OPENING OUR DOORS…
When Suzanna White first stepped onto New Zealand soil from a plane that carried her from the US,
she had one mission in mind. “As a foodie, I wanted to see New Zealand food being made right in
front of me via factory and plant tours,” the 34-year-old health advisor says. “Particularly Maori food,
chocolate and candy – it was one of the main reasons I came here.”
However, White left New
Zealand four weeks
later a little disappointed.
Not only did she
not visit any confectionary
manufacturers, she couldn’t
even find any resources pointing her
to manufacturers using traditional
Maori processes and ingredients.
“My life revolves around food, and
I consider factory tours as acts of
devotion,” she says. “I really found
New Zealand to be lagging behind in
this regard, which is a shame.”
It’s a sentiment that has seen public
debate before. Lincoln University
exchange student Francesc Fuste
Forne made headlines several years
ago when he urged food manufacturers
and farmers to host more
tours, boosting their profit and general
tourism. And Tourism Industry
Association New Zealand chief executive
Chris Roberts said experiencing
New Zealand food and wine was
important to visitors, especially at the
‘premium’ end.
Industry research shows that visitors
from China, our fastest growing
market, are especially interested in
‘immersive experiences’; they love
seeing food in its natural state, or
catching it at source, being involved
in preparing and cooking it.
“Experiences could range from
eating at New Zealand restaurants to
meeting the producers and learning
about how food was produced,”
Roberts said at the time. “Tourism
could promote food and beverage
worldwide, potentially increasing
export sales when visitors returned
home.”
There’s much for visitors to see
already, particularly in wine and beer.
Wineries have opened their doors for
many years, conducting tours of the
production process, and confectionery
companies like the now defunct
Cadbury plant in Dunedin filled an
important role.
New Zealand’s 100% Pure campaign
has worked well for many
years because visitors coming here
in their thousands had their expectations
filled. That campaign has
now changed to emphasise people
as well as place after 19 years of
highlighting sweeping hills and woolly
sheep.
“What it doesn’t do is showcase
New Zealand’s unique people and
culture, our way of being, our warm
welcome,” Tourism NZ chief executive
Stephen England-Hall says. The
agency is now working with Maori
tourism and other interested groups
before a planned relaunch in the
middle of this year.
Peanut butter-maker Pic’s runs 30
minutes tours through its Nelson
site. Owner Pic Picot says the plant
engineers “had a lot of misgivings”
about potential commercial spying,
but the benefit of being open to the
public outweighed the negatives.
Besides, “anyone can figure out how
to squash peanuts and roast them,”
he says.
In farming, every year Lincoln University
opens its gates to its commercial
dairy farm. It’s an opportunity to “get
up close and learn about the transformation
of sunshine into food,”
Lincoln says.
Some of the most popular tours are
to breweries, like DB’s Monteith’s
in Greymouth, Speight’s in Dunedin
and the “Tui Brewery Experience”
in Mangatainoka, Tararua.
FEATURE: COMPANY TOURS
20 FEBRUARY 2019