Nov 21, 2019 | Katherine Rich Comments
Consumer NZ has done its annual “testing” of sunscreens and has hit the media claiming many sunscreens don’t measure up to their packaging claims. It’s nonsense. I’ve put “testing” in inverted commas because if the methodology used is the same as in previous years,...
Oct 24, 2019 | Katherine Rich Comments, Sunscreens
Slip-Slop-Slap was a popular sun-care campaign known by those generations who remember the 1980s. It came with a catchy tune and a cute bird mascot, and the message was so simple that small children could understand it. Years later the word ‘Wrap’ was added, as in...
Sep 30, 2019 | Katherine Rich Comments
Working for the food and grocery sector, it’s a privilege to visit companies behind many of the products on our supermarket shelves, to meet the teams and see first-hand their heritage and innovation. Start-up stories are fascinating. From the concrete mixer that...
Sep 23, 2019 | Katherine Rich Comments
Today we live in a throwaway society. Every day we use stuff that can’t be re-used or recycled, so we throw it away. It’s much different to my grandmother’s generation. She saved everything, even flour bags. What couldn’t be fed to the chooks or burnt on the fire...
Sep 6, 2019 | Katherine Rich Comments
Plastic is everywhere. It’s used in almost every industry you can think of – construction, transportation, electronics, healthcare, and agriculture. And when you look down the supermarket aisle you can see how big a part it plays in the food and grocery sector. It’s...
Aug 26, 2019 | Katherine Rich Comments
Confidence surveys show that after a positive start to the year, many businesses are struggling to deal with a combination of factors that are driving down their confidence to invest further in their own business, such as upgrading equipment or innovating. Two bank...
Aug 12, 2019 | Katherine Rich Comments
Environmental sustainability has become a big part of most companies’ thinking and planning, and those in food and grocery are doing some of the ground-breaking work on this. Starting with the supermarket chains, everyone’s aware of their bans on the use of single-use...
Jul 25, 2019 | Katherine Rich Comments
One of my favourite thinkers from the 20th century is Eleanor Roosevelt, the wife of American President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. I’ve read a lot about her life and her advocacy and have found her writings and works inspiring. Recently, as the New Zealand Food &...
Jul 10, 2019 | Katherine Rich Comments
The food and grocery sector (as it should) puts a lot of emphasis on health & safety. Be it on the farm, in the factory, in the distribution centre, on the road, or in the supermarket – involving everything from farm-bike safety and forklifts, to driving skills...
Jun 20, 2019 | Katherine Rich Comments
The global food and grocery industry demonstrated a positive direction and how it’s working in the interests of consumers at Food Industry Asia’s ‘Food for the Future Summit’ conference in Singapore last month. It attracted leaders from across the food and grocery...
May 24, 2019 | Katherine Rich Comments
When I know so much is being done by the dairy industry to be good stewards of the land and to produce high-quality nutritious foods, I get disappointed to read such negativity about our No 1 industry. The idea that dairy farmers are happily collecting their big...
May 9, 2019 | Katherine Rich Comments
Getting food labelling right is critical to any food business. Consumers rely on it and sometimes it’s a matter of life and death. Food safety in New Zealand is assumed, but there are many countries where consumers don’t have the same faith, and for good reason....
