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SPIRITED AWAY

Entries are now open for the 2021 New Zealand Spirits Awards. Presented by Spirits New Zealand Inc. and Distilled Spirits Aotearoa (NZ) Inc., the awards are a celebration of Kiwi and international spirits available in New Zealand.

The organisers’ aim is to acknowledge and reward the very best in local and international spirits and through this promote the brands and categories to consumers and trade.

Last year’s judging for the NZ Spirits Awards took place under Alert Level 1 in July and winners were announced in a virtual ceremony in August due to Level 3 COVID-19 restrictions. 2020 Champion Trophy winners included The National Distillery Company for their Hemp Gin and Lunatic and Lover’s Botanical Rum, Silver Batch No 1.

There were 260 entries in total and despite the industry being fairly young in this country, the competition was rife with sophisticated spirits being produced right here. “Distilled Spirits Aotearoa and Spirits New Zealand have been working together to jointly raise the profile of spirits in New Zealand,” noted Robert Brewer, chief executive of Spirits NZ Inc.

“Both industry bodies are working together, large and small, to ensure that everyone, including suppliers and support services such as glass and label makers, botanical and raw material suppliers, bars and restaurants benefits from the raised interest in these complex beverages.” For more information about the awards, visit www.spiritsawardsnz.nz

FEASTING ON THE WAIKATO REGION Savethe Date

Bidfood Tradeshows are back for 2021! Save the dates in your diaries now. Registrations open in March.

QUEENSTOWN

Thursday 15th April

DUNEDIN

Tuesday 4th May

INVERCARGILL

Wednesday 5th May

AUCKLAND SOUTH

Tuesday 25th May

HAMILTON

Monday 31st May

TAURANGA

Tuesday 1st June

ROTORUA

Wednesday 2nd June WHANGAREI

Tuesday 27th July

TIMARU

Tuesday 7th September

CHRISTCHURCH

Wednesday 8th September

GREYMOUTH

Tuesday 14th September

NELSON

Wednesday 15th September

WELLINGTON

Wednesday 22nd September

HAWKE’S BAY

Thursday 23rd September

Feast Waikato (31st March – 5th April) will be celebrating the wonderful region with a selection of fabulous foodie events spread over the Easter long weekend.

The line-up includes amazing dinners, lunches, cooking classes, workshops, gourmet tours, a massive cookbook sale, an Italian festival, family fun days, movies and more.

One of the highlights of the festival is one of New Zealand’s leading chefs and proud Te Awamutu lad, Ben Bayly, joining forces with Megan Priscott from Red Kitchen in Te Awamutu for a special culinary night.

Attendees will be treated to a taste of Ahi, Bayly’s restaurant in Auckland Commercial Bay with canapes and bubbles to start followed by a threecourse meal cooked by Bayly and Priscott with wine matches. PALMERSTON NORTH

Tuesday 22nd June AUCKLAND NORTH

Thursday 30th September

The making of Ahi featured in the television series New Zealand Food Stories. Ahi is a truly New Zealand restaurant and a concept straight from the heart. The name, Ahi, translates literally from Te Reo Māori to mean Fire. A nod to the kitchen and also to the passion that drives it.

For a decade Red Kitchen has been at the heart of food in Te Awamutu, from amazing café fare to wholesome take home meals and exciting catering options.

Good George brewing is hosting a Meet the Brewer dinner with a fourcourse degustation dinner matched with Good George beer and cider, along with many other local food and wine pairing dinners showcasing the brilliant talents of Waikato chefs. For more information visit, www.waikatofoodinc.com NEW PLYMOUTH

Wednesday 23rd June bidshows.co.nz

Trade Shows 2021

Proudly sponsored by

BREWERS CALL FOR TAX CUT ON KEG BEER

Brewers are asking for a temporary cut in excise tax on keg beer to help support struggling bars and restaurants. The Brewers Association has asked that the Government immediately reduce the tax paid by half. It’s the second time the association has asked for excise tax relief.

Last year, while hospitality businesses were closed during the April national lockdown, the association campaigned unsuccessfully to get the government to waive tax on about 50,000 litres of keg beer that were flushed away after it went stale. “We believe there is a need for additional Government support that can be delivered in an extremely targeted way via an immediate 50 percent reduction on excise tax for keg beer,” commented the association’s executive director, Dylan Firth, pointing to action taken in Britain to support hospitality businesses.

“We applaud the UK Government for their wideranging initiatives in the recently announced Budget, where for a second year have announced a freeze on all alcohol excise until 2021 and a significantly reduced VAT rate specifically for hospitality businesses of 5 percent,” noted Firth. “We feel the impact of lockdowns and level changes here in New Zealand, specifically in the Auckland region, necessitate relief that would benefit a large part of the hospitality sector.” The association calculated that cutting excise on keg beer would only cut annual alcohol excise tax take by about 6 percent.

“The hospitality industry has suffered badly during the past 18 months and needs specific support. Industry figures believe the sector was down at least 20 to 25 per cent on average last year,” noted Firth.

“The 2020 lockdowns and level changes to date have compounded this, with hospitality one of the industries deeply affected. For most hospitality businesses, they can only sell alcoholic beverages on-site, meaning they are unable to trade at all under alert level 3.” Firth also noted that the lockdowns had driven beer sales to the supermarkets, with keg beer sales down. Kegs were used only by on-premise bars and restaurants. An excise tax reduction would also provide support for small breweries who generally sold most of their beer through kegs, as well as their own taprooms. Australia had set its excise tax on beer lower for keg beer, he said.

“Beer producers have worked hard to support the hospitality sector where they can with taking back kegs that cannot be sold after lockdown, investing in marketing campaigns and assets to assist bars and restaurants as well as other support. Now we are asking for the Government to step in with sectorspecific support.”

AMERICAN RESCUE PLAN INCLUDES $28.6 BILLION IN RESTAURANT RELIEF

President Biden has signed the US$1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan into law which includes US$28.6 billion in relief grants for small restaurants.

While individual stimulus cheques are expected to begin rolling out, the timeline on when the Small Business Administration will begin accepting grant applications from restaurants is unclear.

“These grants will inject a much-needed stimulus along the supply chain to begin to balance the economic damage done while restaurants have been struggling,” said National Restaurant Association president and CEO, Tom Bené.

“We are still a long way from full recovery and it’s likely more grant money will be needed to get us there, but today the industry has hope for the future.”

BREWERS GUILD OF NEW ZEALAND LAUNCHES ‘BEYOND THE BEER’

SAVOR ACQUIRES HIPGROUP

On International Women’s Day this year, celebrated on March 8th, the Brewers Guild of New Zealand launched its Beyond the Beer project.

Beyond the Beer will highlight women in the beer industry and the work they do. There are females working tirelessly in all areas of the beer sector, often without recognition.

Denise Garland, 2019 Beer Writer of the Year, will take readers on a journey to meet women, learn about their experiences, and celebrate what they bring to the industry.

First up, Lee Ann Scotti, co-owner and brewer at Craftwork Brewery in Oamaru speaks about how a love of cooking and a chance taste of a Wellington-brewed IPA set the course for her to create one of Aotearoa’s most highly respected breweries.

For Scotti, it was an out-of-control home brewing hobby, a broken oven and no space left to cook in her kitchen that pushed her and her partner, Michael O’Brien, to begin a small, commercial brewery in the stone basement of her house.

Over the past seven years, Craftwork has grown from a nanobrewery with a cult following, to being a highly respected, awardwinning nano-brewery with a tasting room, popular with beer lovers right across Aotearoa and beyond.

With so many strong and interesting women in the sector it will be exciting to see who the Guild highlights next.

NZX-listed hospitality group Savor, formally Mallbeca, has acquired Hipgroup and its portfolio of eateries for $11 million.

Savor made the announcement to the NZX, saying it would raise new equity capital of $6 million to fund part of the transaction. The equity capital will come by way of a fully underwritten rights issue targeted at raising $6m at 17.67 cents per share.

The acquisition of Hipgroup and its venues Ortolana, The Store and Amano, comes in the form of a cash payment of $7.15m, $1m of ordinary shares, and a deferred cash payment of $2.85m to be paid 12 months from completion.

Savor said the acquired venues would contribute to an additional $3m in operating earnings for the group.

In the market update, Savor said the acquisition of these venues, combined with the recent divestment of Moa Brewing, provides the group with a solid financial base for future growth.

“Looking ahead, Savor’s growth strategy is two-fold and will focus on opportunities to build on existing brands throughout New Zealand, as well as acquiring new sites,” said Savor chairman Geoff Ross.

“The group is poised to leverage the right opportunities with the support of its expert management team and strengthened balance sheet.”

The acquisition of Hipgroup is dependent on debt funding arrangements and is expected to settle on April 8.

Here in New Zealand, the hospitality industry is still calling out for more targeted support.

“We need our government to come to the table and show some kindness towards those industries most hard hit by the pandemic.

The constant last-minute closures and restrictions on trading put untenable financial and emotional strain on owners,” commented Marisa Bidois, CEO Restaurant Association New Zealand.

“Over the last few weeks, I have personally taken calls from owners in tears of frustration, on the verge of losing everything they have worked so hard for.

We are now seeing the fallout from a year of doing it tough, with businesses closing and people losing their livelihoods.

The government needs to step up and ensure that our industry is not overlooked when allocating relief.”

EVERYONE’S INVITED! DEDICATED SPIRITS AND COCKTAIL FESTIVAL RETURNS

Introducing Wellington’s newest hospitality festival, uniquely cool and proudly made with love by Wellington using only the finest ingredients.

It’s been a tough year, that’s why Hospitality New Zealand together with Wellington NZ and the Wellington City Council have created Wellington’s newest hospitality festival EAT DRINK PLAY STAY.

It’s time to roll out the welcome mat to patrons to engage with Wellington’s greatest loves: food, drinks, music, performing arts and staying in its wonderful accommodation venues. The time is right to support Wellington local businesses and protect local jobs as Kiwis continue to face the challenges of the global coronavirus pandemic and to drive economic benefits for Wellington.

EAT DRINK PLAY STAY is a vibrant new festival to celebrate all things “Wellington” from its world-class craft beers and wine; to its renowned coffee culture; to its bustling restaurants and bars and amazingly talented local performers and artists. The festival also includes Mother’s Day celebrations and the official launch of “Date Night” with many more events and announcements to follow.

For more info and to register go to eatdrinkplaystay.co.nz or contact event organisers at edps@ hospitatlity.org.nz Highball, New Zealand’s only dedicated cocktail and spirits festival, is returning for its second year on 7-8 May 2021. Taking place at the historic art deco Dominion Museum Building in Wellington, Highball will feature interactive spirits sessions and handson classes led by expert distillers.

The Highball Speaker Series will feature local and international cocktail and spirits experts, and the newly rebooted New Zealand Bartender of the Year competition will see the best in the business compete for the ultimate crown. More than 40 distilleries, showcasing gin, whisky, rum, vodka and other spirits, will be serving tastings and cocktails, including Kiwi craft producers Reid + Reid, Imagination, Lunatic & Lover and Koakoa, as well as international producers such as Monkey Shoulder whisky from Scotland, and Clemengold Gin from South Africa.

Sarah Meikle, Chief Executive of the Wellington Culinary Events Trust, explained that the expansion of Highball was built off the back of the festival’s success in its inaugural year in 2019 (the festival took a hiatus in 2020 due to the national lockdown).

“Highball 2019 took off in a big way, and we received overwhelmingly positive feedback from festival goers on how much they enjoyed the immersive cocktail and spirits experience in the heart of Wellington,” said Meikle.

“We listened to what people enjoyed and what they wanted out of the festival and built this year’s event around that feedback.”

Highball festivities kick off on 7-8 May, followed by Wellington Cocktail Week from 10-16 May, showcasing the Capital’s eclectic and colourful cocktail scene with a series of events, special menus, masterclasses, and walking tours hosted by local cocktail bars, restaurants, and eateries.

Our famous Gourmet Beef Patties have been a hit around the globe for over 20 years - now it’s time for the next generation - the brand new Homestyle Beef Burger Patty.

• Succulent New Zealand beef • Rounder for better bun fit • Thinner for faster cook time • Rustic handmade look • Part-cooked and individually frozen • 22 patties per sleeve, 3 sleeves per carton.

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