Tasting the best-kept Global environmental challenge now in Taranaki secrets in Taranaki
Tasting new foods and telling old tales, a Taranaki hospitality touring business is back to showcase the region’s best-kept secrets.
Taste and Tales has been happening for four years, working with Taranaki food and beverage producers to showcase the work happening behind the scenes and how their products are made.
‘‘If you buy a product you don’t often know the history,’’ owner Cathy Thurston said. ‘‘It really encourages people to be proud of what we have in Taranaki.’’
Thurston owns the business alongside Lynsay Ireland and said the idea behind the tours was to encourage those in the community to get out and see what small businesses in the region had to offer.
The tours include businesses such as Juno Gin, Marcel’s Pancakes and Tiger Town pies, and this year will have a total of 38 businesses taking part.
‘‘If you want to be successful, you have to appeal to your local audience first and that’s what we are doing. There’s a lot Taranaki people should be proud of.’’
With Covid restrictions easing and borders opening, the business owners are hoping to see a lot of customers from outside Taranaki.
Thurston said although tourists from outside Taranaki make up more than 10% of ticket sales, she also hopes to see more people from within the region, get out and explore what Taranaki has to offer. ‘‘Food producers in Taranaki are very small, they’re hidden away, and they have great stories to tell.’’
Business owner Sarah Stainthorpe is taking part with her business, Bout Time Brownies, for the first time.
Stainthorpe said having her business in the tours would hopefully encourage more people to recognise the businesses hidden throughout the region.
‘‘It’s just me in the kitchen baking, so it’s a great way to support [businesses] and see what’s in Taranaki.’’
Bout Time Brownies started in 2020, and Stainthorpe has been selling and posting brownies throughout New Zealand ever since.
She hoped to see lots of people involved as ‘‘post March 2020, people are a lot more interested in their food and where it comes from’’.
The tours will take place over the weekend of May 14 and 15 and May 21 and 22.
An environmental challenge is calling all bug, insect and plant lovers from around the world to discover what lives in their backyard.
The City Nature Challenge is a global event in which people take pictures of their outdoor surroundings between April 29 and May 2 to gain an understanding of what lives around them.
Tens of thousands of people have taken part globally since the challenge started in 2016; however, this will be the first time Taranaki has participated.
‘‘The challenge is an amazing opportunity to showcase biodiversity in the district,’’ said Emily Roberts, Taranaki Regional Council education officer.
The challenge is one of the biggest of its kind in the world, Roberts said, and last year participants found more than one million new species around the world.
The discoveries can include any insects, plants or wildlife throughout Taranaki.
Roberts said given ‘‘we are living in Covid times,’’ the challenge is an opportunity for people to connect with nature and the rest of the participants interested in finding out more about the environment.
‘‘To better look after the environment, we need to know what’s out there,’’ Roberts said.
The challenge is free to enter and those wanting to have a go can download the app ‘iNaturalistNZ’ and start snapping.