"We've experienced an increase in membership from highly qualified professionals, such as auditors, accountants and IT specialists, and also a recent higher number of queries from people qualified in the building industry and managing large building projects. The people coming here often have young families and are motivated by the better opportunities they see here than in Europe," she says.
Jean-Christophe Poizat founded Newmarket-based French fine wine merchant Maison Vauron with business partner Scott Gray in 1999.
Poizat's family has been in the wine trade since 1879, and it was initially New Zealand's wine industry that beckoned him here as a visitor in 1991. Six months later he'd met his Kiwi wife, and he's been here ever since.
Poizat and Gray have further extended their business, setting up French food wholesaler La Fromagerie, and retailer L'Atelier du Fromage around a dozen years ago. They now source product from more than 250 wine producers in France, and almost the same number again in cheeses, and Poizat travels there two or three times a year.
I really love the way Kiwis network, and it's a lot easier here where there's always just one or two degrees of separation.
"It sounds glamorous, but it's tough. On each trip we're there for around three weeks, so it's a huge commitment in terms of time and cost, but completely relevant and justified if you want to have a quality offering," says Poizat.
Thomas Dietz, a Parisian now resident in Auckland, launched the French convenience food brand TOMeTTe on Bastille Day in 2012, and is about to launch a new brand called WOOP, a subscription service that home delivers semi-prepared gourmet meals.
One of Dietz's biggest challenges as a French entrepreneur in New Zealand has been developing networks, but being part of the Icehouse's incubation programme in TOMeTTe's first year, and a member of the Entrepreneurs' Organisation have helped him build solid connections.
"I really love the way Kiwis network, and it's a lot easier here where there's always just one or two degrees of separation," Dietz says.
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Q&A: Jean-Christophe Poizat, Maison Vauron
Jean-Christophe Poizat founded Newmarket-based French fine wine merchant Maison Vauron with business partner Scott Gray in 1999. They have since also set up French food wholesaler La Fromagerie, and retailer L'Atelier du Fromage.
Where are you from in France, and when and why did you come to New Zealand?
Originally I'm from a city called Saint-Etienne, which is near Lyon - the third largest city in France. My family has been in the wine trade since 1879, when my great, great grandfather Antoine Vauron began his business as a wine merchant.
It was mainly the wine industry that brought me to New Zealand. I was working for a wine merchant in England in the late 1980s and early 1990s but at that time Europe was in a big recession; the economic situation all around Europe was terrible.
So in 1991 I took the opportunity to come to New Zealand, really just to learn more about New Zealand wines because we were selling some in England at the time. I originally came to visit, but then I met my Kiwi wife pretty much six months later, and that was that.
When and why did you set up Maison Vauron?
We set up the business in 1999. I had been working for Glengarry as their fine wine director, and Scott and I saw a little gap in the market for a business selling wine from small and exclusive producers and that's why we got started.
What was the climate like for a boutique French business starting here 16 years ago?
When I first came here, I don't think the demand for our kind of products was as great, and in the early nineties there were some issues still around the Rainbow Warrior and French nuclear testing in the Pacific. I found that very sad because as a French person all you want to say is 'I'm very sorry' for those kinds of things.
But by 1999 the climate was different - Kiwis have a wonderful, forgiving attitude - and the market had matured. New Zealand's own wine industry was maturing, so in general people were wanting to know more about different kinds of wine. And generally I think Kiwis just have an affinity for France and French products. I can't exactly pinpoint why - perhaps it goes back to our experiences in war time, or that we're both people of the land - but there's this connection between France and New Zealand that runs deep.
What was your thinking around the extensions you've made to your business with French food products?
It's cheeses mainly. And the thinking was to be more French than France. Our philosophy with the business has been to go deep with what we know - rather than wide and shallow - and what we know well is French wine and food.
What are your ongoing links to France?
I travel there two or three times a year. We go to visit all our French producers; we've got more than 250 of them in wine, and nearly as many in cheeses. It's crucial we go to see them, because we're always having to try the products and make sure they're right for the market and our tastes. It sounds glamorous, but it's tough.
On each trip we're there for around three weeks, so it's a huge commitment in terms of time and cost, but completely relevant and justified if you want to have a quality offering. You have to stay on top of the trends or you lose your leadership position. We're always looking for that new star product before anyone else finds it; that's what drives us every day.
