Lincoln University experts are coming to the table to help New Zealand’s food movement through a partnership with ConversatioNZ, a collective of New Zealand chefs, producers, media, tourism and event operators interested in creating a national platform to promote and champion the country’s best food and drink.
The movement aims to harness both traditional and innovative knowledge drawn from the community of people who grow, gather, raise, prepare and work with food resources. Glen Creasy, Senior Lecturer in Viticulture at Lincoln, will join chefs, food writers, restaurateurs and food producers from around New Zealand on Sunday 20 November at Taste of Auckland, an event hosted by ConversatioNZ and supported by the university. Discussion will centre on what happens next in the local food scene.
Glen will be asking questions about the New Zealand wine industry, which has enjoyed continued success in growing its export value. Was this all according to a grand plan, or did everything just sort of come together really nicely? He says that as with most questions, there's no simple answer, but the wine industry's experiences hold some useful lessons for the future.
“Number one is that serendipity happens, and number two is that you need to be ready to embrace and build on those opportunities. New Zealand Wine, through a series of unplanned events, stumbled across a new and refreshing style of Sauvignon blanc that took the wine world by surprise. At the time, Marlborough was a bit like the Wild West of the wine industry, but the young winemakers took this ball and ran with it, fanning the ember of success, daring to be different and explore the brave new world that was New Zealand wine.
“Along the way, innovations like the development of the Sustainable Winegrowing programme, whole-hearted adoption of the screw-cap bottle closure and spearheading development of lower-alcohol wine styles are examples of how the industry has not been sitting still. Today, the industry is maturing, but still has the can-do attitude to invest in new ideas, take those chances, and continue to build on its success.”
LincolnConnect Interim Director Linda Harrison says the partnership with the ConversatioNZ movement is an exciting opportunity for Lincoln University. “The synergies between our core brand values and the alignment with our land-based experts in fields such as tourism, food, agriculture and viticulture, will be instrumental in helping the movement to realise its goal of making New Zealand’s food famous.”