Globalisation can be described as a phenomenon whereby events, decisions and activities on one side of the world often have a significant impact on individuals and communities in other areas of the world (Steinmetz, 2010). It is the shift towards a more integrated and interdependent world economy, (Yu, 2013). Globalisation has had a significant impact on New Zealand's food industry, in both positive and negative ways. Traditional food and the consumer demand for Natural food such as farm-fresh produce, and home-style cuisine is traditionally what New Zealanders consumed and demanded for. However more recently globalisation has contributed to see a move from the meaning of traditional New Zealand food to a more diverse food industry. Technological and social environmental factors have both been largely influenced from the impact globalisation has had on New Zealand's food industry. .
Technological advances such as communication and transportation of the twentieth and twenty- first centuries are an immense reason why globalisation has had an impact on New Zealand's food industry. Vast improvements in transport in the last century have enabled transport of food products around the world and into New Zealand. While the communications revolution has allowed global marketing of food product place and promotion as well as giving businesses the ability to communicate on a global scale. Communication systems such as the Internet and Internet dependant communications systems such as intranets, extranets and email connect millions of people across the globe, (Cavusgil, Knight, & Riesenberger, 2012). They have contributed to multinational food businesses to expand into New Zealand, where internationalisation is effective and intercultural communication skills can be played in the global food industry. I believe this gives businesses the opportunity to have branches located in more than one sector of the world.