Day 1 at Foodtech Packtech - or why I like NZ

FoodTech Packtech is the place to be for NZ and Australian food processors this week. Held every two years, the exhibition gathers together all the major suppliers to the industry and visitors can see all the new equipment and technologies, talk to the manufacturers and distributors, attend relevant seminars and simply network.

This is the ninth time I have crossed the ditch from what I have been reliably told today is the West Island of NZ to attend the show. It is always a pleasure to attend, but this year it has been even better.

For reasons known only to bureaucracy, none of our magazines made it through NZ customs - so we had a stand at the exhibition with absolutely nothing on it. Usually we give away 800-1000 magazines and around 500 stress balls - this year they are chooks. Two years ago we had sheep, but some of these sheep had unfortunate ‘accidents’ so we though the chooks may be a better option this time. At the show we invite attendees to register to receive What’s New in Food Technology & Manufacturing or, if they already receive the magazine and eNewsletters, to re-register. (As an audited magazine, we have to be able to prove that the people getting the magazine are ‘real’ and we have to have them confirm their interest at least every two years.)

Anyway, with no magazines on the stand today we had to ‘sell’ visitors to the show invisible magazines. As you know, our magazines are actually free, so the term ‘sell’ is a tad misleading. Even so, we were thrilled that so many of the visitors to the event:

1. Knew our magazine/website/eNewsletters and complimented us on them, and;
2. Were happy to register or re-register so they could start or continue to receive the magazines and eNewsletters.

And this is why I really like New Zealanders.