Pure New Zealand Cuisine

22 February 2007

Pure New Zealand Cuisine

An exciting new joint initiative with New Zealand Lamb (Meat & Wool New Zealand), Cervena Venison (Deer Industry New Zealand), Greenshell Mussels (NZ Mussel Industry Council) and New Zealand Wines (Pernod Ricard NZ Ltd) is about to get under way in some top United States culinary schools.

The New Zealand delicacies will be given top billing in a series of interactive demonstrations for students held on both coasts of the United States, beginning in March. New Zealand Ambassador Chef, Graham Brown will teach classes of chefs-in-training, giving them key nutritional facts and product qualities, and preparation information for each of the products.

Chef Brown will design the recipes to be used during the lessons and suggest suitable wines to complement his creations, along with tips and tricks for getting the best culinary results.

Chief Executive Officer of the Deer Industry New Zealand, Mark O'Connor, said the New Zealand partners of this programme see it as a great platform for promoting the use of these specific product groups, and also to highlight New Zealand and its exceptional cuisine industry.

The chefs of the future can learn first-hand the exceptional qualities of Greenshell Mussels, Cervena Venison and New Zealand Lamb, and how to use them to their best effect when designing their menus.

"Current trends in the United States restaurant industry favour local and seasonal production. These trends are driven by disillusionment with the multinational food production systems and a desire among top level chefs to reconnect with their suppliers."

New Zealand exporters must increasingly prove their sustainable credentials to sceptical food buyers to overcome the distance our produce must travel to market, Mr O'Connor said.

This series of demonstrations will be predominantly an educational exercise, and there is huge potential to develop long-lasting relationships with these schools and become part of their regular curriculum - and keep New Zealand produce top of mind in the US food service industry.

With New Zealand's Venison exports to the United States valued at over $NZ20 million annually, Greenshell Mussels NZ$57 million, New Zealand wines exported to the US bringing in approximately NZ$138 million, and New Zealand Lamb exports to the US worth just over $NZ214 million annually, New Zealand has a lot to offer and gain from the United States food and beverage industry.

The initiative has been received well by the schools approached and an added benefit is the California Culinary Academy has decided to host a function of their own that will further promote these premium New Zealand products to key influencers in the food and beverage industry. The function will be held on March 5th at their campus restaurant in San Francisco and the audience will consist of up to 120 restaurateurs, concierges and chefs from San Francisco, making it a great opportunity to get in front of key industry decision makers.

Meat & Wool New Zealand Ltd Chief Executive Officer, Mark Jeffries said the initiative was an example of exporting industries combining resources to project our quality produce onto the international stage.

"'Our individual presence in the North American market might be small, but when exporters join forces using common attributes we can obtain significant exposure.

"It's positive to see organisations forming marketing networks like this to bring quality New Zealand produce to the fore. We'll keep looking for these opportunities because this sort of collaboration makes sense."

ENDS

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