Two Cowboys: New Zealand Beer in a Can Made Perfectly Every Time with WilliamsWarn in Dunedin, New Zealand

Kiwi In A Can

We all know that beer doesn't travel well. Light, movement and temperature fluctuations are some factors contributing to the rapid degradation of the flavour profile of freshly brewed and fermented beer. How can you then send beer halfway around the world and ensure that it is as fresh as it should be the day it is poured?

I think WilliamsWarn in New Zealand has the answer. They send New Zealand's best brews as malt extract in a can all over the world, and leave the last steps of the beer making process - fermentation, pouring and consumption - up to their customers. At the same time, they liberate their brewers from some of the heavy-handed taxations that accompany man's oldest beverage.

It's like the tea and coffee business. The manufacturer does all the work with the best ingredients they have, and all you have to do is add water or pull a shot of espresso. In the case of WilliamsWarn, add water and yeast, give it a little time, chill and pour yourself a clean, crisp, fresh New Zealand beer!

At Speights with WilliamsWarn

Award Winning Home Brewer - Nick Koppers

Chef Jason van Dorst - Experimental Brewer

DO YOU YOU WANT YOUR DESTINATION OR BUSINESS FEATURED?

We were hosted by Sean Toohey of WilliamsWarn at Speights Brewery. He wanted us to see first-hand, where the deliciousness of WilliamsWarn's beer came from.

The brewery is in one of New Zealand's iconic beer locations - Dunedin. It is rich in history and famous for its "Pride of the South" branding. James Speight, Charles Greenslade and William Dawson handed in their notices at Well Park Brewery in 1876 to establish their own brewery in Dunedin’s Rattray Street. Dawson was the brewer, Greenslade the maltster and Speight the businessman. The rest is history, as they say.

Today, the business is part of the Lion Group of companies. Not only do they still brew the famous Speight’s Gold Medal Ale, but the facility is now also a key producer of malt extract for food producers, craft, micro and home breweries the world over. Almost as much as half the capacity of the facility is dedicated to this niche line of products that are made uniquely and exclusive with New Zealand brewing ingredients. Yes, you heard it right. New Zealand hops, malt and specialty grains are added to the famous water from the spring underneath the Brewery to produce perfect wort extracted in a can of malt, and then they send it to us here in Canada courtesy of WilliamsWarn.

WilliamsWarn's patented BrewKegs unlock this Kiwi goodness for us when we add water and yeast, and a little hops to taste, and send us on a taste journey back home to our Island, and to the people that are proud of their South and their beer.

Observations

The beer business is complicated. Brewing is even more tricky. You can be a lover of beer and hate everything that comes with the industry. It is tricky not only due to the way it is done but because of the players, grandstanding, dress-ups, technologies, regulations, taxations, ingredients, branding, tariffs and more.

Amongst all this complexity of what should be a relatively simple matter - like baking bread - we are sincerely thankful for someone that can obscure it all, and deliver to us a simple, failure proof way, we too can take charge of our beer.

What we've learned now, thanks to our visit to Speights, is that not only does WilliamsWarn liberate us and our beer by making it simple and easy to make our own beer, it also sends us goodness from home, extracted in a can of malt. What an ingenious way to do it!

Thank you for our New Zealand beer - in a can!

Hendrik van Wyk

Beer Cowboy

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Two Cowboys on a Journey: Ocho, Dunedin - New Zealand

Bean-to-Bar Chocolate - Otago Chocolate Company

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It is a bit of a closed society, the people that make chocolate. There is a lot of secrecy involved. A key factor in this secrecy is that it is too hot to make chocolate where the cacao beans are grown, so you have to really want to make chocolate to give it a go. While cacao is grown and harvested near the equator, it is not the ideal place for chocolate to be made. It is too hot and humid. The right temperature, knowledge, climate and commitment is required at a totally different location in the world. A place like Dunedin, New Zealand. Only the really motivated Producer can succeed in this business. If you do, it is a delicious business to have.

"If there is a fork in the road, take it. You never know where it will take you..." Liz Rowe, Ocho, NZ

Ocho is a craft bean-to-bar chocolate maker based in Dunedin, New Zealand. Yes, it is the other chocolate company you will find in Dunedin, next to Cadbury New Zealand. I would venture that it is the "real chocolate" company in the beautiful city of Dunedin.

Being a craft chocolate maker means that Ocho imports the fermented and dried beans and make the chocolate from scratch. This includes roasting, grinding, conching and tempering the chocolate before moulding it into bars. Unlike big industrial chocolate makers they use simple equipment and their processes are very hands-on because none of their equipment is automated.

It's a bit like craft beer compared to mainstream beer companies. The beans are roasted and processed in small batches so some variations are possible from batch to batch. They don’t blend any of their chocolate, so each batch is fully traceable back to the farmer co-operative where the beans were grown.

Impressions

Ocho is a real gem of a business that Liz and her two assistants established. We arrived the morning to find a tiny little-shared kitchen and three passionate chocoholics, in the industrial area of Dunedin.

"You should have waited until we are in our new place." is the first words we heard from Liz, as we unpacked our camera gear. Unfortunately, our time in Dunedin was limited. We couldn't wait to do the profile at another date after a scheduled visit with a Producer in Alexandra fell through at short notice.

After meeting Liz and her team, we really were happy that we didn't delay this profile. It is one of the most surprising profiles we've done to-date.

Three things stood out from our visit with Ocho:

• Unbelievable Story: Why trek ten hours into the jungles of Papua Neuguinea for cacao? "Because it makes for special and unique chocolate." according to Liz, a Journalist, Artist and now avid Chocolate Maker Producer. Yes, you've heard it right. Liz hikes into the back country bush to source her ingredients in one of the most inhospitable and primitive locations in the Pacific. Because of this commitment, Ocho's cacao beans and unique flavour of chocolate is something you are unlikely to find anywhere else in the world. She had to tell me the story twice, so unrealistic it sounded the first time I heard it. We were treated to something amazing and groundbreaking in this tiny little kitchen, far away from most of the world. How can something this amazing remain a secret? It cannot! Because Liz is committed to only using cacao that is sourced in the Pacific, her chocolate is unique in many ways. It tastes phenomenal, and it is unique in her commitment to the people that farm the beans. Many of them live in absolute poverty as subsistence farmers.
• Ingenuity: Liz contracted a local engineering student to help her build the equipment for processing the cacao. The beans are cracked with the help of a Bosch drill that cranks the machine. It is winnowed by a vacuum cleaner and a plastic funnel held together with duct tape and fed by a food processing meat grinder. Pure Kiwi ingenuity! It all works to keep the process as simple as possible for capturing the true flavour of what the beans have on offer. Only two ingredients go into the majority of the Ocho chocolate. Cacao and Sugar. That's it! The way it used to be. It leaves you with a range of flavours that work its way through your palate by letting it linger for longer. Truly amazing.
• Nothing Like It: Liz spoiled our taste in chocolate for good. Chocolate will never be the same again! After working your way through 88% PNG, no chocolate can ever be as good as we've had from Liz. During our days in Canada we will be reminiscing about the flavours of Ocho and its uniquely flavoured Pacific cacao beans, and remember the passionate ladies that keep it simple, yet amazing.

We are counting the days until we are back in New Zealand to order and enjoy a delicious Ocho chocolate bar.

We also recommend the Beekeeper's Bar: New Zealand Manuka Honey, Bee Pollen and Puffed Amaranth are added to OCHO's 70% single origin dark chocolate in this bar. The amaranth and bee pollen combine to give a soft crunch to the chocolate and bring a mild toasted flavour, while the Manuka honey adds a strong honey flavour for a lingering finish reminiscent of summer in a beech forest. You can get it here (ocho.co.nz).

Now tell me if this isn't amazing!!

Hendrik van Wyk
Producer and Second Cowboy

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Two Cowboys on a Journey: Milmeq, Dunedin - New Zealand

Milmeq

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When you are far, far away from everyone else in the wold, then innovation becomes a necessity. You cannot rely on other's knowledge, or what people are doing elsewhere. You have to make do with your own plans and innovations for common everyday challenges.

This is one of the reasons why there is an above average number of innovative and creative Producers in New Zealand. Even more so at the remote southern tip of the South Island, in the tiny city of Dunedin. Here we find a Producer that's been leading the world in refrigeration and protein processing innovations.

The world became smaller over the last few decades. At the same time, the New Zealand innovators and makers entered the world stage. These Producers now realize that in many cases, thanks to their isolation, they actually came up with an even better solution to a challenge, than what most of the world could muster. As Mike Lightfoot, the CEO from Milmeq puts it: "This is the Kiwi way!"


Milmeq specializes in capital plant equipment for food processing operations around the world. They provide a turn-key service, including design, manufacturing, installation and maintenance. Their areas of expertise include primary food processing, chilling and freezing and materials handling. They provide performance-enhancing solutions to clients across the meat, poultry, dairy, seafood and horticulture industries. Having already established themselves as industry leaders in their homeland, New Zealand, which is renowned for its meat and dairy exporting industry, they are now recognized globally for offering world-class technologies and support systems.

Impressions

Dunedin is a short flight south from Auckland. Dunedin airport is probably the most iconic airport in New Zealand because you are landing an aeroplane right in the middle of a cow paddock. I cannot think of many places in the world where you hear the bleating of lambs as you walk to your hire car in the airport carpark. When I land in Dunedin, I like being in New Zealand. This is the place I came to love as an immigrant from South Africa in 2001.

I must confess, our story with Milmeq goes back a little longer than the short trip we did on the 16th of February to go an interview the makers and fabricators of this great business. We've been doing video production work for them before, so we know the people, and we know the business. Their CEO, Mike makes use of every available opportunity to tell the company's great story, and to show the world what they can do. We've been lucky to be a part of that.

Milmeq makes protein processing equipment. Yes, if you eat steak, pork or chicken in Australia and New Zealand, the chances are that it was touched by Milmeq ingenuity somewhere along the line. The business is that phenomenal and that iconic within the industry. They invented plate freezing.

What stood out during the interviews was that the people of Milmeq are trades people with a dedication to their craft. Many of them have been in the business over twenty years. As one gentleman put it: "If I didn't like it, I wouldn't be here. I've been here more than twenty years, so I must like it." This statement stands out for some subtleties that speak volumes about the Kiwi culture, but also shows how Producers are substantially set apart from other people.

There is a no-nonsense, get-on-with-it attitude, amongst these people. They are modest about their achievements. They have a substantial dedication to quality and loyalty to their company and colleagues. When you build and make big things, you do it within a team. Working as a team is important. They also investing and grow young apprentices, so that they can strengthen the group. 

The people of Milmeq are producers. They are vested in their work.  They love what they do. They do it for decades because every day at work they get a chance to leave a bit of themselves behind in what they make. Every day they make it a bit better. They also grow, because every thing they touch delivers value to others, and make our world a better place. Yet, in the end, it is about the beauty of the craft. The value in knowing: "I made this." 

Producers are privileged people. 

It is an honour to have spent time with Mike Lightfoot and his team. He is an inspirational and enthusiastic leader. It was a spectacular experience to do it in Dunedin. 

We hope you like what we've produced about Milmeq.

Hendrik van Wyk

Producer.

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