Showcase Boost NZ Food, Wine, Whiteware Interest

UK Celebrity Showcase To Boost Interest In NZ Food, Wine, Whiteware

November 22, 2002 -- New Zealand specialty food, wine and top-line kitchen appliances will be showcased at the United Kingdom’s leading celebrity food event next week, with high profile New Zealand chefs cooking up a storm on site.

New Zealand is making its debut appearance at the popular BBC Good Food Show, being held at the National Exhibition Centre near Birmingham from 27 November to 1 December. The event features cooking demonstrations with hundreds of celebrity chefs, a wide range of food and wine tastings and the latest cooking products.

Exhibition space at the event sold out some time ago, but not before Trade New Zealand had booked a 17 metre by 5 metre island site situated near the Wine Theatre and close to exhibits by leading UK retailers Safeway and Marks & Spencer.

Trade New Zealand’s Senior Trade Commissioner for Europe John Waugh says the decision to mount a New Zealand exhibition at the event has been fuelled by growing interest in Kiwi food, wine and cooking products in the UK market.

“Although the UK is an extremely competitive market, New Zealand has a long standing reputation as a supplier of high quality, healthy and tasty food. Our wine is recognised as a premium product by British buyers and we are also known for coming up with smart new products and ideas.

“This show, which tends to attract professional, sophisticated and high spending buyers, presents a wonderful opportunity to further cement New Zealand’s position in the marketplace.”

Fisher & Paykel Appliances Ltd will be the largest New Zealand exhibitor at the show, taking around one-third of the display site to establish a kitchen and demonstration area, featuring its range of whiteware goods.

Two high profile chefs – New Zealander Chris Coubrough, head chef at the Crown Hotel in Southwold, Suffolk, and Stephen Pini, Executive Head Chef of the Fishmongers Company, one of the most prestigious of the UK livery companies - will present five cooking demonstrations in the Fisher & Paykel Appliances kitchen each day of the show. These will be interspersed with tastings of New Zealand wines. Another famous New Zealander and one of Britain’s hottest chefs, Ross Burden, will also be making regular appearances at the BBC Good Food Show.

Other organisations joining the New Zealand stand are Meat New Zealand, which will tell the story of lamb over the past 120 years, Olivado with its unique avocado oil and Sealord, featuring Hoki and Greenshell™ mussels. New Zealand wines will be represented by Tohu Wines, Nautilus Wines and Grove Mill Wines while the New Zealand Immigration Service will also have representatives on site.

A range of other New Zealand products will be showcased at the event on the stands of UK distributors, importers and retailers.

In addition the New Zealand pavilion will be linked to an exhibition by the Marine Stewardship Council, which is promoting Hoki as a sustainable resource.

Trade New Zealand’s Marketing Consultant in London Philip Atkinson is convening the Kiwi exhibition site and says Fisher & Paykel Appliances is a good example of a New Zealand company doing well with its innovations in the UK.

Fisher & Paykel Appliances’ unique ‘DishDrawer’ dishwasher, which has two separate wash units and allows both a delicate and heavy duty cycle to be completed at the same time, is attracting strong interest and sales are growing.

“The company recognises that being part of a New Zealand stand offers special benefits in such a big market. In our experience selling New Zealand is the top priority, followed by individual products and brands.”

To boost New Zealand’s profile at the event further, London-based Maori performance group Te Tau will perform both at the fair’s entrance and on the New Zealand pavilion on the opening day of the show. There are also plans for a live screening on the stand of the quarter final races of the Louis Vuitton Cup challenger series for yachting’s premier international trophy – the America’s Cup.

Last year’s BBC Good Food Show attracted 114,000 visitors, up from 108,000 in 2000 with each spending on average ₤44.70 ($NZ145). Well over half the visitors came from the professional, managerial and business sectors. Organisers are expecting the number of visitors to reach 120,000 this year, with most ticketed sessions already sold out.

FACT FILE

New Zealand’s export sales of food to the UK total over NZ$1 billion annually

Britain is New Zealand’s largest lamb market

The UK is New Zealand’s biggest market for wine, taking around half our annual wine exports

Strong growth in the value of organic exports from New Zealand to the UK is expected given New Zealand’s reputation as a safe source of food

New Zealand exports of seafood to the UK topped $32 million in 2001 with hoki and Greenshell mussels being key species

Exhibitors on the New Zealand Stand at the BC Good Food Show 2002

Fisher & Paykel Ltd

Email mailto: mailto:enquiries@fisherpaykel.co.nz

Web http:// http://www.fisherpaykel.com

Meat New Zealand

Email mailto: mailto:lisah@attenborough.net

Web http:// http://www.nzmeat.co.nz

New Zealand Winegrowers

Email mailto: mailto:info@winzuk.com

Web http:// http://www.nzwine.com

Sealord Europe Ltd

Email mailto: mailto:njm@uksealord.co.nz

Web http:// http://www.sealord.co.nz

Olivado

Email mailto: mailto:david@bespoke-foods.co.uk

Web http:// http://www.olivado.co.nz

New Zealand Immigration Services

Web http:// http://www.immigration.govt.nz

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