Cup fever to deliver billion-dollar bonanza

Auckland’s “party central” for the duration of the Rugby World Cup is one of the centrepieces of what organisers say could be a billion-dollar bonanza.

Most of that impact will be felt directly by the food, beverages and wider hospitality industry.

The billion-dollar figure comes from Rugby World Cup chairman Brian Roche, who says Treasury projections of a $700 million impact are undercooked.

Though figures to back this up are hard to estimate at this stage, it must be recalled Treasury forecasts have been short of actual performance in most years over the past deacde.

The Cloud on Auckland’s Queen’s Wharf is the first major showcase for the food and beverage industry, with last week’s Pacific festival kicking it off.

The exhibition area has now been taken over by mainly high-tech New Zealand companies, with Brancott Estate running the wine bars. The Cloud also contains two large private lounges for international media and business networking.

Alongside The Cloud is Shed 10, which houses the official RWC 2011 Fanzone and the Heineken World Bar, which has been transported from the UEFA Champions League Final festival in Hyde Park, London.

Heineken, which is a lead sponsor of the Rugby World Cup, specifically created the bar to cater for large volumes of people over sustained periods. Heineken and Amstel Light beers will be served in recyclable plastic 330ml cups.

Like The Cloud, the world bar and the Fanzone will have large screens for projecting live rugby matches. A wide selection of food and live entertainment will run throughout the cup until October 23. The Heineken After Work Drinks entertainment will run from 5.30-7.30pm on weekdays when matches are not staged.

Meanwhile, New Zealand food and drink will be featured in Taste at The Cloud, which opens today.

Some 70 wines were chosen from 350 submitted to complement food in four zones – seaside, urban, winery/orchard and rural – with four options within each zone.

Entry is free and ticket packages range from $17 for two food tastes and two wines through to $54 for eight matching food and wine selections.

This is ahead of the Taste of New Zealand Festival from October 19-22 at Victoria Park, which will be transformed into a village of restaurants, with food, wine and entertainment,

A large team of celebrity chefs and cookbook authors from both New Zealand and overseas will feature at the festival, which is offering corporate hospitality packages. Among those coming are Rick Stein, who is coming as an ambassador for the Malaysia Kitchen Programme.

Earlier, Pacific Islands fare was on show at The Cloud for three days with offerings of products such as tuna, vanilla, coffee, chutneys and noni juice. Licensed suppliers displayed the new True Pacific quality mark – a project driven by the Pacific Co-operation Foundation.

In total 26 producers from Vanuatu, Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Samoa and Tonga had passed the quality assurance programme and been licensed to carry the True Pacific quality mark.