Kiwi women discuss "NZ 2025: Restaurant to the World?"

13 March 2017

Eight influential Kiwi women discuss “New Zealand 2025: Restaurant to the World?”

The way people consume and manage their food is changing, and it is clear that for New Zealand to remain relevant and competitive in a global market, we need to adapt.

ASB Perspective 2025 panellists will share their insights on where they believe our agrifood industry needs to be in 2025 – the challenges and opportunities presented by the aspiration to be a Restaurant to the World.

Live from the Globe Theatre in Palmerston North, the discussion will be streamed through the business section on Stuff.co.nz between 7.30 and 9.30am.

The panel features:

• Traci Houpapa, one of BBC’s top 100 Influential Women, will bring her extensive experience and knowledge of the agrifood industry. Traci is the Chair of Landcorp and Federation of Māori Authorities and has great awareness of the importance land, and Māori culture plays in setting New Zealand food apart from the rest of the world.

• Lucy Griffiths, owner of Innov8 Aotearoa, an international food and beverage marketing company will Chair the discussion. Lucy is also a Nuffield Scholar and board member of the Central Economic Development Agency (CEDA).

• Sarah Meikle is the Festival Director of Visa Wellington On a Plate and will draw on her recent work with ConversatioNZ – an initiative to grow New Zealand’s reputation as a food tourism destination – to encourage a sense of national pride in our food.

• Julia Jones, KPMG’s Farm Enterprise Specialist, will provide her perspective on the rise of cultured and synthetic foods. Julia’s knowledge and experience with the KPMG Agribusiness Agenda will allow her to comment on global food trends and the wants and needs of our international customers and what this means for the future of New Zealand’s food.

• Judith Swales is Fonterra’s Chief Operating Officer, Velocity and Innovation, and is responsible for driving efficiency across the Co-operative, bringing increased commercial focus to Fonterra’s research development and technology, and taking a strategic view on developing game-changing business models.

• Abacus Bio’s Jude Sise, is an innovative and strategic thinker with a focus on data and technology particularly traceability and the role technology plays in enabling farm decisions and connectivity with consumers

• Dr Claire Massey the Acting Director of FoodHQ and Massey University’s Director of Agrifood Business and Executive Director of Te Puna Whakatipu. Claire is also a Te Hono alumni.

• Suze Redmayne is the co-founder and owner of Coastal Spring Lamb. A farmer from Turakina, Suze and her husband Richard are the 2016 Supreme New Zealand Food Award Winners.

ASB Perspective 2025 is a key event in the NZ Agrifood Investment Week programme 13-18 March.

ASB Perspective 2025 Panel Chair, Lucy Griffiths says the restaurant to the world aspiration is exciting and a great topic of conversation.

“New Zealand is a food producing and exporting nation, and we always need to be thinking ahead as to what our current and future customers want from us,” says Dr Griffiths.

ASB Head of Rural Business Management, Jane Brice, says ASB is proud to support Agrifood Investment Week and Perspective 2025, which provides a platform for leadership in the agrifood sector.

“The concept of New Zealand being a restaurant to the world is both inspiring and practically achievable. As a nation, we produce the world’s best produce, our chefs and restaurants are world-leading and throughout regional New Zealand thousands of small to medium sized agrifood related businesses are popping up,” says Ms Brice.

“Becoming a Restaurant to the World is a realistic aspiration and I look forward to hearing from the expert panel who will help shape the future of New Zealand.”

A live Q&A session will follow the discussion with questions taken from Twitter using #NZAgInvest.

Tickets cost $25, including breakfast and a goody bag, and can be purchased from www.NZAgInvest.co.nz/P2025.

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