New Zealand Food Awards Winners

Mt Cook Alpine Salmon’s innovative Saikou Sushi-Grade Salmon product has won the company the prestigious, judge nominated New Zealand Food Awards 2011 Supreme Award.

Mt. Cook Alpine Salmon were awarded a total of four awards for the night including the Food Safety Award for outstanding achievement and innovation in Food Operations, the MAF Food Operations Innovation Award, the Award for outstanding achievement in product innovation in its category, and the 2011 Supreme Award.

The New Zealand Food Awards, held in association with Massey University, celebrate food innovation in New Zealand and reward excellence in a range of categories, recognising companies and people for their creativity and business acumen behind the very best in our largest export sector.

Ray McVinnie, New Zealand Food Awards Chief Judge, says the company's Saikou Sushi Grade Salmon stood out for its excellent taste and the innovative operations system that ensured the farmed fish reached its customers in the best condition.

“Mt Cook Alpine Salmon is a prime example of New Zealand home grown produce at it’s best; packaged to perfection, destined for the best sushi restaurants in the world,” said McVinnie.

A complete results listing HERE

Walk the 5+ a day walk

Results from the latest National Nutrition survey indicate that half of men and 44% of women (aged 19-30) aren’t even getting three servings a day of vegetables. The situation is worse for older adults, with 28% of women and 41% of men not meeting this vegetable target.

With one third of the typical adult diet consumed during the working day, 5+ A Day is challenging New Zealanders to “Get Real with 5+ A Day@Work” during 5+ A Day Fruit and Vegetable Month. The challenge is to encourage Kiwis to up their intake of fruit and vegetables during their workday for better health.

Research indicates that a diet high in fruit and vegetables may help to reduce just about every disease known to humans, including rates of cancer, heart disease, obesity, diabetes, stroke, high blood pressure, osteoporosis and many other conditions.

A diet rich in fruit and vegetables doesn’t need to cost a fortune. A household of four is able to purchase a week’s worth of fruit and vegetables for as little as $40 per week. In addition, bringing a packed lunch from home is better value than buying a lunch from a city lunch bar or café. More HERE

20 years of vegetables

United Fresh New Zealand Incorporated celebrates 20 years of service to the produce industry – an industry valued at more than $5 billion with more than 60 fresh products, providing 50,000 jobs and exporting to more than 120 countries.

Newly appointed President, David Smith, says that the organisation has achieved significant milestones over its 20-year history. He says the 5+ A Day programme, launched 16 years ago, has been an outstanding success.

“The 5+ A Day message is now taught to more than 500,000 primary and intermediate school students,” he says.

While other countries have similar 5+ A Day programmes operating, New Zealand is one of the few to be entirely driven by the produce industry. The programme is highly respected internationally.

In addition, United Fresh supplies 100,000 pieces of fruit and vegetables to decile 1 and 2 schools every school day as part of the Fruit in Schools programme. That equates to 12 million pieces of produce each year.

“We are actually working in an area of public health which is very rewarding for everyone, whether they are a grower or a supermarket manager,” Smith says.

Other United Fresh achievements include; the tightening up of food safety (especially in the ‘ready to eat’/pre-prepared market), traceability issues (tracking produce from farm to consumer), standardising packaging material to increase efficiencies globally, labelling (to show country of origin) and bar coding of fruit.

David Smith replaces Ron Becroft who has been President of United Fresh for more than 10 years.

ATEED and The University of Auckland invite you to a seminar

with Assoc Professor Sally Poppitt and Dr Nicholas Gant

Foods to Control Hunger and Appetite

Brain Foods to Improve Exercise Performance

4:30pm, Thursday 10th November

Drinks and nibbles to follow

NEW VENUE: The FoodBowl, Te Ipu Kai, 28 Verissimo Drive, Auckland Airport

Click here to RSVP.

A vegetable grower wins Centra Forklifts Competition

The Centra Forklifts ‘Tell us your story’ competition asked Mitsubishi Forklift owners and operators to submit their stories about how their Mitsubishi Forklift Truck has helped in everyday work or added value to business operations.

Pukekohe-based commercial vegetable grower and exporter Wai Shing was selected as the national winner for its unwavering commitment to the Mitsubishi brand.

“Wai Shing has been using Mitsubishi Forklifts for 27 years,” says Shane O’Driscoll, General Manager, Centra Forklifts. “One of their trucks has been in operation for more than 29,000 hours, moving produce day in and day out. Wai Shing is a family-owned business, and the team continues to trust in the Mitsubishi brand that their father had confidence in, because of its reliability in a hard environment.”

Gro-Chem, a provider of plant nutrition, insecticides, fungicides and plant growth regulators, was voted as the favourite in the People’s Choice category with a range of loyal followers supporting its entry. Regional winners included Pinepac Group in Auckland, Cambridge Kiln & Timber Treatment, Gisborne Towing Services and Mitsubishi Motors NZ Ltd in Porirua.

All winners receive a commemorative Mitsubishi Forklift model, a $200 Speight’s Alehouse voucher and Mitsubishi merchandise. National winner Wai Shing also receives a year’s free forklift servicing – valued at over $1,000.

“Centra Forklifts and Mitsubishi have been working together in New Zealand for 30 years,” says O’Driscoll. “Many of the competition entries identified forklifts that had been in operation since 1981, which was the first year of importing fully-manufactured Mitsubishis into New Zealand. This is a great testament to the longevity and durability of the Mitsubishi brand and our customer’s commitment to it. A big congratulations to all of the winners!

Bill Gates recognised

Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, has been awarded the World Food Program USA’s George McGovern Leadership Award for his foundation’s efforts to help small farmers in the developing world overcome hunger and poverty. Gates said the famine in the Horn of Africa, rising food prices, and a growing population make it more important than ever to help poor farm families grow and sell more food.

At the G20 Summit in Cannes, France, Gates delivered a report outlining how innovations and partnerships in health and agriculture can help increase global stability and put the poorest countries and people on a long-term path to economic growth and equality.

In 2009 in the face of historically high food prices and increasing global hunger, the G20 committed $22 billion to food security. But to date only about half of these pledges have been disbursed or are on track to be disbursed.

Gates said the famine in the Horn of Africa should be a final wake up call for the international community. “It’s unconscionable for a famine of this magnitude to be happening in 2011. The world has the knowledge, tools, and resources to help the world’s poorest overcome hunger and extreme poverty,” he said.

Gates and Warren Buffett are the joint recipients for their leadership in establishing the Purchase for Progress (P4P) program at the World Food Program (WFP).

P4P is an innovative public-private partnership, helping small farmers in developing countries become suppliers for WFP’s large-scale food programs. The long-term goal of P4P is to help farmers connect to other markets and that’s already happening. In Zambia, Uganda and other countries, for example, small farmers who organized through P4P are selling their crops to private companies as well.

More HERE