Nov 29, 2024
The HanPure team at Raincliff Station, with CEO Alex Chung second from left.
It has been a busy month for visiting delegations, with two delegations, one from the German Parliament and one from Hanpure, South Korea’s largest importer of New Zealand velvet, visiting farms in the North and South islands, respectively.
The South Island saw a visiting delegation from Hanpure, led by CEO Alex Chung. Hanpure was here to show a visiting team of traditional medicine professors and doctors where New Zealand velvet comes from.
In recent years, Hanpure has been working towards building a premium New Zealand velvet brand marketing strategy out of their New Zealand velvet portfolio.
The team visited velvet exporter(s), where they learned about velvet grading and the quality assurance principles behind our VelTrak system. After that, they visited AgResearch’s new Tuhiraki facility at Lincoln University, where they met with AgResearch senior scientist Stephen Haines and learned about the active components in velvet and some other areas of research interest. Finally, the group visited Raincliff Station in South Canterbury, where Dave Morgan and family explained the farming practices that go into producing such high-quality velvet.
“It was fantastic to see Alex and the team from Hanpure again, following our market visit to South Korea earlier this year,” says DINZ’s Virginia Connell, who represented DINZ with the delegation. “While we do stay in regular contact with Hanpure, nothing quite beats catching up in person.”
“The visit was a great opportunity to showcase the New Zealand deer industry, particularly highlighting our point of difference that comes from our outstanding farming practices. It’s fair to say all left extremely impressed, and I feel these relationships have strengthened the brand value of the provenance of New Zealand velvet in the South Korean market.”
Mike Humphreys, Luise Stegemann and Winnie Switakowski (from the German Embassy in Wellington), John Turkington, Luka Jansen, MP Ingo Botke, Johannes Schmidtn, and MP Karlheinz Busen.
On 30 October, DINZ hosted a delegation from the German Parliament at Mike Humphrey’s award-winning Green Hill Deer Farm in Manawatu. The delegation was made up of two members of the parliament – Ingo Bodtke and Karlheinz Busen – who hold roles concerning Food and Agriculture and Hunting and Forestry, respectively. Accompanying them was Johannes Schmitt, from the German Forestry Association. Local forestry operator John Turkington was on hand to give New Zealand forestry expertise, and DINZ was represented by Environmental Stewardship Manager Luka Jansen.
Discussions provided insight into deer farming in New Zealand and good environmental management practices, including the benefits of planting trees on deer farms - such as shade and shelter for deer, keeping soil on the hills in erosion prone areas, and, in time, allowing for financial return on timber.
A big thanks to all who gave their time and helped to facilitate these successful visits.
