Kaitaki

Kate is a freelance food writer, Communications Specialist and Kaitaki Lead for Eat New Zealand, Restaurant Manager at award-winning Forest on Dominion Road, and co-creator of digital food journal Appetite for Words. Her work has featured in The Spinoff, Metro, Nourish Magazine, UNO and more. In 2024 she was named one of the Top 50 Most Inspiring Women in Food & Drink in New Zealand. With a background in human nutrition, Kate has built a career across food storytelling, communications and education - driven to share Aotearoa's rich, evolving food culture far and wide.

@_kate_underwood / @forest.akl / forestrestaurant.co.nz / LinkedIn / @appetite.for.words

Sophie Merkens is a writer, photographer, and recipe developer with a passion for gardening, foraging, and wild, local food. She’s the author and photographer behind Grow: Wāhine Finding Connection Through Food and Eat Wild: A Foraging Journey Across Aotearoa. She regularly writes columns for gardening and lifestyle magazines, photographs cookbooks, and collaborates with epic ethical brands, with a focus on connecting people, place, and ingredients through story.

www.sophiemerkens.com / @sophiemerkens

Max is an award-winning chef, forager, and co-owner of Graze Wine Bar in Pōneke Wellington. With two decades of cooking across Aotearoa, he has built a career rooted in a simple but powerful philosophy: eat local, waste less. Graze Wine Bar is a living expression of that ethos, its menu dedicated entirely to local New Zealand producers with an unwavering commitment to zero-waste cooking. Max is a passionate advocate for connecting people to their communities through delicious kai (food) that doesn't destroy the planet!

@maxgordy / @grazewinebar / www.grazewinebar.co.nz 

Alex is a grower, co-founder, and mother behind Little Farms; a weekly farm box connecting Wairarapa growers and producers with their communities. She splits her time between tending her own market garden and supporting the network of farmers supplying Little Farms' boxes. A passionate food systems advocate, Alex hosts gardening workshops, collaborates with community groups, and speaks at events to champion growing and eating local. She coordinates the Young Organic Growers Alliance Aotearoa and serves as a Trustee of Where's the Food. She is a total force!

@growing._goodness / www.wearelittlefarms 

Jack is a hospitality professional, food waste advocate and the Operations Manager at Everybody Eats, where he has spent five years connecting surplus kai with communities across Auckland and Wellington. A highly respected individual, Jack deeply believes good food should be for everyone.

www.everybodyeats.nz | @everybodyeatsnz

Lily is a New Zealand Registered Dietitian and Nutrition & Ingredients Manager at My Food Bag, bringing 19+ years of experience across community dietetics, public health nutrition and the food industry. In her role at My Food Bag, she's passionate about making healthy food delicious, using quality New Zealand ingredients and minimising food waste. Lily is Convenor of the Public Health Special Interest Group at Dietitians NZ, sits on the Board of Directors of the Australasian Society of Lifestyle Medicine, and serves on the Executive Committee of the World Lifestyle Medicine Organisation. She is also a regular media spokesperson for Dietitians NZ on public health nutrition.

@nutritionwithlils / myfoodbag.co.nz / Lily Henderson | LinkedIn

Monique is a holistic food systems facilitator and founder of Natural Wisdom, teaching workshops across biodynamics, spiritual gardening, planting by the moon, and consulting throughout Aotearoa. With experience growing in many of New Zealand's climatic regions, she produces an accessible monthly cosmic calendar with Soil & Health and Biodynamics NZ. In 2025 she delivered a keynote at the International Agriculture Conference at the Goetheanum in Switzerland. At the heart of her work is a deep passion for food, localisation and thriving nature and her greatest joy is helping people find their way back to the land and themselves.

@_natural_wisdom_ / www.natural-wisdom.net

Teri is a Dietitian with Te Whatu Ora, currently working one-on-one with individuals and their whānau as a renal dietitian - tailoring nutrition advice to fit the resources available to each person and advocating for kai support where needed. She also supports nutrition content creation for the Auckland Kidney Society. With a background in food security at Auckland City Mission and community dietetics, Teri is passionate about improving access to food and the difference that makes to health outcomes across Aotearoa.

Teri - Linked In

Logan is an entrepreneur, farmer, and systems builder focused on strengthening local food resilience in Aotearoa. With 15+ years’ experience developing solutions in complex regulatory and technical environments, he holds a PhD in Mechanical Engineering focused on strategic product innovation and previously co-founded ecoPortal. Logan is currently developing mobile meat processing systems and digital platforms that connect farmers directly with customers through transparent, local supply chains. He is passionate about fair returns for producers, practical innovation, and keeping more value on the farm—where it belongs.

www.earthfirst.org.nz

Brit is the founder of FlourBro, a small-batch sourdough bakery based in Invercargill, Southland/Murihiku. Her ethos is grounded in nourishment, community and real, honest food. Alongside her small team they craft high-quality, flavour-packed products using slow fermentation and whole ingredients, Brit is passionate about reconnecting people to traditional food practices and building a more resilient local food culture - one loaf at a time. Through her work, she shares the value of good bread, thoughtful process and food that supports both people and place.

www.flourbro.com