Hotels, restaurants promoting N.Z. food

Press, 20 August 1984, Page 30

Hotels, restaurants promoting N.Z. food

NZPA staff correspondent Hong Kong Awareness of New Zealand food and beverages in Hong Kong should be boosted, with promotions Bjd by two luxury and a major restaurant chain in the next two months, a trade official said. The promotions would help build New Zealand’s image in Hong Kong as a source of high quality foodstuffs, the Trade Commissioner, Mr John Driscoll, said. They were planned by two hotels in the Kowloon tourist belt, the New World and the Hyatt Regency, and by Maxims Caterers, Ltd, a substantial and well-estab-lished group operating about 144 restaurants and fast food outlets, he said. Maxims contacted the trade office several months ago, proposing to run a New Zealand food festival for a fortnight in several of the group’s Western-style restaurants. The company’s assistant manager, Mr Victor Wu, told NZPA that he planned to visit Wellington, Auckland, Hastings, and Christchurch towards the end of this month to talk directly

to New Zealand food and beverage exporters. Mr Wu said .it was hoped to hold the food -promotion i in October and that while' his company would sponsor it, he would like additional support from New Zealand companies. This would enable greater advertising of the planned food promotion in the local media, said Mr Wu. “We like people to be able to identify the source of the food they are eating,” he said. The promotion would focus the image of New Zealand food on a national basis. Mr Wu said he would lead a three-man team to New Zealand to familiarise the company with foodstuffs and wines and methods of. preparation. Ms Teresa Chow, the assistant food and beverage manager of the New World Hotel, said she was organising a two-week promotion of New Zealand food and drink in the hotel’s grill

room, beginning September 3. “We intend to feature traditional New Zealand foods,” she said. The promotion would include oysters, smoked eel, beef and fruits such as babacos, tamarillos, and kiwifruit wines. The restaurant would be decorated with New Zealand posters and other motifs, said Ms Chow. The Hyatt Regency planned a similar twomonth promotion featuring New Zealand foods in September and October which would include a special buffet, a hotel representative said. Mr Driscoll said the trade office had seen a steady build-up in the import of New Zealand foodstuffs, including fresh fruits and vegetables, into Hong Kong. “These promotions augur well for the future and will lend weight to the progress we’ve seen so far in this sector.”