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An esteemed panel of judges will taste, smell and crumble their way through more than 300 New Zealand cheeses on Sunday the 23rd of February as they hunt for the winners of the NZ Champions of Cheese Awards 2020.
For the first time in the Awards 17-year history, the panel – led by Australian master judge Russell Smith – will be looking for three Supreme Champions. The change ensures the Awards represent the all the country’s cheesemakers from boutique producers through to the very large cheese companies and producers in between.
The NZ Champions of Cheese Awards are not just for professional judges, cheese lovers from across the country are being called on to be part of the Awards too. Foodies are asked to nominate their favourite place to buy New Zealand cheese. The 180 degrees Favourite NZ Specialty Cheese Shopping Experience recognises the supermarket, specialty food store, farmers’ market or cheese shop which provides
amazing service for those
buying New Zealand cheese. A new addition for 2020 Awards is the Ignite Colleges Chefs’ Choice in which cheesemakers submit a cheese of their choice which showcase their skill to be assessed exclusively by a specially convened panel of award-winning chefs. Hallertau head chef, Drew Lautenbach; Cordis executive chef, Volker Marecek and Ignite Colleges and NZ Chefs Auckland Branch President Jasbir Kaur, will be assessing the cheese with a view to choosing a winner whose cheese will wow restaurant and café diners.
Following judgingat Ignite Colleges, Manukau medal winners will be announced in March. The announcement of Trophy Winners will be at a four-course gala dinner featuring a selection of winning cheeses at SkyCity Hamilton on Wednesday 6 May 2020.
NZSCA is expecting 300 guests from throughout the country at the NZ Champions of Cheese Awards 2020.
On April 1st the minimum wage in New Zealand will be increased by $1.20 to $18.90, this could be the catalyst that pushes coffee prices through the psychological $5 barrier.
Hospitality expert Mark Collins said that while consumers were unlikely to stop buying coffee at $5, they might respond by having one less coffee per week instead.
Collins added that distribution companies who supply cafes with milk and coffee beans would also pass on the wage increase, adding to the pressure on prices.
Most cafes have already put their prices up in preparation for the wage increase, conceding that a $5 coffee was inevitable.
Owner of iconic Wellington café, Midnight Espresso (which has been in business since 1988), Hamish McIntyre said he was choosing to spread the wage increase across the whole menu, increasing prices by 50c on both coffee and food.
A flat white is now $4 at Midnight Espresso, one of the cheapest in town, despite using high quality coffee beans and organic milk. McIntyre said that prices would not go up again until at least next year.
In Dunedin Tim Milmine, owner of The Fix said $5 for a coffee was a sticking point for a lot of people. “It’s going to be very hard to get people across that $5 mark.”
INDUSTRY EVENT RESCHEDULED
FHA-Food & Beverage and ProWine Asia (Singapore), originally scheduled for 31 March – 3 April 2020, will be postponed to a later date due to global travel concerns and the spill-over effects on the food and beverage industry in light of the latest developments regarding the COVID-19 situation.
As announced on 5 February 2020, FHA-HoReCa has been rescheduled to 13-16 July 2020 at the Singapore Expo. “We appreciate and fully support Informa Markets’ decision to postpone FHAHoReCa, a major event for our members and the hospitality sector,” said Margaret Heng, Executive Director, Singapore Hotel Association. We have been monitoring the novel coronavirus situation in the region and the impact on the industry, and know the decision was made with the industry’s interest at heart. We will definitely continue our support and participation in the event in July.”
Informa Markets have said that its sole focus remains to deliver the FHA events of enhanced quality and ensure that participants are able to meet and source from quality global suppliers in a safe environment.
A NEW CONCEPT FOR SPECIALTY COFFEE
Wanting to bring a new concept for specialty coffee to Auckland’s CBD, local coffee roasters Kōkako are opening Kōkako Commercial Bay. Taking cues from various components of international coffee shops visited by the team at Kōkako over the last few years, Kōkako Commercial Bay will bring together the latest innovations in coffee equipment with a sustainable and modern New Zealand design aesthetic.
Kōkako has collaborated with some great minds and creatives to bring Kōkako Commercial Bay to life. The 40 square metre coffee bar was designed by Auckland based Interior Architects CTRL Space and features a natural timber wall alongside a variety of innovative sustainable materials.
The espresso bar features the latest espresso machine technology from Italian manufacturer La Marzocco. Various methods for brewing filter coffees are on offer including multiple daily batch brews. The brew counter also houses four dedicated taps with a nitrogenated cold brew, Cascara Kombucha and a rotating selection of coffee-related beverages developed in-house.
Being located within Commercial Bay will allow Kōkako to continue what it started many years ago in Parnell, then in Grey Lynn, which is to connect the coffee producer with the coffee drinker to make specialty coffee accessible and easy to understand. The new space will be open in late March.
COMIC CUISINE
A new restaurant is set to open in London’s Soho with a unique theme. Wonderland Restaurants is set to open a DC Comics inspired restaurant called Park Row, named after the area of Gotham City, which is home to Bruce Wayne.
The restaurant will be the first fully immersive DCinspired restaurant experience in the world and is a partnership between Wonderland Restaurants, Warner Bros, and DC. The interiors have been designed to bring DC’s famous fictional environments to life. Pennyworth’s (named after Bruce Wayne’s butler, Alfred) will serve historically inspired British food while The Iceberg Lounge, dedicated to Batman comic book villain the Penguin, will be the largest restaurant in the Art Deco dining room. “We are hugely excited to see the first immersive DCinspired restaurant open here in London,” said Peter van Roden, senior vice president of Global Themed Entertainment at Warner Bros. Consumer Products. “We wish the incredibly talented team at Wonderland and Park Row all the best for its launch.” Last week, the UK government revealed its plans to end ‘low skilled’ migration from the EU once Brexit is enacted and it leaves the bloc at the end of the year. The decision provoked fierce condemnation from across the industry, with trade body UKHospitality calling the proposed changes “disastrous” for the sector. The consensus from many industry leaders is that speaking English and having a university degree shouldn’t be prerequisites for being a chef or working on a restaurant floor. It takes away the opportunity for immigrants to learn language skills through real-life interactions and the possibility to be trained up from kitchen helper to head chef. Real-world, in house training is a tradition in the hospitality trade, many industry leaders and establishment owners started out on the floor or washing dishes. The proposed changes could mean that establishments will need to evolve to operate with fewer staff as many in the employment pool return to EU countries. The government has urged employers to move away from relying on ‘cheap’ European labour and invest in retaining current staff and new automation technology. With the general election coming up in September in New Zealand it will be important to keep abreast with any proposed immigration changes here while keeping an eye on the UK hospitality industry and how it copes with this new challenge. BREXIT HEADACHES FOR UK HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY
