N.Z. Needs Food Centre In London

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31107, 9 July 1966, Page 5

N.Z. Needs Food Centre In London

[From the London Correspondent of "The Press.’’]

IVEW Zealand lamb, butter, cheese, and apples are extensively advertised in Britain, but primary producers may nevertheless be missing out on a valuable new promotion trend and steady retail outlet—a national food centre.

Today there are many national food centres operating in London, many of them organised by European and Common Market companies against which New Zealand can expect to be competing more fiercely in the future. Generally they have been established only within the last few years and seem highly successful in direct sales of cooked meals or takeaway foods and in indirect promotion for the future. New Zealand lamb and butter enjoy big sales in Britain because they are cheaper than competitor’s products but it could be said that their very cheapness may cause some sales resistance in part of the market. “Cheap’’ Image The extensive advertising of New Zealand products in newspapers and magazines, on television, and on hoardings may even reinforce an unfortunate image of “cheap, and therefore nasty” for those who can afford to be selective. This image is quite wrong, and a New Zealand food centre competing against the other national centres in this great city, having available all the Dominion’s best food cooked in the most attractive ways in its restaurant would

go a long way to counteracting such an impression. The other function of a food centre besides showing how a nation’s foods can be cooked is to have a full range of products available in a store section for counter sales. Wine Centre Customers who eat at a food centre could not only find the “proof of the pudding,” say, about New Zealand lamb, but also would learn a thing or two about other New Zealand products barely heard of in this country—rata honey, for instance, or some of the non-cheddar type cheeses, and New Zealand beer, lagers and wines. Then on the way out, they would buy the foods which had pleased them. Australia has a Wine Centre in Soho. It is financed by 18 Australian companies and offers about 140 different varieties of Australian wines available in Britain. Delicacies I have not yet been able to discover any shops in London handling New Zealand wine, yet some of them have won prizes against European competition. There have been some trial shipments of New

Zealand beers to Britain — but these .have not been well promoted. Australia is missing an opportunity by not having a national food centre established yet, and New Zealand, even more dependent on exports, is missing a bigger one.

As well as lamb, butter and cheese—the British public could be introduced to toheroa soup, New Zealand oysters, crayfish, muttonbirds, venison, vegetables like kumeras and silver beet (unheard of here), a range of honeys, and fruits from apples and pears to Chinese gooseberries.

The success stories of some of the existing national food centres in London are worth examination. Leading the field at present are probably the Danish, German, and Norwegian centres.

Danish Cooking

The Danish Food Centre in the heart of the West End was set up in 1960 and claims to have been the first national food centre in London. Finance for the centre comes from Danish farmers, it is a subsidiary of the Danish Agricultural Producers’ Information Service.

When it opened in 1960 public reaction was unknown. There was a cookery counter to demonstrate Danish dishes and dispense samples. It was quickly found that the public wanted to sit and eat, but at that time there was only room for 20 people. The demonstration area had to go to make way for more tables and seats.

The food shop stocks bacon, butter, cheese and canned meats, but there are also

many special dishes. More than 12 different kinds of sausages can be bought. More than 40 different types of open sandwiches are available, and many who try one for lunch take away a recipe book.

A spokesman for the Danish Centre says that presentation of goods counted a great deal. “There is no doubt that it is a worth-while project, but it is much more a public relations exercise than a straight advertising campaign.” At first there was some distrust of the centre from retailers of Danish products in Britain. Now they realise it is helping them.

The turn-over of the shop and restaurant has trebled since the centre opened. Last November the Danes opened a second and larger centre in Manchester and it is possible that more centres may be opened in other provincial towns. Restaurant When the German Food Centre opened in Knightsbridge in December, 1963, twothirds of its clientele were Germans. Now two-thirds are English. Half the premises are occupied by a 92-seat restaurant rented by the Hotel Bristol-Kempinski, of Berlin. The German Government

has an interest in the company, which also runs a food shop, runs display cases for various German firms, and organises display weeks throughout the country. Last year the' German Food Centre played a major part in raising German food exports to Britain by 12j per cent, in spite of tariff barriers and the dampening effect of the import surcharge. The Norway Food Centre opened two years ago in Brompton road and is financed by Norwegian producer bodies. It sells cheeses, sausages, bread, cakes, and jams and provides good lunches and dinners at reasonable prices.