What makes ice cream from New Zealand so good? Why do New Zealanders eat so much of it, and why is it exported to so many countries?

New Zealanders are amongst the highest per capita consumers of ice cream in the world - lying either 2nd or 3rd (with Australia), behind the USA.
(New Zealand per capita consumption of ice cream and related products = 22-23 litres per annum as at 31/12/06).

This is not only testament to the quality of ice cream produced here over many years, but evidence of a discriminating local consumer base - New Zealanders love their dairy products and know their ice cream! As a result, the ice cream market is historically very innovative and extremely competitive for its size.

It is also unique in some aspects - take the "national icon" ice cream flavour hokey pokey for example. Almost universally, the top three ice cream flavours around the world are vanilla, chocolate and strawberry. In New Zealand, hokey pokey is second most popular after vanilla, with chocolate and strawberry following.

New Zealand is world-famous for the quality of its dairy products, which are in turn the result of a clean environment, year-round grazing on outdoor pasture, a technologically advanced dairy industry, and strict quality and hygiene standards. New Zealand ice cream is made from the best and freshest dairy ingredients available anywhere.

New Zealand ice cream is defined under the Joint Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code, effective from December 2002, administered by Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ).

Ice cream is defined as the frozen product prepared from milk or cream or milk products consisting of not less than 10% milk fat, and not less than 168g/L of food solids.

There are separate definitions for lower fat products, or products where the fat comes from another source such as coconut oil, under Reduced Fat Ice Cream, Low Fat Ice Cream, and Frozen Confection. Ice Confection covers frozen desserts with no regulated fat content.

- See STANDARD L1, ICE CREAM AND ICE CONFECTION AND RELATED PRODUCTS.

A combination of an open and highly competitive marketplace, and historical distance from equipment suppliers, has helped to raise ice cream manufacturing technology to a level that allows local manufacturers to successfully hold their own against multinational competition.

The manufacturing dairy industry has provided an environment that the ice cream industry has benefited from - high quality and hygiene standards, excellent training facilities and a strong local dairy engineering industry.

New Zealand is free of most animal diseases, and our large agricultural-based export industries depend on the country maintaining this clean status.

Manufacturing, export quality and hygiene regulations were in the past administered by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF) and the Ministry of Health (MoH). These were taken over by a new single agency, the New Zealand Food Safety Authority - NZFSA, from 2002.

The ice cream industry has been proactive in setting up its own Code of Practice, prescribing minimum food safety standards from farm to supermarket. Both MAF and MoH were involved in the development of this Code.

New Zealand ice cream manufacturers are determined that they will maintain and build on their reputation for producing some of the best ice cream in the world.

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Copyright © 2002-2008 The New Zealand Ice Cream Manufacturers Association (Inc.) - NZ icecream industry, manufacturers and suppliers.
Contact: The Executive Secretary, NZ Ice Cream Manufacturers' Assn., PO Box 9364, Wellington, NEW ZEALAND.
Telephone +64 4 385 1410. Fax No. +64 4 384 3980. E-mail: info@nzicecream.org.nz