New Zealand Herald, 3/17/2014
Asian consumers increasingly viewing health supplements as
"an investment rather than an expense" are driving growth in New
Zealand's natural products industry, says the boss of Comvita's operations in
China and Southeast Asia.
Bay of Plenty-based Comvita markets products including
manuka honey lozenges and bee pollen capsules and operates more than 450 retail
sites across Asia.
South Asia general manager Ronnie Butt said Asian healthcare
systems were generally not as good as what New Zealanders were used to.
"A lot of Asian consumers are now seeing health
supplements, or natural skincare products, as an investment rather than an
expense," he said.
"They're thinking, 'I better go and buy something for
my parents to keep them healthy otherwise I'll be in trouble when they get
sick'."
Hong Kong-based Butt, who is in New Zealand this week to
speak at the Natural Products NZ annual summit, said 10 or 15 years ago
consumers in countries like China weren't so worried about their health.
"Now they're investing in their health," he said.
"That's a big paradigm shift and that's why the market's growing so
strongly."…
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