BY KATHRYN STEANE

According to The New Zealand Juice & Beverage Association, Kiwis spend $1.2 billion on cold, non-alcoholic drinks every year – that amounts to 640 million litres of soft drink, fruit juice, bottled water, flavoured milk, and sports and energy drinks. And while the market has traditionally been dominated by large companies like Coca-Cola Oceania; many smaller, boutique businesses are beginning to appear. There has also been a noticeable return within the industry to old-fashioned values (natural ingredients, classic flavours, less sugar); as well as a trend in non-alcoholic alternatives for adults. We take a look at some of the options currently available.

By Robyn Yousef

The background music is always upbeat, including anything from Shirley Bassey through to Barry Manilow or Nana Maskouri, and while the decor also screams retro 70s, the food on offer is definitely contemporary cafe style. Café Kaos has moved from Tuakau to a new base in Pukekohe.

It’s been an extraordinary year in Christchurch since Cantabrians were shaken from their beds on September 4, 2010 – followed by thousands of aftershocks, lost lives, shattered homes and businesses. People in Christchurch’s food, beverage and hospitality industries have shown incredible strength, and support for each other through these exceptionally challenging times – here’s three inspiring stories from Garden city-based Linda Bennett.

BY KATHRYN STEANE

Conscious Consumers – a not-for-profit initiative that awards badges to cafes for environmentally and socially responsible practices – has been well received following its Auckland launch.

 “Will that be a pair of True Religion jeans, the Stolen Girlfriends Club outfit or your favourite coffee with a club sandwich, madam?” 

Not long now…

BY KATHRYN STEANE

By the time you read this, there will be just weeks to go until the biggest sporting event in

New Zealand’s history – Rugby World Cup 2011. Here’s how food outlets in and around

Auckland’s Viaduct (a.k.a. Party Central) are getting on with preparing for it.

Jewels of the mist

By Cynthia Daly

Before me is a plate of freshly cooked exotic mushrooms, stir-fried pork and rice. The aroma of garlic lingers on the air with an added sweetness from the mushrooms…. And now to my first taste of these freshly cooked shiitake, golden needle (enoki) and oyster mushrooms. ‘Lightly garlicy, tender yet meaty, delicate on the tongue yet so exquisite that I am lost for superlatives.’ The tragedy is – I may never get this experience again unless the production of such wonderful fungi expands in New Zealand.

Bill Lenh Liem – the man with the Midas touch

BY KATHRYN STEANE

  Apparently Bill Lenh Liem has won so many awards for his pies; he’s run out of room to display them. I find this hard to believe, given that one corner of his shop – Greenland Café in Pukekohe – is already choc-a-bloc with tributes. But sure enough, his wife Roselina shows me to a cupboard and, with a laugh, points to more inside.

BY KATHRYN STEANE

If you regularly ask yourself “what's for lunch?”, you haven’t been introduced to Habitual Fix. With five locations across Auckland (and a sixth due to open in Takapuna at the time of writing), this company has your mid-day meals covered with its irresistible selection of deli-style sandwiches, freshly squeezed fruit juice, home baking, coffee and more.

Mushrooms and fungi have been recognised as food sources for thousands of years and have been common place in diets across Europe and Asia throughout history. The fact that they are also considered as a source of medicine in some cultures shows that despite our limited knowledge of why mushrooms are good for us, many of us consume them believing that they are.