With lush green fertile soils, regular rainfall, and a temperate climate, Taranaki comprises the perfect ingredients for the production of high-quality, natural food products.
Taranaki has long been a key contributor to New Zealand’s food sector
Having helped position the country as a global dairy heavyweight, and driving the red meat, poultry, and plant food industries with production of value-added goods for domestic and international markets.
The food sector in Taranaki helped minimise the effects of Covid-19 on the local economy, with exports of food products remaining strong.
Big names in food production have established production facilities in Taranaki, and an increasing number of agile, innovative companies have chosen the region to carve their mark in this sector.
Buoyant coffee, honey, craft alcohol, fresh produce, and baked goods enterprises are on the regional menu – leveraging our unique story and good growing conditions to produce high-quality products that are capturing the attention of global markets and connecting with customers.
As the food story in Taranaki evolves, the region’s natural attributes, experience, knowledge, and collaborative approach ensure it will continue to be the home of more new, exciting, and creative food products and experiences.
Strengths of the Taranaki Food Sector
Alcohol
Coffee
Dairy
Honey
Horticulture
Niche artisanal products
Pet food
Poultry
Red Meat
Taranaki Story – Food and Hospitality Story
Take a bite of the good life.
Access our free library of regional content.
Tell the food story of our region and support your brand with professional content.
Access hundreds of images, video content, infographics, and more to tell the unique Taranaki Story alongside your brand to leverage our regional provenance.
Enterprise Support
Our advisory team are available to discuss your food and fibre business with you one-on-one and can offer support across a number of areas including business mentoring, investment readiness, and capability training.
Get involved
Platform to Launch
We aim to provide opportunities for emerging food and beverage businesses to grow. We do this by providing a range of capability-building workshops and supporting key projects and stakeholders that provide a path to market for producers and suppliers.
Trade Shows and Events
We support regional spaces to enable Taranaki companies to attend major food exhibitions and events, such as the Auckland Food Show and WOMAD, ensuring the nation gets a 'taste of Taranaki'.
Locally, we support foodie events, like Feastival, Taste and Tales, and the Taranaki Beer Festival. Funding for events is available through the Major Events Fund.
Research and Development
Our partnership with Massey University provides local companies with help and guidance to develop new food products or food ventures. This includes access to the Palmerston North-based Food Pilot Plant, resources of the NZ Food Innovation Network, and portals to national funding specific to the food production and processing sector (such as Callaghan Innovation R&D grants).
Branching Out
Our Branching Out project focuses on identifying, and validating new, high-value food and fibre opportunities through land diversification in Taranaki.
Branching Out provides a real-world case study for the start-to-finish process of land-use and value chain diversification, using Taranaki as a trial region.
List your hospitality business on our website
If you own or manage a cafe, restaurant, food truck, cellar door, or bar we can list your business on our website for free.
Send us an email at [email protected] including your eateries name, address, summary information, type of eatery, website, social media links, opening hours, and up to 12 high resolution images and we will create a page for you. Check out this example.
Ready to invest, or want to find out more? Contact our Regional Strategy Team
- Matt Lamb