Food presentation 'lacks polish’

Press, 12 July 1985, Page 26

Food presentation 'lacks polish’

PA Wellington New Zealanders lack polish in presentation of food, says a Canadian television host. Stephan Yan was in New Zealand to gather material for his variety show, “Morning with Yan,” which screens nationally in Canada. New Zealanders do not make the best use of their dishes’ colours and do not promote the foods’ attributes, he said.

“You have the best venison in the world, yet you don’t promote that overseas,” he said. “You have the product. You just need some of the polish and the packaging — you could get a lot of export

value out of it. “Your venison looks like veal, so you have to find something to differentiate it from other meats. I also think your lamb could be better presented. “If you want to market your lamb in North America, you have to do it their way,” he said. Exporters should also capitalise on the microwave trend, emphasising the value of products to smaller families who had less time to prepare food, he said. “As for kiwifruit, you should carry on and keep up your enthusiasm and be more aggressive,” Mr Yan said. “If you don’t, somebody is going to come and take it away from you.”