While New Zealand's most famous livestock is of the woolly variety, investors should not sleep on the dairy industry. More than 5 million dairy cows not only outnumber the country's bipedal population, but the industry contributes a quarter of New Zealand's export dollars and 30 per cent of the globally traded dairy market.

Leading producer Fonterra alone accounts for 7 per cent of New Zealand's GDP, and has started to recover from a brutal milk price drop in the first half of the year caused by China's economic slowdown and global oversupply.