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As we headed toward International Women’s Day on 8 March, 2022 I jumped into a personal project that I had been dreaming about for over four years. What started as an idea to unearth and support women working within the hospitality industry has grown into something much bigger. Something that will showcase women who work within all the diverse industries that drive the evolution of our food and drink culture.
Women in Food & Drink New Zealand is a national incentive formed to connect all women in food and drink across Aotearoa. A group that will help us to network, educate and support each other as we share ideas and knowledge.
To kick us off, I asked the question, “Who are the most influential and inspiring women in food & drink?” and gathering nominations from hospitality and food and drink experts around the country. Their response was overwhelming and as we started to work toward recognising the top 50 for 2023 it became all too clear that there are so many deserving women and so many questions that need to be asked and answered.
The two main questions are:
Inspiring people can be found everywhere and influence comes in many forms. It can be found in someone who has an established brand and access to a massive number of people and also in someone who works quietly in the background to instigate positive change. Some of these women are high-profile executives and some are relatively unknown start-up leaders and creative thinkers. Ultimately, they are all impressive.
On International Women’s Day, 8 March 2023, we celebrated with our first event – at Soul Bar and Bistro – and announced the recipients of our awards for the Hall of Fame 2023, the Evolving Woman in Food & Drink 2023 and the Supreme Woman in Food & Drink 2023.
We are now inviting professional women in Food & Drink across New Zealand to apply for membership and join this group. Just imagine what the Women in Food & Drink New Zealand national group could look like; it is going to be the beginning of a huge and incredibly important network and a foundation that we can build on and develop together.
We’re hoping that you will join us for a spectacular ride.
Kelli Brett
Women In Food & Drink Aotearoa, New Zealand is grateful for the advice and guidance of our Advisory Board Members, both well-respected experts and industry leaders who are passionate about shaping and telling the New Zealand food and drink story.
Sarah’s voice is impressive: she is the woman behind Visa Wellington On a Plate, New Zealand’s most inspirational food-and-drink festival; the event director of Beervana; CEO of the Wellington Culinary Events Trust which was formed in 2014 to promote Wellington as the premium New Zealand food-and- beverage destination; and board member of the New Zealand Events Association. As a culinary tourism specialist, her valuable thoughts on the important role that food tourism plays in our country’s branding and positioning are respected locally and internationally and have led her to form Food + Drink New Zealand, a food-tourism consultancy that helps organisations and destinations identify and tell their food story. In addition, with governance roles on the boards of Palliser Estate Wines of Martinborough Ltd (Director), Good Bitches Baking (Board Member) and Eat New Zealand (Executive Committee), Sarah is a must-have at the table when the conversation turns to food and drink.
Renowned for her time as food editor at Cuisine magazine and as a columnist for The Listener, Lauraine is internationally respected as a food-and-wine writer and an authority on the food of Aotearoa. Her reach and influence across the diverse food and drink landscape of Aotearoa is immense. Author/editor of nine cookbooks and one travel book, she is a tireless advocate for our hospitality industry, small artisan producers and farmers’ markets and enthusiastically promotes the importance of New Zealand’s regional food stories.
