Browse Data and Analysis

The Hotel, Restaurant, and Institutional (HRI) sector is seeing signs of recovery in New Zealand (NZ). However, aches and pains still exist. Meanwhile, NZ continues to recover from a cost-of-living crisis, which sadly caused restaurants to close their doors.

The New Zealand Government is in the final stages of amending its Climate Change Response Act 2002 to remove agriculture activities from the New Zealand Emissions Trading Scheme.

The Venezuelan private sector supports biotechnology use and application. Nevertheless, the Venezuelan authority maintains a ban on the domestic use and research of modern biotechnology-derived agriculture.

In New Zealand, genetically engineered (GE) products are regulated under the 1996 Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act (HSNO) and administered by the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA). On October 14, 2023, New Zealand held a general election, which resulted in a change in Government.

New Zealand’s apple-planted area in the 2024/2025 market year (MY) is forecast to increase substantially to 11,100 hectares (ha) from the significant damage to farms due to Cyclone Gabrielle in February 2023.

New Zealand fluid milk production is forecasted to be 21.3 million metric tons (MMT) in the 2025 market year (MY).

FAS estimates Venezuela corn production at 1.36 million metric tons for the new market year (MY) 2024/2025 on a planted area of 350,000 hectares. Significant economic uncertainty persists following the July 28, 2024, presidential election, and higher inflation and a scarcity of U.S. dollars will likely inhibit increased corn acreage and limit yields.

New Zealand has signed a free-trade deal with the United Arab Emirates - the fastest agreement the country has ever reached. After negotiations began in May, the country's trade negotiators concluded the deal in four months.

Since 2014, Venezuela’s total meat consumption has declined 57 percent due to prolonged economic downfall. Nevertheless, since 2019, an improved economic environment has led to stabilized beef production and significant growth in the poultry sector. In 2024, total per capita meat consumption is forecast to be 32.4 kilograms, growing 83 percent from its 2018 record low.

U.S. food and agricultural products have continued to prove popular in the New Zealand market. In 2023, the value of these products was a record US$ 9.3 million, US$ 3.4 million of which were consumer-oriented products.

This report provides information to U.S. exporters of agricultural and related products on how to do business with the retail food sector in Panama. Important supermarket, hypermarket, and independent specialty food store chains dominates the grocery sector.

FAS/Wellington 2025 market year production forecast would be the highest annual production on record, If realized. In addition, post is forecasting that beef and veal exports in 2025 to also be the highest volume for New Zealand in a single year.