New Zealand’s Ministry of Primary Industry’s Situation and Outlook for Primary Industries Report (SOPI) forecasts seafood export revenue will rise 9 percent to $1.9 billion in the year to the end of June 2022, driven by food services reopening and increasing demand.
The report forecasts overall primary industry exports will reach a record $52.2b for the current financial year.
Seafood export revenue is expected to remain at $1.9b for the year ending 30 June 2023, according to the SOPI report.
Sanford exports a range of seafood products to countries all around the world.
Its chief customer officer Andre Gardiulo said the lift in revenue was welcome news after two very tough years.
“What I am seeing, and what the industry is seeing, is that the recovery with regards to demand for seafood internationally is certainly strong and continuing to grow,” he said.
“I was personally in Europe and America over the past couple of months, and I saw it there firsthand, that food services reopened with a vengeance.
“People are out and about, really engaging in out of home dining, and that’s really encouraging for us.
“But we’ve also seen, as a byproduct of the Covid challenges, in-home consumption, and the retail environment and overseas markets have certainly embraced the New Zealand seafood sector and looking to grow that as well.
“It’s encouraging, and something that we’re continuing to take advantage of.”
However, the industry was still facing challenges as rising costs outpaced revenue growth, Gardiulo said.
“You can’t pinpoint it to one thing in particular, it is across the board, but when you look at the increased fuel costs, increase compliance costs, regulatory costs, people costs, it is certainly certainly across the board and affecting everyone.
“It’s been well-publicized in the past 12 months that the supply chain costs and uncertainty are continuing to be to be a challenge and will do for the short term future.”
Tackling those challenges required a collaborative approach within the seafood industry, with regulators and with primary industry sectors, he said.