South Otago-based Calder Stewart is developing a new ingredient warehousing and distribution facility at a cost of more than $15 million at South Auckland business park Drury South Crossing.
The 3500sq m facility is being built for multinational food ingredients brand Langdon. Construction begins in March and completion is scheduled for November next year.
A statement said the investment was to meet surging New Zealand demand for third-culture cuisine and Gen Z’s evolving interest in foods popularised on social media.
Third-culture cuisine referred to dishes created by people raised between two or more cultures who blend their family heritage with the food traditions of the country they grew up in, producing entirely new flavour profiles that were now influencing mainstream manufacturing.
The new warehouse would have more than double the capacity of the business’s previous site, giving the company the scale needed to support the rapidly diversifying ingredient requirements of New Zealand food manufacturers and the hospitality sector.
Langdon NZ country manager Kenny Pihema said younger consumers were reshaping the country’s eating habits at an accelerating pace.
Many came from multicultural households and wanted flavours that reflect their blended identities, which was driving demand for global spices, botanicals and natural powders.
“Gen Z are the first generation to discover new flavours online rather than at home. Many of them are trying chillies, spices and global cuisines for the very first time through TikTok, food challenges and multicultural friend groups.
“That discovery loop is completely different from older generations and it is rapidly reshaping what manufacturers need,” he said.
Global heat challenges, spice tastings and cross-cultural food the trends amplified through social media had pushed named chillies, heat profiles and new aromatics into the mainstream.
“Heat is exploding at the moment. Gen Z are driving chilli culture and experimenting at a scale we have never seen.
“Thirty years ago when we first launched in New Zealand, we offered less than a handful of chilli varieties.
“Today we supply more than 30 different formats and varieties.
“The pace of diversification is extraordinary and it is being driven by consumers who want global flavour experiences.
“Our Australian pantry has more than 2500 ingredients.
“New Zealand isn’t at that scale yet, but this warehouse takes us a long way towards giving manufacturers the diversity they now need,” he said.
Calder Stewart North Island development manager Sam Smith said the building included a controlled aromatic zone and humidity management systems to prevent flavour contamination among spices, coffee, botanicals and other sensitive ingredients.
The Drury South Crossing precinct has become one of the country’s most active industrial zones.
Calder Stewart is developing facilities at the Drury South Crossing precinct for major occupiers Briscoes Group and Wesfarmers subsidiary, NZ Safety Blackwoods. — Allied Media
