Hawke’s Bay is New Zealand’s Food and Wine Country. From long winery lunches to the more bespoke and unique foodie experiences, Hawke’s Bay – one of the Great Wine Capitals of the world, has it all!
The award-winning Hawke’s Bay Farmers Market takes place every Saturday morning in the city of Napier and every Sunday morning in Hastings. Here you can sample many of the region’s local food and wine producers, with stallholders that change from season to season to ensure you are always getting the freshest produce. Kanapu Hempery are one of the more unique offerings, with their locally grown hemp products including flavoured milk, made from organic and regeneratively farmed hemp seeds grown in Hawke’s Bay.
Another stallholder who has been at the Farmers Market since it started over 20 years ago is Te Mata Figs. These legends have now opened their own café called The Figgery, where everything served from their menu and cabinet incorporates their succulent figs, either fresh when in season (late December to May) or using dried figs. Their shop also sells all manner of delicious products made with figs, like the famous fig and walnut salami! With advanced notice you can also book a tour of the fig orchard to learn more about the 30 varieties of fig grown on site from the largest grower in New Zealand.
Not from away in Havelock North, the Arataki Honey Visitor Centre is favourite with tourists, especially those travelling with children. Along with interactive displays and tours where you can view live bees and learn about the honey-making process, there is also a range of delectable honey varieties to sample and take with you if you choose.
Hapi is an institution in Napier that celebrates diversity in eating styles and has sustainability at its core. They grow their own fresh vegetables and herbs in their certified organic market garden and make their own handmade organic goods from nut milks and cheeses to cold pressed vegetable juices and tonics, as well as offering a fantastic selection of gluten free, paleo and keto baking and meals in their cafe. Hapi works to uphold Ngā Kaupapa o Hua Parakore, the ancestral Māori values that underpin the creation of pure, uncontaminated food, with their key message that food is medicine “He kai he rongoā”.