Who we are
New Zealand's newest contract pet food cannery, specialising in wet foods. Our high speed, high volume facility utilizes the latest pet food production techniques, resulting in a modern approach to pet nutrition. At New Zealand Riverland Foods, we don't just help you make pet food - we empower you to build a thriving pet food business. Our comprehensive end-to-end solution covers everything; from expert recipe development, sourcing New Zealand free range proteins, precise manufacturing, retail packaging design, to ensuring compliance with market specific product registration regulations. And we can do as little or as much as required, being equally equipped to support start-up companies with no industry experience or well established global players looking to add a New Zealand offering to existing recipes.
Why us
New Zealand enjoys open access to many export markets thanks to its high food safety and traceability standards. As an government accredited pet food manufacturer, we operate our factory with full adherence to rigorous risk management procedures, ensuring the safety and quality of our products. Our HACCP certification, approved by MPI New Zealand, further demonstrates our commitment to the highest standards in pet food production.
Where we are
Our facility is situated in the heart of New Zealand's South Island, surrounded by abundant natural resources and a steady supply of premium pet ingredients.
New Zealand’s unique temperate climate means farm animals are grass fed outside all year and kept in excellent health, free from disease and not requiring growth hormones.
As an island nation New Zealand is bless with one of the biggest coastlines so there is a plentiful supply of wild caught fish, fresh water salmon, green lipped mussels, abalone, and kelps
Our People
At Riverland, we firmly believe that it's the people who drive success. Our diverse team hails from various industry backgrounds, bringing with them a wealth of knowledge that forms the very foundation of our achievements.
Richard Zhu
A humble entrepreneur and pet owner.
Live and educated in New Zealand for over twenty years.
Graduated with double degrees in Accounting and Information Systems from the University of Canterbury. An Honours Finance degree from Massey University with CPA (Australia) Certification.
Founded and acting as the CFO of both United Media Solution (New Zealand), a multinational digital marketing agency and Koyooo Info Tech Company (China) in 2011.
Founded New Zealand Riverland Foods, committed to delivering the best quality pet foods New Zealand has to offer worldwide.
Jordi Du
Meet Jordi, a seasoned professional with fifteen years of experience in sales and marketing. Formerly the Partner and General Manager at United Media Solutions, an awarded digital marketing agency specialising in helping New Zealand businesses entering China, Jordi's expertise has consistently driven exceptional results for his clients. Prior to that, he held various influential marketing roles at Vodafone. Over two decades ago, Jordi made New Zealand his home, embracing the kiwi lifestyle with his family. With a passion for innovation and a dedication to excellence, Jordi continues to lead Riverland Foods alongside Richard, propelling the company to new heights in the industry.
Michael Dance
With over twenty-five years of working in FMCG sales and marketing roles across Europe, Asia and the Pacific, Michael knows first-hand what it takes to succeed in the global market. Michael’s experience within the pet industry started as General Manager of marketing for Ziwi, where he had responsibility for over twenty different countries. He then moved on to a variety of consulting roles within the industry before joining New Zealand Riverland Foods in the newly created General Manager role. Michael and his family are proud pet parents to cats Ollie and Richie.
Tom Coughlan
Tom has extensive commercial experience having run his own meat processing business for over twenty years. This included building new facilities, building high performing teams, improving process efficiency, and selling New Zealand meat products to customers throughout the world. More recently, Tom has focussed on providing high quality nutrition for our furry friends, with a role as General Manager Operations with Ziwi, overseeing Ziwi's production and packing operations throughout New Zealand.
Andy Liang
With fifteen years of experience in international trade and project management, Andy possesses comprehensive knowledge of import and export processes worldwide. He is well-versed not only in the supply chain of the Chinese market, but also thoroughly familiar with the market dynamics in Europe. Andy's expertise is instrumental in ensuring a well-functioning supply chain and maintaining a perfect balance between imports and exports.
Christopher Gourlie
Chris comes with the better part of two decades experience in senior quality assurance and operations management roles, with a diverse number of leading New Zealand food producers. As the Site Manager, Chris is engaged by the opportunity to build a new team around a culture excellence, and to contribute his breadth and depth of skills in order to ensure the success of New Zealand Riverland Foods.
Sahara Bullen Emmitt
Sahara is soon to graduate from the University of Canterbury (UC) with a Bachelor of Science majoring in Biochemistry with a minor in Mathematics. She has joined New Zealand Riverland Foods as a production operator and is excited about the opportunity to work with and learn about different processing machines. Outside of work, she is a passionate goal keeper for the UC hockey club and proud cat mum to Salem.
Sarah Morriss
Sarah is a recent graduate of Otago University, where she completed her First Class Honours and Bachelor's degree both in Food Science. During her honours degree, she studied volatile and bioactive properties of two native new Zealand plants, Horopito and Kawakawa and also learnt a lot about their traditional applications. Sarah has joined New Zealand Riverland foods as their quality assurance officer. She is a proud cat parent to Percy and Tonks who are looking forward to tasting the test recipes.
Yuguo Yuan
Mr.Yuan brings over thirty years of experience in the mechanical industry, specializing as an expert in canning, filling and sealing. Proficient in operating and maintaining all equipment, he ensures smooth operations of the whole production lines, providing invaluable support.
