RP, Much of the fruit and vegetables canned in Hastings comes from China. Local producers are unable to grow anywhere near the quantity required, or sell it to the cannery at a price the consumer would be willing to pay. They [the growers]export their wares at top prices, we import cheap product for canning.

Quick example, canned tomatoes 400gm size from the USA, were selling at Pack and Save for 78 cents a can. Fresh NZ grown tomatoes, $8.00 a kilo.

Fresh Squid is an extremely cheap product in the shops, with beautiful fresh squid skirts selling for only a few dollars a packet, whole quid cost very little also. I can't see any huge profits when the retail price is so low. It maybe the home market is so small, and squid is not a popular dish, it would not be viable to purchase the machinery to process the product entirely on home soil.