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We're not giving up!

We're not giving up!

Posted by —
eatnewzealand

Published —
22.12.2021

Let’s face it, it’s been an incredibly tough year for hospitality, events and tourism. These are the places where we celebrate our food, where our stories are told, and where we acknowledge what makes us unique. They’re the places that our small food producers are recognised and alternative pathways to market opened up. It’s where our wild food exists. It’s where we gather and mark community. If we lose these places and moments what does that say about our culture? What does it say about who we are?

Next year Aotearoa’s primary sector is expected to export a record $50 billion worth of goods, the majority as commodity products. The need to move from volume to value is clearly articulated over and over again yet there is very little support for our provenance story and virtually no investment into what makes us unique.

So, as we end 2021, Eat New Zealand is setting clear intention that we will be holding everyone to account in this space in 2022. We want our stories to be celebrated, our small producers supported, our food creatives held up and acknowledged as some of the best in the world.

Covid, we acknowledge your precedence, and your powerful ability to reduce our food culture, but we’re not giving up! Join us in 2022 as we fight back through community food and celebrations, support for our farmers and fishers, connection back to our land and ocean.

We’ve already begun. We’ve done our best to update our website highlighting some of the places you can contribute to our food culture over summer as you travel Aotearoa, you can even create an itinerary. From roadside crayfish hangouts to restaurants celebrating a myriad of local ingredients, from Farmers Markets truly expressing a taste of a place to hosts of food experiences.

Every meal you have this summer can be a vote for our food culture, a defiant stance against homogeneity and commodity. Be an eater, not a consumer, be a torch-bearer and a story-teller for what comes next, be a Kaitaki.

Ka mina au i inā noa tu kaipukahu ki tō Kirihimete. (Wishing you a full puku/abundance this Christmas)

Angela Clifford CE, Eat New Zealand

Food Tourism in Southland

Great South launched its new Southland Murihiku Food Tourism Strategy last week, detailing opportunities for Southland to become a premium tourism destination through leveraging its rich food production history. Eat New Zealand helped them work on this, and we’re proud as punch to see it manifest.

We know other regions are also considering their opportunities in this space, and we look forward to working with everyone next year creating a joined-up effort to amplify our food stories across the motu (land). Together we can send a rich and authentic message to our markets for visitors and food internationally.

You can read more about Food Tourism in Southland here.

An Argument for Capital Grains

"It's a shame that New Zealand imports so many grains when our homegrown products are so good!" - farmer and chef Nadia Lim shared her thoughts recently in an article about the #EatNZGrains movement, and the opportunity and challenges that exist in this space. You can read the piece published in the Dominion Post here.

We are continuing to work hard behind the scenes alongside FAR and Dirt Road Comms and we look forward to furthering this conversation at our first official Eat NZ Grains event on May 4th in Ōtautahi. #EatNZGrains #LocalGrainEconomy

Take me to the Grains article!

Upload your favourite NZ eats!

We've been working hard on updating our Eat New Zealand website with a host of regional food offerings from farmers markets, to eateries and food tourism operators - but we know we will be missing some! And we'd love your help to ensure your favourite spots get the chance to be seen and celebrated.

It's super easy to upload your favourite spot or producers. Just follow the link below and fill in the details to submit a new listing. If you need to make any changes to an existing listing you can do so via this email.

It's important to remember that opening times, events and experiences are affected by Covid 19 restrictions, as well as summer holiday hours. So please make sure you check with the venue before you commit to going anywhere!

Submit a new listing to the Eat NZ Website

Summer Listening

A handful of our Eat NZ Kaitaki have been sharing sound bites across a number of brilliant food-focused podcasts recently, speaking to their own personal stories and experiences.

Hakari and the art of the feast - Maketu based Kaitaki, Kārena Bird joined her sister Kasey on the Nē? A the Ao Māori Podcast - Listen here.

All Things Food Podcast - hosted by Nickie Hursthouse, our Tāmaki Makaurau based Kaitaki and Dietitian. In her latest season, she spoke to some of our Eat New Zealand Kaitaki...



  • Ōtautahi based Liv Moss spoke to Fungi and Foraging here.
  • Raglan based Hannah O'Brien spoke to Sustainable Beekeeping & Honey Production here.
  • Rotorua based Kaitlyn Lamb spoke to Composting and Soil Health here.
Fishtales: A Seafood Podcast - Spear-fisherman Tim Barnett of Oceanspeared featured on a recent episode called: Viewed, Selected, Harvested. Hosted by John Susman, Nelson based Kaitaki, Tim shared his journey and undying passion for spearfishing and the massive opportunity that exists for this Kaimoana technique - listen here.

Key Dates for 2022

We know the diary is already filling up fast for 2022, so keep these dates free for next year! We can't wait to gather together some of our best farmers, fishers, bakers, chefs and everyone else in-between...

Eat New Zealand Hui - Tuesday May 3rd, Ōtautahi/Christchurch
Eat NZ Grains - Wednesday May 4th, Ōtautahi/Christchurch
Matariki Public Holiday - Friday 24th June, Nationwide

More info to come in early 2022. If you'd like to be involved get in touch!
We'd like to acknowledge the generous and ongoing support of our sponsors and partners including the Ministry for Primary Industries, ANZ, Our Land and Water, AgResearch & Anchor Food Professionals.





Here's some other food stories you might want to check out...

National Food Strategy Update - Feb 2024

Food Security Focus

Kindness and Kaihaukai

The Flavour of Our Time
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