Cooking up something great with Eat New Zealand
Our Anchor Food Professionals (AFP) foodservice business in New Zealand has teamed up with Eat New Zealand to showcase its dairy expertise and hero products.
Eat New Zealand is a not-for-profit organisation that has been the driving force behind Feast Matariki, a celebration of kai (food), dedicated to connecting people with our land, through food.
AFP chefs Todd Thorburn and Danny Simpson
The partnership was a hit at the recent Auckland Fine Food Show where suppliers and producers gathered together to present their products and solutions to over 5,000 Foodservice industry visitors.
Fonterra Foodservice Channel Development Manager, Justin Willetts, says the AFP NZ stand at the Fine Food Show was set up to have hourly live demonstrations with three AFP Chefs creating inspiring dishes that showcase our amazing dairy products along with other New Zealand ingredients.
“In addition to the live demos AFP Chef Todd Thorburn also created an Adventurous Pairing Masterclass with Kapiti Speciality Cheeses and some amazing diverse foods and beverages. These daily sessions where by far the most popular separate event that any supplier put on,” Justin says.
Our three chefs also created a special dish for a lunchtime demonstration which was supported by an overview of Matariki (Māori New Year) and a karakia from Tiaki Hunia, Director Inclusion and Māori Strategy and Justin Tipa, Head of Māori Culture.
We watched the chefs draw on their own stories and tell them through their food. In doing so they epitomised the spirit of Matariki - sharing, story-telling, connection and togetherness.
The dishes created were personal to the chefs and were accompanied by their own story and connection to the meaning of Matariki. Eat New Zealand Chief Executive, Angela Clifford says it fantastic to see it all come to life.
“It was a significant thing to be able to celebrate our unique food stories with Fonterra. We watched the chefs draw on their own stories and tell them through their food. In doing so they epitomised the spirit of Matariki - sharing, story-telling, connection and togetherness.
“As Matariki rises in our national consciousness we’re really proud to explore this collaboration through Aotearoa’s first national food celebration", says Angela.
It’s great to collaborate with Eat New Zealand, an organisation that has the same passion as Fonterra – to showcase great product from Aotearoa/New Zealand and connect people with our country, through food.