GEOFF SCOTT (FOOD JUDGE) DR SAAD HUSSAIN (SCION) 60 ANNUAL DIRECTORY 2018 SOPHIE WILLIAMSON (POPPY AND OLIVE) As a coeliac, East Auckland-based Williamson has always looked for all-natural foods that are accessible to all. “I’ve always been interested in gluten-free baking, and having to watch what I eat. I was diagnosed when I was five, so it was long before it was popular or fashionable,” she says. With a tagline of ‘made with bare necessities’, the company is completely natural, gluten-free, vegan and paleo, with no refined sugar. Williamson’s chocolate hazelnut butter won the gourmet award at last year’s NZ Food Awards, and her recently launched crunchy almond butter was selected as a finalist. After initially selling at farmers markets around Auckland, Williamson started getting approached by retailers asking to stock her products, and a year ago, she signed on as a subsidiary with paleo-friendly food company CleanPaleo. www.poppyandolive.co.nz Trained under the famous Roux brothers - Alain Ducasse and Michel Rostang - in restaurants across Europe, acclaimed chef Scott returned to New Zealand in 2005 and started his restaurant Vinnies in Herne Bay. A consultant and lecturer, Scott judges food competitions across the country, and regularly contributes to food publications. His website is filled with menus, tips and tricks, along with new education and specialised cooking services. www.geoffscott.nz PETER CULINANE (LEWIS ROAD CREAMERY) Culinane knows his chocolate cream liqueur was a pretty bold offering for a small company based at the bottom of the world, but the Lewis Rd Creamery founder is used to risk. The man behind Whittakers chocolate milk – which forced supermarkets to hire security guards and created a black market selling it for double the price in 2016 – says he knew he couldn’t compete with Baileys, which sells 82 billion bottles annually, but demand for his new product has gone nuts. His company now produces flavoured milks, artisan breads, ice creams, custards and chocolate butter, after initially being launched in 2014 when Culinane couldn’t find a butter to his taste and started making his own. www.lewisroadcreamery.co.nz With a PhD in foaming technology, it was only right that Rotorua scientist Hussain would take his idea of creating sustainable foaming packaging from corn and run with it. At Crown research institute Scion, Hussain has turned corn into a decompostable foam that some of the world’s largest food and beverage packaging companies are currently vying for. The former Canadian has turned poly lactic acid polymer into a foam that can be used for food and beverage packaging, although only Europe currently has the ability to break it down on an industrial scale. For sustainable packaging to become mainstream, the entire supply chain needs to support it, Hussain says. “We just invent it…we are one piece of the puzzle.” Hussain was selected as a finalist in the KiwiNet Research Commercialisation Awards in 2017. www.scionresearch.com
FT-Annual Directory 2018-eMag
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