A Flavour Of Home

NZBWN's 5th Birthday

What happens when you get 100 hungry Kiwi women, 13 businesses displaying flavours from home, then give the ladies just four minutes per business to sample the foodie wares? Add in a rather loud horn and you’ll find 13 of the most delicious speed dates ever. On Monday 9 June, the New Zealand Business Women’s Network held a bash in Covent Garden’s New Connaught Rooms to celebrate an incredible five years of supporting each other, new connections, expansion, fun and the natural community that being Kiwi expats in the UK creates.

Close to the heart of so many Kiwis is what they eat. It seemed fitting that such a milestone should be celebrated with a foodie event. On arrival our women were met with a welcome drink provided by Yealands Estate.

Represented across 13 tables were New Zealanders who had built their UK success on food and drink. Given four minutes per table, groups of 8-10 made their way around the following businesses:

• The Modern Pantry
• The Collective Dairy
• Ozone Roastery
• Suze Catering
• Crosstown Doughnuts
• The Provenance Butcher
• Man O’War Vineyards
• Native Superfoods
• SANZA
• Angels In My Kitchen
• Newton & Pott
• Karma Cola
• Yealands Estate.

It was in these four minutes between horn blows that the network discovered interesting new products launched onto the market, some fascinating backstories, the variety of flavours you can infuse into cakes and doughnuts, how established businesses have learned to evolve in the digital age and where to find a good Kiwi dip when so far from home. All had established themselves in very different ways, some were just making their way into the UK market via London markets, others household names for many years.

After just under an hour of sampling everything from (with the risk of sounding like a 90’s Kiwi Burger advert here) tamarillo chutney to yoghurt suckies, Marlborough sauvignon blanc to bulk brew coffee, maca protein bars, burger rings, lamingtons, quail eggs on cream fraiche, grass fed free range beef, fair trade organic cola, spicy nuts, mango doughnuts among many other delights, the network was full and delighted to stop and hear a fascinating interview of Anna Hansen, one of New Zealand’s most celebrated chefs abroad.

Interviewed by journalist Mary Fenwick, the network heard about how Anna started out as a young chef in London, the way she learned how to get it right through the occasional mistake and the importance of delegation. Fittingly, the evening finished with the network learning of Anna’s upcoming 500km cycle ride through Rajastaan in support of Action Against Hunger. If you’d like to support Anna see her fundraising page https://rajasthancyclechallenge.everydayhero.com/uk/anna-hansen

We’d like to thank everyone involved in what was such a fun and insightful event, particularly to the businesses who took part and the volunteers who gave their all to make our birthday party happen. Let’s raise our glass to yet another fantastic year.

For a gallery of photos from the night see our Facebook page and for a running commentary of the evening on social media see our storify write-up.