Exciting products, prizes and surprises await fairgoers!
 
 
Mention New Zealand to most folk, and images of wide, open spaces, teeming with agriculture; verdant hillsides speckled with grazing cows; and a thriving dairy industry very likely come to mind. For many, the country also conjures up thoughts of Hobbits in their quaint and charming Shire on Middle-earth. Indeed, such mental associations would not be far-flung: New Zealand, after all, is the only first-world country whose core industry is agriculture, has a long history of being a leader in the dairy industry (yes, the renowned Anchor brand is proudly Kiwi), and is home to the movie set of fictional village of Tolkien’s diminutive, humanoid race.
 
 
But New Zealand is so much more: yes, it is a country of stunning, unspoilt natural beauty, but it is also a land of modern innovation and ingenuity, marked by advances in many different sectors. Characterized by a bold and pioneering “can-do” spirit (perhaps best voiced in the Maori’s brave and fierce Haka War Cry), the nation continues to venture and dominate in new fields.
 
 
In celebration of all that New Zealand is, and in commemoration of the 50th year of bilateral relations between the country and the Philippines, the New Zealand Embassy brings you “Experience New Zealand,” a three-day food, culture and trade fair. To be held on May 20 to 22 at the Glorietta Activity Center, in Glorietta Mall, Makati, the fair will showcase the best of NZ food and beverage, as well as highlight key NZ travel destinations, businesses, and educational institutions.
 
 
“This experience New Zealand fair comes at a special time, as the Philippines and New Zealand celebrate 50 years of diplomatic ties in 2016,” said New Zealand Ambassador to the Philippines, David Strachan.
 
 
“We have a growing number of Filipino learners choosing New Zealand as their education destination. Around 3,000 Filipinos studied in new Zealand in 2015, 71 percent more than in 2014,” he added.
 
 
Aside from this growing thrust in arena of education, New Zealand continues to be a leading global food source, as it has been for the last century. Experience New Zealand will shine the spotlight on some of the country’s premiere food products, such as honey, fresh fruit, top-quality meat and seafood, chocolate, cheese, milk, as well as juices and NZ’s award-winning wines. These and more will take center-stage at Food Connection 2016, an event to be held, by invitation, at the fair.
 
 
“We are pleased to introduce food and beverage products from New Zealand at Food Connection 2016, to attract more consumers to great New Zealand products,” Hernando Banal, New Zealand’s Trade Commissioner to the Philippines, said.
 
 
Experience New Zealand will likewise bring to the forefront slices of Kiwi culture, such as the famed Haka War Cry, to be performed by a group to be flown in from New Zealand, especially for the fair.
 
 
Adding to the overall excitement, Philippine Airlines, one of the fair’s major partners, will be raffling off five round-trip tickets to New Zealand, to fairgoers who purchase PhP2,000 worth of goods from participating NZ brands. Since December 2015, the Philippines’ flagship carrier has been flying four times a week from Manila to Auckland (via Cairns, thereby offering greater opportunity for travelers to truly experience New Zealand, firsthand.
 
 
Head on over to Experience New Zealand fair, for a taste and feel of NZ!
 
 
By ANGIE DUARTE