Upcoming trade fair promises ‘a nice little taste’ of New Zealand

In one of its ad campaigns, New Zealand promises to give visitors “100 percent pure relaxation, 100 percent pure welcome, 100 percent pure adrenalin.”

While the New Zealand Embassy cannot provide the same, it will at least give Filipinos a glimpse of what the country has to offer with "Experience New Zealand", a trade fair to be held at the Glorietta Activity Center in Makati City from June 20 to 22.
 
According to Ambassador Reuben Levermore during a special preview for the media last week, the three-day food, beverage, and travel fair aims to promote New Zealand products and tourism.
 
“By introducing people to New Zealand food and wine, it's a nice little taste of things to come,” he said, adding that if Filipinos could not go to New Zealand, then the embassy would bring New Zealand to the Philippines.

A highlight of the opening on June 20 at 6:00 p.m. will be a special performance of the Maori “Kapa Haka” war dance by a traditional arts group.

Experience New Zealand

The Experience New Zealand Fair will feature almost 20 exhibitors, including Bee Healthy, the makers of manuka honey, a product that has become a bit of a sensation in countries such as the UK.
 
The fair will also highlight New Zealand’s wine makers, producers of some of the world’s top sauvignon blanc, chardonnay, pinot noir, cabernet and merlot wines.
 
Kiwi multinational Fonterra (formerly the New Zealand Dairy Group) will also showcase its butter, cheeses, milk and other dairy products.
 
Fresh fruits like apples, cherries, kiwi, and persimmon will be flown in. Other products visitors can try out at the fair include New Zealand natural ice cream, lamb, beef, oysters, Palm corned beef, Whittaker’s chocolates, and EasiYo do-it-yourself yogurt.

Asked about his favorite New Zealand dish and beverage, the ambassador picked the pavlova, a meringue dessert named after Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova, and the natural ice cream. “Everyone loves the ice cream,” he said.
 
He added that he also enjoys a glass of New Zealand sauvignon blanc. “It's probably the white wine that we’re most famous for,” he said. “You can't get that style of sauvignon blanc anywhere else in the world. That's very distinctively New Zealand; very fruity flavored wine, very refreshing, very good in this [Philippine] climate.”

Open spaces
 
Levermore also brought up New Zealand tourism's other promotional campaign, “Open Spaces, Open Hearts, and Open Minds.” “[It] captures our values, our culture, and what we stand for as a country,” he said.

The campaign highlights the fact that for a country nearly the size of the Philippines (268,000 square kilometers compared to our 300,000), it only has a population of 4.4 million, a fraction of the Philippines' 100 million.
 
Levermore said the campaign is about the care of the land and its inhabitants, because the Maori people “see themselves as guardians of the land.”

“New Zealanders really have a very strong relationship with the land,” he added, explaining that New Zealand’s beautiful, scenic places—made famous by the Lord of the Rings films—are something Kiwis take pride in.

The concept of open hearts is about integrity and acceptance, said Levermore, citing his country's multicultural society, which includes about 45,000 Filipinos.

Finally, the concept of open minds is about “resourcefulness,” Levermore said. “We think this comes through in the innovation that our companies adopt, in the way that we go about in embracing with the world.”

Healthy and organic food
 
New Zealand Trade Commissioner Hernando Banal said the country, dubbed “Europe’s farm,” is one of the world’s foremost suppliers of agricultural products.
 
In an interview with some reporters at the sidelines of the media launch, Banal, a Filipino who migrated to New Zealand in the 1980s, said that trade between the Philippines and New Zealand has gone up over the years.

Based on 2014 data, Banal said, the Philippines now ranks 11th among New Zealand’s export destinations.

About 80 percent of New Zealand's exports to the Philippines are food and beverage products, he added.

Traveling to New Zealand

Levermore said what sets apart this year’s Experience New Zealand fair is the travel component. Last year’s New Zealand trade fair, the first in the country, featured only food and beverage products.

This year’s fair features tour packages to Auckland, Christchurch, Queenstown, North Island, South Island and sites such as the Hobbiton movie set and the Lord of the Rings Edoras location.

The visit to the Hobbiton set and Edoras location includes 37 hobbit holes, the mill, double arch bridge, Bilbo’s party tree, Bag End and the Green Dragon.

Singapore Airlines, in partnership with Ayala Malls and the New Zealand Embassy, has also launched a mall-wide promo, which runs until June 22 (call the Glorietta concierge at 752-7272 for details). Shoppers who accumulate P2,000 worth of receipts and purchase return air tickets to Auckland, Christchurch or both via Singapore Airlines starting at US$990 will be entitled to raffle tickets. The prizes include tour packages to New Zealand. — BM, GMA News