Successful Taste of Taranaki Pop-up comes to an end

From November 2021 to the last weekend of January, 25 premium Taranaki food and beverage producers came together to showcase their products to the delight of locals and visitors to Taranaki.

The inaugural Taste of Taranaki Pop-up in Eltham was a collaboration between Venture Taranaki and South Taranaki District Council to shine a light on the strength and diversity the region has in producing food and beverage products.

"We’re thrilled we were able to bring together local vendors to the one place over summer, providing them with another avenue to sell their products while telling our diverse food and beverage production story, and adding something new for visitors to our region," says Justine Gilliland, Venture Taranaki Chief Executive.

Eltham was a fitting home for the first Taste of Taranaki Pop-up, with the town’s pioneering history in food production and export. The cheese capital of New Zealand, the Fonterra Co-op (or its predecessors) has been in Eltham for over 100 years, rolling out internationally acclaimed and innovative cheeses, including the very first blue cheese in New Zealand, Galaxy Blue Vein, produced in 1951, and award-winning Kapiti-brand cheeses since.

South Taranaki Mayor Phil Nixon was very pleased with how well the community got behind the initiative.

"It was great to see so much support for the pop-up in Eltham throughout the summer. Plenty of locals became regular customers and visitors from all over the country enjoyed what we have on offer here," he said.

Over the 12-weeks, visitors to the pop-up were able to purchase a variety of local products from coffee, honey, freshly baked bread, sweet treats, specialty cheeses, dips, and seasonings. Along with a range of local beverage crafters and distillers, something Taranaki is becoming increasingly known for.

Ricci Harbuck from Food Hugger Gourmet, maker of hand-crafted seasonal small batch apple butters, chutneys, and authentic American BBQ rubs, says "being part of Taste of Taranaki, as a new business, provided us with a unique opportunity to grow and connect with both a local customer base and beyond."

"We’re working hard to establish ourselves as a national brand and we had strong sales to visitors to the region from areas like Auckland, Tauranga and Wellington. This exposure helps to spotlight our product at a national level."

The pop-up has now officially closed, and after what looks like successful three months, $1,500 will be donated to the Eltham Food Bank.

"In the spirit of supporting those who are doing it tough at the moment, we’ll be making a financial donation to the Eltham Food Bank, along with some donated products from vendors who were part of the pop-up," says Mayor Phil Nixon.

The next step for Venture Taranaki and South Taranaki District Council is to undertake a thorough review of the pop-up from a commercial viability perspective.

"We will analyse the entire project, including important feedback from our food and beverage vendors and our customers. In the coming months we’ll release our findings for interested parties to consider this concept as an on-going enterprise opportunity," explains Justine.

"The pop-up demonstrated there’s appetite from consumers and local producers wanting to be involved. It was fantastic to see repeat weekly customers, while adding another visitor experience to our region’s attractions, and piloting the further build out of our food tourism offering. There is significant potential in food tourism, for supporting our local communities through visitation and helping support our increasingly diverse food enterprises to develop and grow. We look forward to sharing the pop-up analysis soon," concludes Justine.