A consumer food marketer, Mary believes food tastes best when ripened, procured and eaten at source.

 

Widely travelled, Mary personally leads Food Matters Tours to her favourite places, often a little off the beaten track!

 

Mary guarantees a variety of food experiences every day, but not just any old food experience - you might find yourself catching your own dragonflies for dinner; or maybe fishing for eels in Bali, drinking masala chai in India,  eating a camel burger in Morocco, enjoying Mandalay Rum in Myanmar or plucking your own tea in Sri Lanka.

 

The food experience may be simply dining somewhere special or dining with someone very special! It's not just the food that is important but where it is eaten and with whom it is shared.

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At home in Auckland New Zealand, ,Mary often eats on her deck, sharing freshly caught  snapper with friends. Mary lives at The Changing Shed, 8 minutes west of the bridge, a million miles from the city and just 1 metre from the beach, Accommodation is sometimes available.

 

“He whaka hira hira nga kai katoa” describes Mary’s business, Food Matters and roughly translated means – “food is important and anything to do with food.” Qualified in International Marketing, Mary is a consultant to a number of food industry companies. It was appropriate then that Mary’s tours became Food Matters Tours.

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Food Matters Tours: through focus on food, an insight in to another's world.

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2019 Tours

Bali- the Ubud Food Festival was great and we loved our coconut- charcoal -smoked eels 

India -Oct-Nov  for Diwali and Camel Fair

Morocco- September-  after the  heat

Myanmar- at time of ripe mangoes

Sri Lanka-September- avoiding monsoons

2020 Tours

Currently in planning mode to fit with Ubud Food Festival in Bali; Diwali in India; after the heat in Morocco, during mango season in Myanmar and avoiding monsoons in Sri Lanka 

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Disclaimer- Mary  began her business Food Matters in 1999, plagiarising the name from her friend Philip's Growth Matters and in turn plagiarised by her friend Terry with Talking Matters. Her business is not associated in any way with recent companies using the same name -i.e. Food Matters Aotearoa and Food Matters TV. 

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Supporting Hand Projects and Awards

Mary recognizes that the places she visits, while spiritually rich, are often financially poor. Support projects are ongoing to support and empower various communities. This enables Food Matters Tours to get beneath the surface and meet with the locals. Current projects include books for children, cricket gear to war survivors, water tanks, support of women’s co-operatives and providing merino vests for fishermen. Projects after the 2004 tsunami concentrated on fishing initiatives,rebuilding boats, building an ice plant and refrigerated transport .

 

Mary is firmly of the opinion that we get more back than we ever give. Her work has been recognized by The Rotary Foundation of Rotary International Paul Harris Fellows, Gareth Morgan Kiwi Heroes, Geoffrey Roberts Awards, Auckland City Council Living Legends.

Thanks are due to her many project supporters, friends, relatives, tour clients and especially to Merrill of Dilmah Tea, Rohan of Fresco Foods, Nigel and the Howick Pakuranga Cricket Club, Singapore Airlines and Icebreaker. 

 

For more information contact Mary by email: mary@foodmatters.co.nz  

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