of bread sold in Aotearoa was made from imported grain, mostly Australian, said FAR, a levy-funded organisation.

General manager of business operations, Ivan Lawrie said the new Grain Mark stamp, featuring a white combine harvester, will help differentiate products and their carbon footprint for shoppers.

"What we want to do is create consumer awareness by the recognition of the trademark," Lawrie said.

He said provenance of food was important to customers, many who were willing to pay more for locally-grown and produced kai.

"Some of the products often say made from local and imported ingredients, but it doesnt really give you much more information than that.

"So it may say, 'proudly made in New Zealand', but it doesn't necessarily tell you what the origin of the ingredients are."

Lawrie said the country's arable farmers - who grew more than 40 different grain and seed crops - faced increased competition from imported grains.

"The arable farming sector has been doing it tough for some time," he said.

"The competition that we face from imported product has increased over time."

The goal of the trademark was to make Aotearoa more self-sufficient in growing milling wheat for bread, he said.

Less than a quarter of the cereal grains produced in New Zealand were destined for human consumption.

The largest volumes feed wheat and barley were grown for supplementary animal feed, primarily for dairy, as well as maize silage and grain.

Oats grown largely in Southland and South Otago were for breakfast cereals, rolled oats and plant-based milks.

Lawrie said three-quarters of bread sold in New Zealand, particularly in the North Island, used imported grains mostly from Australia, due in part to problematic transport infrastructure between the two islands.

"Obviously we've got some very difficult geographical hurdles," he said.

"[It's] expensive in terms of getting product from where we grow it to where it ends up being consumed. And that means that in the North Island it is cheaper to bring in grains from Australia than it is to get them from the South Island to the North."

FAR owned the trademark and will assess licence applications for companies that meet its specifications.

It had 12 organisations with products that fit the criteria.

New Zealand grain growers were certified through a United Wheatgrowers' QAgrainz quality assurance and traceability programme.

Eat New Zealand aimed to strengthen and localise New Zealand's food system.

Chief executive, Angela Clifford said the Grain Mark was an example of highlighting the important roles farmers held in the food system.

"So this is a provenance mark that allows people to know when their breakfast cereal or their beer or their bread is made using New Zealand-grown grains," she said.

"That's informing and creating a line of transparency with New Zealand eaters to ensure they know that it's their farmers that have produced the food that they're eating."

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