The Feed Weekly

What started as a food truck in Queenstown has expanded to two thriving restaurants plus a newly opened outlet in Ponsonby Road and is promising to become a chain of branded stores across Auckland, then New Zealand and maybe even offshore. So what madness drove cousins Robbie McGillivray and Ant Wilkins to launch a restaurant chain in the time of Covid? Vincent went hunting for answers.

We first interviewed Cherie Metcalfe from Pepper & Me, KitCo and Cain & Abel earlier last year. It was such a popular episode, we're releasing the whole conversation for you this week. Cherie first trained as a chef in the Bay of Plenty before looking at options to support her growing family. From there, Pepper & Me was born and has become a real success story of New Zealand entreprene...

If you were looking for someone to launch a new food brand, Jade Gray is your man. He’s managed a farm and a supermarket butchery, ran a meat processing plant in China, launched a chain of pizza stores in Beijing called Gung Ho! Pizza (China's first B Corp certified Food and Beverage company). Now Jade and his family are back in New Zealand and he’s just launched Off-Piste Provisions, a plant-base...

Welcome to The Feed Long Lunch It’s where we like to take a slightly deeper dive into conversation with some of our guests exploring New Zealand’s food stories, personalities and future. So grab a plate, a snack or a glass and join us for a slightly bigger slice of conversation. In this episode Vincent speaks with Michael Van De Elzen about the Good From Scratch cooking school and his involvement...

In our last episode for 2021, we wrap up our highlights and the biggest stories in food this year. We also interview Lauraine Jacobs on the top cookbooks and food tales to get stuck into over your summer reading season. Finally - we give you a heads up on what's coming in 2022 for The Feed. Thanks for all your support this year. 

This week we’re talking about fast chicken, big changes at Lion, the closure of an Auckland icon and how hemp is taking over-65s by storm. Then Tash speaks to Jayshri Ganda about the runaway success of the mother-daughter cookbook “A little bit of this and a little bit of that’ - it’s award winning, home grown and has sold more than 4000 copies.

This week on the Feed, we talk to Dr Rosie Bosworth, a future foods consultant about alternative proteins, the next big disruption in food technology. We’ve got the latest news on food prices (big surprise, they’re seasonal!), redundancy and restructures as a result of Foodstuffs NI big decisions and big carbon zero news for chicken lovers everywhere. Be sure to check out the full length feature o...

This week on The Feed we talk about the supermarket market, Impossible Burger arriving in town and the consolidation of the pies market. Plus we've published a major feature by Ben Fahy on the role that food and beverage can and must play in the revival of the NZ tourism industry. Ben spoke to a number of experts, starting with the one and only Sarah Miekle, director of WOAP. Tash picks up on that...

This week we discuss the historic free trade agreement with the UK, the new Covid traffic lights system, Sam Neill reluctantly putting his vineyard up for sale, the helping hand given to supermarkets -  and Tash talks to Sarah Tuck, editor of Dish magazine about the first ever Dish cookbook, a collection of their dishes. And coming up we’ve got even more giveaways for you, our Feed whānau.

In this special Long Lunch episode of The Feed Weekly we interviewed Isabel Pasch of Bread and Butter Bakery in Auckland. German born, Isabel is a trained scientist and science journalist, but when she moved to New Zealand with her Kiwi family she was desperate for good organic sourdough bread and couldn’t find it anywhere. Her love for food and desperation at the state of bread in New Zealand led...

WIN CHEESE PLEASE by visiting our Instagram profile and telling us who you would love to share a delicious NZ Cheese Hamper with. This week we’re talking about New Zealanders table manners as some of us get back out to dining out, the Waikato region has launched it’s own foodies campaign to get hospitality venues fully vaccinated, New Zealand is losing it’s global sauvignon blanc share to Brexit a...

This week we're talking about NZ Cheese Month, the stoush over liquor in supermarkets, a looming worldwide coffee shortage and we meet the maker of the first 100%-NZ-made oat milk, Morgan Maw of the Boring Oat Milk Company . We promo Tash's new book - the Guide to New Zealand Gin 2021 edition. Plus it's your last chance to subscribe to our newsletter to win a Cain & Abel knife so stay sharp an...

This week - we’re talking to Cherie Metcalfe - the powerhouse behind cult brands such as Pepper & Me, Kitco and now the newly launched Cain & Abel carbon steel knives. And we’re poised for level change announcements while the hospitality industry continues to lobby for additional support and innovation. WIN: Subscribe to The Feed newsletter for the chance to win a brand new carbon steel kn...

This week we take a deep dive into the challenges of operating at level 2 Delta for the hard working people running our bars and restaurants. We also talk about our lockdown baking challenge and the purpose of pastry - a vessel for deliciousness. This episode features the voices of Richard Bagnall, Hamish Klein, Luke Dallow and Ofir Yudilevich.

This week we are talking alert level changes and impact on hospitality venues as they decide whether or not to give customers the takeaway choice, wine exports are falling but only because we’re overperforming, Feilding locals are feeding their essential worker and we ask the question - will ghost kitchens be the way of the future to reduce disruption and improve efficiency in a post-Covid world?...

This week we are talking about lockdown, lockdown, lockdown. We’re in it and so is most of the food sector. We talk about pressure on supermarkets, the call for butchers to open, the cancellation of the Wellington on a Plate and Metro Food Awards, positivity in the hospitality sector and our lockdown food challenge. Plus we talk to suppliers and distributors directly impacted by the Level 4 Lockdo...

This week we are talking about booze & violence rules, exporting to Korea, the latest Lewis road collaboration and take a deep dive into gin making in Aotearoa with 1919 Distilling founder Soren Crabb. Plus we do the world’s fastest review of Beervana.

This week we are talking about concerns for wheat growers, record methane emissions from dairy industry, Aussies fighting for the right to brand manuka honey, the sad but seemingly inevitable demise of Bernadino Spumante. Be sure to subscribe to our newsletter at http://thefeed.co.nz/ and enter your food workplace photos for a chance to win a brand new Samsung smartphone at http://thefeed.co.nz/wi...

This week we are talking about the same thing everyone is… the Commerce Commission draft report into competition in the grocery sector! And we’ll tell you about how peanut butter can help kids get into mentoring, the latest gin garden opening and all about Wellington’s big foodie festival. Then we dig into an altogether alternative milk story with Glen Herud from Happy Cow Milk. Subscribe to the T...

This week we are talking about what ought to be in your shopping trolley, the upcoming commerce commission report into supermarket competition and a potentially controversial report about food insecurity and child poverty in New Zealand - this is not a chat to miss. We’ll also talk to one of New Zealand’s first bottled cocktail businesses in Wellington. Subscribe to the The Best of The Feed Weekly...

This week we discuss the farmer’s protests and what it means for the future of food producers in the country. We also catch up with the Choice Hospo bar build project and vegetable prices. Vincent interviews Angus Brown of Ārepa , a blackcurrant based nootropic drink that’s backed by science and is so successful he’s hoping to raise $5m for the next phase of growth in Australia and beyond. Much mo...

This week we’re talking about record breaking horticulture exports, eliminating palm oil from your favourite candy, new ways of making plant-based milk and we’re decidedly NOT talking about adding folic acid to bread because we’re over that debate. We’re also celebrating with the Gill family who last week passed the 30 year milestone of running their Little India restaurants with their family reci...

This week it’s time to talk about cheese prices, a new bio-security tool that could reduce the nutritional value of your food and a chaotic but inspiring challenge a hospitality collective in Auckland is taking on to help one small business bounce back from Covid. We’re also talking to Katie Jacobs who traded a career in luxury champagne and spirits to build a start up to help busy people grow mor...

This week we look at an increase in excise taxes, the Outstanding NZ Food Producer awards, the NZ Spirits Awards and listen to the backstory of AF Drinks, the alcohol free brand created by Lisa King, of Eat My Lunch fame. Big thanks for all of you who have joined us as subscribers to this podcast and our weekly email. Now is the perfect time to ask you to rate and review the podcast - we welcome y...

This week we look at food waste, free trade deals and Clark Gayford’s piping skills. We discover the extraordinary origin of donuts. Tash digs deep into some of the long-term challenges the hospitality industry faces in a chat with David Neville, a chef and consultant with 25 years experience in the food industry. And a big thanks for all of you who have joined us as subscribers to this podcast an...