March 6, 2026 • 8 mins
"The Bay of Plenty. Is there a more aptly named province in New Zealand? From the Kiwifruit Capital of the World to New Zealand’s Avocado Capital, the region’s sheer abundance of world-class fresh produce is quite exceptional. All the more reason to celebrate its plentiful produce, the enterprising growers and the stellar culinary verve coursing through the region. Introducing Flavours of Plenty, the region’s headline foodie festival which roars back into life over eighteen delicious days, kicking off on April 16th. This year’s bash marks its fifth outing, and the festival has fast cemented its credentials as one of New Zealand’s very best festivals on the culinary calendar. Strung right across Coastal Bay of Plenty, from Waihi Beach to Whakatāne, there’s a stack of lip-smacking events to sink your teeth into. On a recent visit to the region, I enjoyed a taster of the festival, which included some superb encounters with some of the region’s growers."
Read Mike's full article here.
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Speaker 1 (00:07):
You're listening to the Saturday Morning with Jack team podcast
from News Talks at.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
Be Mike Hardley is our travel correspondent.
Speaker 3 (00:16):
Good morning, very good, thank you. I've just come inside.
I feel like I need baffles in my house because
the cicadas who had sort of gone into a slumber
when some had disappeared, some has come back with a vengeance,
and so have the cicadas. It's like the screaming.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
Really yeah, yeah, yeah, Well, I mean it's good, I guess, yeah, good.
At least the summer's going to come back a little bit.
But yeah, it's been a funny old little period day.
Sure has you counting down to Flavors of Plenty, which
is by Plenty's big food festival. It's sort of become
one of New Zealand's premiere food festivals. So how long
has it been around now?
Speaker 3 (00:53):
Yes, this year's bash will be its fifth, outing Jack
and it is quite amazing how a festival which is
still reasonably new, has just stamped itself on the culinary
calendar as a signature event. What I love about it
is that its strung right across coastal Bay Plenty from
Wayhi Beach to fakatane and there's just so many lips,
(01:14):
smacking e vents to sink your teeth into. I was
up in the Bar of Plenty two weeks ago just
to get a taster of some of the festival offerings,
and it's very, very diverse. So they've got lots of
restaurant tours involved, obviously, but the growers in the region
will feature heavily in the festival. So it all kicks
off in mid April.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
Nice. Okay. When I think about Bay of Plenty, I
think about green stuff, so I think about kiwi fruit
and I think about avocados. They're kind of synonymous with
Bay of Plenty.
Speaker 3 (01:42):
Yeah, totally to Pokey Kivy fruit capital of the world,
and the avocado capital of New Zealand undoubtedly is Kati Cutti.
So starting with the latter, I took this really good
tour on Tim and Michelle Rosamond's Avocado Watchard and Kati
Cutting a fortnight ago and it comes complete with great tastings.
I have to say. It's amazing, though, just on a
(02:05):
little orchard, how much you will learn about this marvelous superfood,
which of course is botanically classified as a fruit. I
know that can be controversial for some, but a lot
of our avocado's jacket exported to North America, and the
Americans just can't believe how good our avocados are compared
to some of the slushy stuff they get from across
the border. Is I strolled under Tim's trees. They were
(02:29):
just positively groaning in fruit, and I found this fascinating.
You can actually see this year's crop and next year's
crop on the same tree because the avocados can stay
on the tree for eighteen months. So wow, you just
learned so many things. But the guacamole that Tim whips
up is worth the trip alone. So it comes and
(02:52):
I thought I will pass this by you to see
if you think this passes Jack Thames Pub test. It's
avocado with kilipinos, red onion, lime juice and coriendo.
Speaker 2 (03:02):
Oh cheeky.
Speaker 3 (03:04):
Yeah, it's just extraordinary.
Speaker 2 (03:06):
I feel like the jalapeno is kind of offsetting the
creaminess of the of the avocado as well. You know
you've got the heat and in the course oki yeah, okay,
plenty of salt in there as well. Salt what about truffles?
Speaker 3 (03:20):
Yes? For a complete pellet change venture. To Truffle Watch
now they're based in Piegaraa and you can have a
wed dabble with sustainably grown black peregard truffle. So Truffle
Water is just one of a handful of commercial blocks
in New Zealand. Once again you can do a little
tour with Lance and Nicki who own it. They do
(03:41):
great tours in the truth year, which is the official
name for a truffle orchid, and it's got several hundred
several hundred English oak and hazel nut trees and then
the truffle spores attached themselves to the tree roots underground.
And I mean, man, if you have a bumper crop,
you will feel like you have won Lotto Division one
(04:02):
because one truffle gram sells for at four dollars one gram. Yeah,
I mean, it's such a mercurial sort of industry. Every
season is so different, it can be so hidden miss
and the amazing thing about it in the New Zealand context,
possums are our biggest truffle thieves. They are a menace.
(04:26):
They will sniff them out, they'll dig them up and
they'll happily binge on several thousand dollars worth of truffles overnight.
Speaker 2 (04:32):
That I necessarily knew that possums could dig, but of
course they can do you know. That's yeah right, okay, So,
I mean it's quite a secretive world, the truffle world day.
Speaker 3 (04:41):
Oh, it's actually quite menacing. There is so much sabotage
overseas in the truple World in France. Lance was saying
to me that in France a lot of truffle pigs
and dogs are just stolen or mysteriously disappear or are
found shot because the rivalry between producers is just so fierce.
(05:02):
There's very little collaboration, right, and even New One Set,
even in New Zealand, people tend to keep to themselves interestingly. Yeah, so,
Lance said to me that the only fellow producer that
they've managed to sort of swap notes with and glean
a bit of advice from is a family in Oregon,
(05:23):
and that is after that family had actually created one
hundred million dollar in your business, and then well we
can start to share ourselves around a bit. Yeah right, yeah.
So the other really cool thing about truffle World is
alongside the actual raw truffles, they also do some really
cool products. So try things like truffle infused oil, truffle salt,
(05:43):
and best of all, they're wonderful truffle balsamic vinegar. That
really hit the spot for me.
Speaker 2 (05:49):
Yeah, okay, cool. So what are some of the headline
events in Flavors of Plenty this year?
Speaker 3 (05:56):
Yeah, well, wildly popular is what they call the Battle
of the Snack. This is a bit of me and
I'm sure it's a bit of you, two jeck. So
basically it's a whole lot of really st snacks and
canterpase and you can just graze heartily all over Plenty
in pursuit of the Battle of the Snack. So what
the organization does is they team up a top local
(06:18):
chef with like a rising culinary talent, and these pears
will compete against each other to get the nod for
the best snack. The other big competition is called Plates
of Plenty, So they'll have about twenty eateries going head
to head, and each eatey receives a box of local
(06:38):
produce and products and they've got to just confine themselves
to those items to create a signature dish, and then
diners ultimately vote for the winning dish.
Speaker 2 (06:50):
Yeah, oh mate, that's so good. Any novelties that are
worth mentioning this year?
Speaker 3 (06:55):
Well, I was grazing the program and there are just
so many events over the eighteen delicious days of Flavors
of Plenty. But yeah, some really cool temptations. I like
the sound of the big fat Greek Cypriot lunch. I
really like the sound of a cake and cocktails picnic.
But different. Because you're so partial to all things Mexican, Jack,
(07:17):
I thought of you with respect to Rosy's Red Hot
canteena which is in the Mount Great Joint. In the
Mount they are hosting the Wings of Fire Challenge, So
I think Coney Island and hot dogs with hot sauce, wow,
escalating spice levels of hot locally made hot sauces on
each chicken wing to find out who can win the
(07:38):
you know, the battle of attrition.
Speaker 2 (07:40):
Basically, yeah, great, oh, fantastic, Okay, cool, this sounds really good.
I've never been to Flames of Plenty. That could be
a be a bit of me, I reckon, especially for
eighteen days that superb.
Speaker 3 (07:50):
So.
Speaker 2 (07:50):
Mike's article is up on the News talks 'v website.
If you want to know a bit more about Flavors
of plenty. We've got all the details for this year's
festival there. Thank you very much, sir. We we'll catch
again this time next Saturday.
Speaker 1 (08:02):
For more from Saturday Morning with Jack Tame. Listen live
to news talks it'd be from nine am Saturday, or
follow the podcast on iHeartRadio
You're listening to the Saturday Morning with Jack team podcast
from News Talks at.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
Be Mike Hardley is our travel correspondent.
Speaker 3 (00:16):
Good morning, very good, thank you. I've just come inside.
I feel like I need baffles in my house because
the cicadas who had sort of gone into a slumber
when some had disappeared, some has come back with a vengeance,
and so have the cicadas. It's like the screaming.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
Really yeah, yeah, yeah, Well, I mean it's good, I guess, yeah, good.
At least the summer's going to come back a little bit.
But yeah, it's been a funny old little period day.
Sure has you counting down to Flavors of Plenty, which
is by Plenty's big food festival. It's sort of become
one of New Zealand's premiere food festivals. So how long
has it been around now?
Speaker 3 (00:53):
Yes, this year's bash will be its fifth, outing Jack
and it is quite amazing how a festival which is
still reasonably new, has just stamped itself on the culinary
calendar as a signature event. What I love about it
is that its strung right across coastal Bay Plenty from
Wayhi Beach to fakatane and there's just so many lips,
(01:14):
smacking e vents to sink your teeth into. I was
up in the Bar of Plenty two weeks ago just
to get a taster of some of the festival offerings,
and it's very, very diverse. So they've got lots of
restaurant tours involved, obviously, but the growers in the region
will feature heavily in the festival. So it all kicks
off in mid April.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
Nice. Okay. When I think about Bay of Plenty, I
think about green stuff, so I think about kiwi fruit
and I think about avocados. They're kind of synonymous with
Bay of Plenty.
Speaker 3 (01:42):
Yeah, totally to Pokey Kivy fruit capital of the world,
and the avocado capital of New Zealand undoubtedly is Kati Cutti.
So starting with the latter, I took this really good
tour on Tim and Michelle Rosamond's Avocado Watchard and Kati
Cutting a fortnight ago and it comes complete with great tastings.
I have to say. It's amazing, though, just on a
(02:05):
little orchard, how much you will learn about this marvelous superfood,
which of course is botanically classified as a fruit. I
know that can be controversial for some, but a lot
of our avocado's jacket exported to North America, and the
Americans just can't believe how good our avocados are compared
to some of the slushy stuff they get from across
the border. Is I strolled under Tim's trees. They were
(02:29):
just positively groaning in fruit, and I found this fascinating.
You can actually see this year's crop and next year's
crop on the same tree because the avocados can stay
on the tree for eighteen months. So wow, you just
learned so many things. But the guacamole that Tim whips
up is worth the trip alone. So it comes and
(02:52):
I thought I will pass this by you to see
if you think this passes Jack Thames Pub test. It's
avocado with kilipinos, red onion, lime juice and coriendo.
Speaker 2 (03:02):
Oh cheeky.
Speaker 3 (03:04):
Yeah, it's just extraordinary.
Speaker 2 (03:06):
I feel like the jalapeno is kind of offsetting the
creaminess of the of the avocado as well. You know
you've got the heat and in the course oki yeah, okay,
plenty of salt in there as well. Salt what about truffles?
Speaker 3 (03:20):
Yes? For a complete pellet change venture. To Truffle Watch
now they're based in Piegaraa and you can have a
wed dabble with sustainably grown black peregard truffle. So Truffle
Water is just one of a handful of commercial blocks
in New Zealand. Once again you can do a little
tour with Lance and Nicki who own it. They do
(03:41):
great tours in the truth year, which is the official
name for a truffle orchid, and it's got several hundred
several hundred English oak and hazel nut trees and then
the truffle spores attached themselves to the tree roots underground.
And I mean, man, if you have a bumper crop,
you will feel like you have won Lotto Division one
(04:02):
because one truffle gram sells for at four dollars one gram. Yeah,
I mean, it's such a mercurial sort of industry. Every
season is so different, it can be so hidden miss
and the amazing thing about it in the New Zealand context,
possums are our biggest truffle thieves. They are a menace.
(04:26):
They will sniff them out, they'll dig them up and
they'll happily binge on several thousand dollars worth of truffles overnight.
Speaker 2 (04:32):
That I necessarily knew that possums could dig, but of
course they can do you know. That's yeah right, okay, So,
I mean it's quite a secretive world, the truffle world day.
Speaker 3 (04:41):
Oh, it's actually quite menacing. There is so much sabotage
overseas in the truple World in France. Lance was saying
to me that in France a lot of truffle pigs
and dogs are just stolen or mysteriously disappear or are
found shot because the rivalry between producers is just so fierce.
(05:02):
There's very little collaboration, right, and even New One Set,
even in New Zealand, people tend to keep to themselves interestingly. Yeah, so,
Lance said to me that the only fellow producer that
they've managed to sort of swap notes with and glean
a bit of advice from is a family in Oregon,
(05:23):
and that is after that family had actually created one
hundred million dollar in your business, and then well we
can start to share ourselves around a bit. Yeah right, yeah.
So the other really cool thing about truffle World is
alongside the actual raw truffles, they also do some really
cool products. So try things like truffle infused oil, truffle salt,
(05:43):
and best of all, they're wonderful truffle balsamic vinegar. That
really hit the spot for me.
Speaker 2 (05:49):
Yeah, okay, cool. So what are some of the headline
events in Flavors of Plenty this year?
Speaker 3 (05:56):
Yeah, well, wildly popular is what they call the Battle
of the Snack. This is a bit of me and
I'm sure it's a bit of you, two jeck. So
basically it's a whole lot of really st snacks and
canterpase and you can just graze heartily all over Plenty
in pursuit of the Battle of the Snack. So what
the organization does is they team up a top local
(06:18):
chef with like a rising culinary talent, and these pears
will compete against each other to get the nod for
the best snack. The other big competition is called Plates
of Plenty, So they'll have about twenty eateries going head
to head, and each eatey receives a box of local
(06:38):
produce and products and they've got to just confine themselves
to those items to create a signature dish, and then
diners ultimately vote for the winning dish.
Speaker 2 (06:50):
Yeah, oh mate, that's so good. Any novelties that are
worth mentioning this year?
Speaker 3 (06:55):
Well, I was grazing the program and there are just
so many events over the eighteen delicious days of Flavors
of Plenty. But yeah, some really cool temptations. I like
the sound of the big fat Greek Cypriot lunch. I
really like the sound of a cake and cocktails picnic.
But different. Because you're so partial to all things Mexican, Jack,
(07:17):
I thought of you with respect to Rosy's Red Hot
canteena which is in the Mount Great Joint. In the
Mount they are hosting the Wings of Fire Challenge, So
I think Coney Island and hot dogs with hot sauce, wow,
escalating spice levels of hot locally made hot sauces on
each chicken wing to find out who can win the
(07:38):
you know, the battle of attrition.
Speaker 2 (07:40):
Basically, yeah, great, oh, fantastic, Okay, cool, this sounds really good.
I've never been to Flames of Plenty. That could be
a be a bit of me, I reckon, especially for
eighteen days that superb.
Speaker 3 (07:50):
So.
Speaker 2 (07:50):
Mike's article is up on the News talks 'v website.
If you want to know a bit more about Flavors
of plenty. We've got all the details for this year's
festival there. Thank you very much, sir. We we'll catch
again this time next Saturday.
Speaker 1 (08:02):
For more from Saturday Morning with Jack Tame. Listen live
to news talks it'd be from nine am Saturday, or
follow the podcast on iHeartRadio
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