NZBUSINESS.CO.NZ 37
BLUE RIVER DAIRY IS A FAST-GROWING EXPORTER
THAT CRACKED THE CHINA MARKET THROUGH
ROCK-SOLID PARTNERSHIPS.ONAWINNING
FORMULA
BYCATHERINE BEARDCATHERINE BEARD IS EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF
EXPORTNZ, WHICH ASSISTS EXPORTERS THROUGHOUT
NEW ZEALAND. WWW.EXPORTNZ.ORG.NZ.rebranded sheep milk infant formula was launched into the
Chinese market, selling 400,000 cans in 2016, followed by a
whopping 2.7 million cans of sheep, goat and cow formulations
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“With 445 percent revenue growth we were the fastest
growing agribusiness in the country last year – and the only
one to make the Deloitte Fast 50 list,” says Lyness.
“One of the things we did to take the brakes off our growth
was to diversify. We knew we’d never get enough sheep’s milk
to meet demand if we made just sheep’s milk infant formula. So
we also introduced a goat’s milk and cow’s milk formula too.
“It made a lot more commercial sense. We already had the
equipment we needed and it allowed us to produce four times
as much formula.”
On 1 January 2018, the new CFDA regulations brought in
controls to what had been 2,500 different brands of infant
formula in China. They limited companies to having a maximum
of three brands – which is what Blue River have. This gave
them a great opportunity, whereas other companies had to take
brands off the shelves.
It also helped that chairman of the board, Mr Chen, has
experience founding other infant formula businesses in China,
and bringing them to IPO level. His market knowledge and
distribution channels – relationships with lots of baby store
chains for example – have been key.
Lyness says the company’s rapid growth and need to
scale really quickly has been achievable through really good
partnerships and having an incredibly nimble, resilient team
who have embraced the challenges.
“We’ve recognised that we can’t do everything alone. We
partner with other Kiwi manufacturers who produce the base
powder for us, which we dry blend with other ingredients.
“It’s JUHDWWKDWWKHHFRQRPLFÀRZRQHIIHFWIURPRXU
EXVLQHVVPHDQVWKHUHDUHRWKHU.LZLEXVLQHVVHVEHQH¿WWLQJ- be it through freight, storage, manufacturing, or supply of
services and materials.”
W
hen hearing about Blue River Dairy’s journey to
success, I can’t help but think of famous musicians,
such as Ed Sheeran, who slaved away relatively
unknown for years before they hit the big time.
You may have seen Blue River Dairy sheep’s
milk cheese in New Zealand supermarkets, but the company’s reach
and product range is now much larger than that – it’s enjoying
astronomical growth, ranking 10th in the 2017 Deloitte Fast 50.
Gareth Lyness, marketing and supply chain manager, explains how
the turning point came in 2015 – what started in 2003 as a vertically-
integrated sheep milking business, split when the farms separated from
the plant, which was bought by Blueriver Nutrition Hong Kong Limited.
It was after this fork in its history that things really stated to change
for Blue River Dairy.
The company recognised that outside of New Zealand and Australia,
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Instead, they realised they needed to get into value-added products
using sheep’s milk. A whole milk powder was developed to provide a
shelf-stable form of milk. Commoditising sheep’s milk powder was a
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was infant formula in the Chinese market. So they developed the
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Then in May 2014, with the introduction of CNCA registration as
mandatory for selling this type of product in China, the industry
changed overnight. Blue River Dairy did not have the registration, and
this drove the sale of the business in early 2015.
The new owners were able to marry a product with great potential, with
very strong established distribution and marketing networks in China.
This proved a winning formula.
Once the business got its CNCA registration in August 2015, theTHE EXPORTER PAGES