New Zealand businesses are starting to cash in on what has been dubbed the 'Costco effect'.
The Auckland Costco superstore only opened a month ago but already, some of its local suppliers have been shoulder tapped for export orders to Costco stores throughout the Asia Pacific region.
For Cookie Time, having biscuits in the new megastore is the perfect recipe for sweet export success.
They’re making massive batches of biscuits bound for the shelves of Japan’s Costco stores.
“The Costco effect for cookie time has been a real rollercoaster of success,” said Cookie Time managing director Guy Pope-Mayell.
Pallets of cookies have been in the New Zealand superstore, but it’s the international appetite of Costco stores further afield that’s proving a game changer.
“We do have aspirations to be larger, but whereas that was a two to three-year aspiration, it's now becoming a 12-month reality,” said Pope-Mayell
They now also have orders from Taiwan, China and Australia.
Employees are working frantically to get 80 pallets of cookies ready to fill two shipping containers destined for Tokyo this week.
“Japan is such a good news story for New Zealand in the last 12 months. Exports are up almost 20 per cent,” said Japan trade commissioner Kylie Archer.
And it’s not just cookies heading abroad - after only a year of production, Everblue Shampoo has had to crank it up.
It’s also cashing in on the so-called Costco effect after becoming an NZ supplier.
“We're actually launching into Australia at the end of this month off the back of that partnership, and that could mean huge growth for our business going into next year,” said Everblue founder Renee Lee.
When the Auckland store opened, mayhem ensued - but it’s not just consumers caught up in a frenzy.
“The big challenge for exporters in any market is distribution channels, so if you can partner with a really big retailer, then they can take you into many markets,” said Catherine Beard from Export NZ.
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