British Company acts as a lynchpin for NZ in the US Market   19 Oct 2012

19th October 2012

British Company acts as a lynchpin for New Zealand in the US Market

A little melon that is making the world a sweeter place is just one New Zealand success story that is being taken to new markets as a result of British investment and global reach.

New Zealand natural sweetener company, BioVittoria, credit their success to the partnership with the UK Company, Tate & Lyle with their launch into the US of a natural zero calorie sweetener.

The sweetener is made from a melon like fruit known as the Monk fruit. Inside this Chinese native are non calorific sweeteners 150 times sweeter than sugar. The New Zealand Company BioVittoria has the supply chain for the extract from Monk fruit.

The British High Commissioner Mrs Vicki Treadell says, “This is a great example of how a major British player is leveraging its distribution network to take a Kiwi company into new markets. This is being achieved through an exclusive global marketing deal whereby both companies benefit and succeed internationally together.”

“I like to call this strategic partnering of Tate & Lyle, BioVittoria and the American market an excellent example of Triangulation. This is where two countries work together to penetrate a third market.”

BioVittoria chief executive David Thorrold says the partnership is critical, “What is interesting about this is, here is an example of a company spring boarding into the US through the UK. It is not just about Europe, there are large British companies that have large businesses in places other than Europe. It would be the single most important partnership we have had to date.”

Praising BioVittoria’s strong presence in China, Tate & Lyle’s, Jeremy Thompson, says “the fact is that BioVittoria had already developed those relationships. If we had to seek out partners in China that had similar relationships, we would have had to start from the ground.”

ENDS

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