1
00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:02,440
Speaker 1: Now premium apple demand is apparently the reason for a

2
00:00:02,440 --> 00:00:05,600
Speaker 1: strong financial result for T ANDG Global. Its revenue has

3
00:00:05,640 --> 00:00:08,680
Speaker 1: increased by fourteen percent to one point six billion. Its

4
00:00:08,800 --> 00:00:11,760
Speaker 1: net profit after tax is sixteen million, and that's up

5
00:00:11,760 --> 00:00:13,960
Speaker 1: from a loss of about ten million dollars. The chief

6
00:00:14,000 --> 00:00:17,200
Speaker 1: executive is Gareth Edgecombe. Hi, Gareth, Hey a you the

7
00:00:17,360 --> 00:00:18,840
Speaker 1: hoe's loving the apple so much?

8
00:00:20,040 --> 00:00:20,279
Speaker 2: Yeah.

9
00:00:20,360 --> 00:00:24,200
Speaker 3: Generally it's across the world, in particular the Asian markets

10
00:00:24,200 --> 00:00:27,920
Speaker 3: and the US markets, and that's focused on our premium

11
00:00:27,960 --> 00:00:30,720
Speaker 3: brands of Jazz, Jolie and Envy.

12
00:00:30,880 --> 00:00:32,920
Speaker 1: How do you decide which are the premium brands?

13
00:00:34,360 --> 00:00:35,320
Speaker 2: Yeah, really good question.

14
00:00:35,600 --> 00:00:38,000
Speaker 3: We spend a lot of time with starting with our

15
00:00:38,040 --> 00:00:40,760
Speaker 3: genetics company, which screens a whole lot of apples from

16
00:00:40,800 --> 00:00:43,760
Speaker 3: around the world from many different breeding programs, and we've

17
00:00:43,760 --> 00:00:48,320
Speaker 3: got an extensive consumer and orcharding research team that actually

18
00:00:48,400 --> 00:00:52,159
Speaker 3: screened for the best tasting apples and the best growing apples,

19
00:00:52,240 --> 00:00:54,520
Speaker 3: and from that we get a long list down to

20
00:00:54,560 --> 00:00:57,440
Speaker 3: a very very short list, and the best candidates we

21
00:00:57,560 --> 00:01:01,360
Speaker 3: then try and scale up into large our brands, and

22
00:01:01,800 --> 00:01:04,240
Speaker 3: so for example, the Jazz and Envew brands, they've been

23
00:01:05,080 --> 00:01:08,360
Speaker 3: commercialized for the Envew brand for over fifteen years as

24
00:01:08,360 --> 00:01:10,600
Speaker 3: we've looked to scale it up, and that's based on

25
00:01:10,640 --> 00:01:13,200
Speaker 3: the fact that it's just and all of those key

26
00:01:13,240 --> 00:01:17,080
Speaker 3: markets has the attributes of great appearance, great taste, great crunch,

27
00:01:17,480 --> 00:01:18,240
Speaker 3: and great flavor.

28
00:01:18,520 --> 00:01:21,560
Speaker 2: Yeah, and yeah, that's really how we determine it.

29
00:01:21,720 --> 00:01:23,840
Speaker 1: What about this Look, sorry, this is going to be

30
00:01:23,959 --> 00:01:27,119
Speaker 1: a slightly bizarre line of questioning, but what about juiciness

31
00:01:27,160 --> 00:01:29,280
Speaker 1: Because we had a discussion about this on the show

32
00:01:29,319 --> 00:01:31,400
Speaker 1: sometime ago. A bit of a juicy apple is a

33
00:01:31,400 --> 00:01:33,040
Speaker 1: good thing. You don't want a dry thing. But sometimes

34
00:01:33,120 --> 00:01:35,080
Speaker 1: they overjuice and that's almost as annoying.

35
00:01:35,959 --> 00:01:38,720
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's one of those complex things where it's crunch

36
00:01:38,840 --> 00:01:42,000
Speaker 3: and juiciness and flavor all combined and it's hard to

37
00:01:42,040 --> 00:01:45,520
Speaker 3: break apart. But when consumers describe what they like, they

38
00:01:46,400 --> 00:01:47,360
Speaker 3: it's a combination that.

39
00:01:47,319 --> 00:01:47,800
Speaker 2: They really like.

40
00:01:47,920 --> 00:01:50,800
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean what I'm talking about with too much juice,

41
00:01:50,840 --> 00:01:52,680
Speaker 1: is that just a me thing or is that normal?

42
00:01:54,320 --> 00:01:56,760
Speaker 2: I'm not really sure. I know what you mean. When

43
00:01:56,800 --> 00:01:59,560
Speaker 2: you think about a Nashi pear, are pretty juicy, aren't they? Yeah?

44
00:01:59,560 --> 00:02:01,920
Speaker 1: Because like an apple. The thing about the apple, which

45
00:02:01,960 --> 00:02:04,280
Speaker 1: is great, which I'm telling the guy who's the chief

46
00:02:04,320 --> 00:02:06,720
Speaker 1: executive of the business. But the thing about the apple

47
00:02:06,880 --> 00:02:10,440
Speaker 1: it's great is that it's a fuss free snack, isn't

48
00:02:10,440 --> 00:02:11,639
Speaker 1: it Like you can eat your thing and then you

49
00:02:11,639 --> 00:02:13,800
Speaker 1: can throw it away and you're not left with juice

50
00:02:13,800 --> 00:02:16,160
Speaker 1: all over your hands. Anyway, as I say, bizire line

51
00:02:16,160 --> 00:02:18,120
Speaker 1: of questioning, forget that we even went there. Tell me

52
00:02:18,160 --> 00:02:20,359
Speaker 1: about what's going on with the berry business.

53
00:02:21,200 --> 00:02:22,320
Speaker 2: The very business.

54
00:02:22,320 --> 00:02:25,600
Speaker 3: So we're relatively new into scaling up our bury business

55
00:02:25,639 --> 00:02:28,600
Speaker 3: and that's on the back of again the genetics work

56
00:02:28,680 --> 00:02:32,800
Speaker 3: to identify really great tasting consumer berries large generally, larger

57
00:02:34,000 --> 00:02:37,519
Speaker 3: berries are what consumers prefer, and working with the Plant

58
00:02:37,560 --> 00:02:42,000
Speaker 3: and Food or the by Economy Science Institute as it's

59
00:02:42,040 --> 00:02:45,400
Speaker 3: now called, we've been working with them on identifying those

60
00:02:46,360 --> 00:02:49,600
Speaker 3: genetics and then looking to scale those globally. We've got

61
00:02:50,000 --> 00:02:53,280
Speaker 3: a really good program in Australia. We've got another program

62
00:02:53,360 --> 00:02:56,760
Speaker 3: growing up north in Kaikoe and those are servicing the

63
00:02:56,800 --> 00:02:58,680
Speaker 3: domestic markets more locally.

64
00:02:58,720 --> 00:03:01,040
Speaker 2: And then we've got a recent partnership.

65
00:03:00,520 --> 00:03:05,000
Speaker 3: With a really large grower in the US called California Giant,

66
00:03:05,240 --> 00:03:07,760
Speaker 3: and in that program we're looking to crack into the

67
00:03:07,840 --> 00:03:12,160
Speaker 3: US market by bringing those species and genetics into the

68
00:03:12,240 --> 00:03:14,360
Speaker 3: US market and scaling up over the next few years.

69
00:03:14,400 --> 00:03:16,119
Speaker 1: So when you say a larger berry, do you mean,

70
00:03:16,280 --> 00:03:17,760
Speaker 1: for example, if we're going to go out and buy

71
00:03:17,800 --> 00:03:20,880
Speaker 1: a punt of strawberries, we want them to be bigger strawberries.

72
00:03:22,000 --> 00:03:22,200
Speaker 2: Yep.

73
00:03:22,280 --> 00:03:25,440
Speaker 3: I think so strawberries large and red, but there's probably

74
00:03:25,480 --> 00:03:28,320
Speaker 3: a limit. Mostly I'm focusing on when I say that

75
00:03:28,440 --> 00:03:31,440
Speaker 3: larger berries is the blueberries. You know, there's a if

76
00:03:31,480 --> 00:03:35,000
Speaker 3: you've gone into the supermarkets and seen those jumbo berries

77
00:03:35,400 --> 00:03:37,280
Speaker 3: that are slightly smaller than that are grape and they're

78
00:03:37,280 --> 00:03:39,480
Speaker 3: really crunchy and crispy and right.

79
00:03:40,120 --> 00:03:42,720
Speaker 1: We've discussed this, yep, we've discussed this on the show

80
00:03:42,760 --> 00:03:45,360
Speaker 1: as well. So the what I had wondered when we

81
00:03:45,440 --> 00:03:48,080
Speaker 1: had a chat about this is are you trading flavor

82
00:03:48,440 --> 00:03:51,360
Speaker 1: because generally when something is smaller, it's more concentrated.

83
00:03:52,520 --> 00:03:54,920
Speaker 3: Yeah, it can be, and again that's part of the

84
00:03:54,960 --> 00:03:57,280
Speaker 3: selection is if we want to go and get that

85
00:03:57,360 --> 00:04:01,440
Speaker 3: ideal size, it can't be compromised and tasted and crunch.

86
00:04:01,560 --> 00:04:03,400
Speaker 1: Why do people want their blueberries to be.

87
00:04:03,360 --> 00:04:11,280
Speaker 3: Bigger pass I think there's there's probably a natural propability

88
00:04:11,320 --> 00:04:15,600
Speaker 3: and crunch that people snack on Okay, yeah.

89
00:04:15,840 --> 00:04:18,480
Speaker 1: Yeah, okay. Now, how much of a problem is China

90
00:04:18,600 --> 00:04:20,719
Speaker 1: to your business in them trying to rip off some

91
00:04:20,760 --> 00:04:21,800
Speaker 1: of your brands.

92
00:04:23,240 --> 00:04:26,200
Speaker 3: Well, it's just on China itself overall. First of all,

93
00:04:26,200 --> 00:04:29,479
Speaker 3: it's a fantastic consumer market for us. And when we

94
00:04:29,520 --> 00:04:33,080
Speaker 3: look at the growth profile going forward, particularly the Envy

95
00:04:33,080 --> 00:04:36,440
Speaker 3: brand large, red, crunchy and sweet, and that's a preferred

96
00:04:37,560 --> 00:04:40,200
Speaker 3: product profile for China. We're getting great growth in that

97
00:04:40,680 --> 00:04:43,400
Speaker 3: across the market, across all forms in the market, modern

98
00:04:43,400 --> 00:04:47,360
Speaker 3: trade and online trade and traditional trade. We see that

99
00:04:47,400 --> 00:04:51,480
Speaker 3: continuing and growing strongly into the future. It's a great,

100
00:04:51,480 --> 00:04:55,839
Speaker 3: great market. We've also partnered with local partners in China

101
00:04:55,880 --> 00:04:59,240
Speaker 3: to grow our Envy brand and that is to be

102
00:04:59,279 --> 00:05:02,400
Speaker 3: able to satisfy some local demand, but also to make

103
00:05:02,440 --> 00:05:06,120
Speaker 3: sure that we are working locally to protect our IP.

104
00:05:06,880 --> 00:05:09,159
Speaker 3: And so with any you know what it's like with

105
00:05:09,200 --> 00:05:11,760
Speaker 3: anything that's really good, you'll get people trying to rip

106
00:05:11,800 --> 00:05:12,839
Speaker 3: off that IP.

107
00:05:13,720 --> 00:05:16,719
Speaker 2: And we are quite vigilant trying to look around the.

108
00:05:16,680 --> 00:05:19,400
Speaker 3: World about where we've either got brand rip off, where

109
00:05:19,400 --> 00:05:21,560
Speaker 3: it's just taking the brand and pretending to be the

110
00:05:21,560 --> 00:05:24,880
Speaker 3: same species, or in fact someone's actually stolen material and

111
00:05:24,880 --> 00:05:27,200
Speaker 3: then planted it, and in that case we actually have

112
00:05:27,240 --> 00:05:31,480
Speaker 3: to do a genetic test to prove it. And in

113
00:05:31,520 --> 00:05:33,840
Speaker 3: the case in China, we actually saw that occur. Somehow

114
00:05:33,920 --> 00:05:37,080
Speaker 3: someone got some material from around the world and planted it.

115
00:05:37,640 --> 00:05:40,200
Speaker 3: We were able to trace that down and working through

116
00:05:40,480 --> 00:05:43,839
Speaker 3: the court system in China get a ruling in favor

117
00:05:43,880 --> 00:05:47,760
Speaker 3: of us to actually get that removed and finds allocated.

118
00:05:48,320 --> 00:05:52,440
Speaker 3: So we're really pleased that the Chinese system has upheld

119
00:05:52,480 --> 00:05:59,080
Speaker 3: the core global IP protection laws and that's made made

120
00:05:59,080 --> 00:06:01,960
Speaker 3: it really easy to to ensure that we're protecting the

121
00:06:01,960 --> 00:06:05,080
Speaker 3: brand going forward. Well sorry, not easy, but easier because

122
00:06:05,080 --> 00:06:06,440
Speaker 3: of the support of the Chinese government.

123
00:06:06,480 --> 00:06:07,840
Speaker 1: Yeah, Gareth, it's good to talk to you. Thank you

124
00:06:07,920 --> 00:06:10,680
Speaker 1: very much. Gareth Edgecombe T and g Global Chief Executive.

125
00:06:12,040 --> 00:06:15,200
Speaker 3: For more from Hither Duplessy Allen Drive, listen live to

126
00:06:15,279 --> 00:06:18,320
Speaker 3: news talks it'd be from four pm weekdays, or follow

127
00:06:18,360 --> 00:06:20,120
Speaker 3: the podcast on iHeartRadio.