Tim Groser, New Zealand’s Minister of Trade, visited Fonterra’s brand new innovation kitchen on Thursday and showed-off his cooking skills with Fonterra’s Advisory Chef, Peter Hallmanns.
The duo prepared New Zealand’s national dessert, a pavlova, a traditional cake made with meringue, whipped cream and fresh fruits at Fonterra’s state-of-art kitchen in Dubai.
“Fonterra’s Culinarium is a first of its kind in the Middle East, and is a great example of the vast benefits and opportunities the New Zealand-based company is offering chefs in the region”, says the Honourable Tim Groser, New Zealand’s Minister of Trade.
“The GCC holds increasing importance for New Zealand, and the foodservices market in particular has huge potential. Fonterra is offering world-class New Zealand dairy products to the region, which raises the quality of food on offer”, Tim Groser added.
Amr Farghal, Managing Director of Fonterra Middle East, Africa (MEA) and Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) said Fonterra’s Culinarium is a great opportunity for the chefs, and for the profession to which they belong.
“Although the Middle East has arguably the finest hotels and restaurants in the world, the skills of the chefs have to be constantly updated to remain ahead of the competition. The Culinarium is a venue where we offer skills-based workshops and hold industry-standard culinary competitions to assist the chefs stay at the top of their profession.
“At Fonterra, we realize the importance of working with, and more importantly, supporting the industry to enhance the skills of chefs in not just the UAE but throughout the GCC.”
This visit to Fonterra’s Culinarium coincided with the Trade Minister’s trip to the Middle East to discuss business and economic links with the region. It follows the official inauguration ceremony celebrating Fonterra’s buyout of the Saudi New Zealand Milk Products (SNZMP) factory in Dammam, in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on Monday.
