It’s Milo — But It’s Not the Same Milo

Unmarked Parallel Imports disappoint customers and can damage the reputation of local brands.
It’s Milo — But It’s Not the Same Milo
Retailers should let customers know when a parallel import does not come from a local source, but it is not a legal requirement, says Katherine Rich, CEO Food and Grocery Council.(Phil Walter/Getty Images)
9/30/2011
Updated:
10/1/2015

<a><img src="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/09/56051395.jpg" alt="Retailers should let customers know when a parallel import does not come from a local source, but it is not a legal requirement, says Katherine Rich, CEO Food and Grocery Council.(Phil Walter/Getty Images)" title="Retailers should let customers know when a parallel import does not come from a local source, but it is not a legal requirement, says Katherine Rich, CEO Food and Grocery Council.(Phil Walter/Getty Images)" width="320" class="size-medium wp-image-1797022"/></a>
Retailers should let customers know when a parallel import does not come from a local source, but it is not a legal requirement, says Katherine Rich, CEO Food and Grocery Council.(Phil Walter/Getty Images)
Shopping can be fraught with surprises as some shocked Kiwi customers have discovered after arriving home with their favourite brand - only to find it wasn’t what they thought it was.

Last Wednesday night’s Fair Go, aired on TVOne, highlighted the experience of a consumer who had bought Milo from his local retailer only to discover that it was a lacklustre version of the old traditional Milo – lacking chocolate, malt and flavour.

The Milo, it turned out, was a parallel import, made by Nestle in the Philippines to suit the taste of Philippinos - only it was exported to New Zealand.

Katherine Rich Chief Executive of the New Zealand Food and Grocery Council (FGC), said that the Fair Go programme was just the latest example of many cases where Kiwis had been disappointed by their favourite brands.

“The taste preferences of the market in the Phillipines is different to the classic Kiwi expectation for a much loved brand like Milo and that makes sense,” she says.

Retailers should let their customers know when a parallel product does not come from a local source but it is not a legal requirement, said Ms Rich.

The biggest worry is that it could damage the reputation of local brands, she says.

Dunedin housewife Alison Rowe who had watched the programme supported the buyer who took his complaint to Fair Go.

“There is nothing worse than buying something and all of a sudden it doesn’t taste like you remember, especially something you are particularly fond of,” she said.

“I often get my glasses out and I read the labels. You have got to because you just don’t know what you are getting.”

But that is not always possible.

“Some labels aren’t in English at all and some may contain ingredients that you are actually not allowed to have in products here at all,” says Ms Rich.

Fair Go found packs of Milo that did not have Kiwi contact numbers for the distributor or importer.

Ms Rich said the FGC’s most common complaint came from customers asking who they should ring with their queries.

There is a clearcut rule that labels should carry that information and it should be in English, she said.

She said it was unfair on Kiwi producers when parallel importers “snub New Zealand rules and don’t face the same costs of compliance”.