Taste of Kiwi to tickle movie-goers tastebuds

By IRENE CHAPPLE

International stars will feast on New Zealand nibbles washed down with Kiwi bubbles at the international launching of the Lord of the Rings movie trilogy in London.

New Zealand lamb, Nelson boysenberries, V energy drink and Montana wines will be served to the 1900 VIPs attending the premiere of The Fellowship of the Rings at London's Odeon theatre on Monday.

The venue for the party afterwards remains shrouded in secrecy, along with details of the menu, but it has been described as "Hobbitesque" by Trade NZ's investment New Zealand film manager, Paul Voigt.

He first tackled New Line Cinema with the idea of a New Zealand-based spread a year ago, and says companies have been eager to flaunt their products at the event.

Hugo Weaving and Cate Blancett are expected to be the only ones missing from the list of stars that includes screen darlings Elijah Wood, Liv Tyler and Sir Ian McKellen.

John Waugh, of the Trade NZ London office, said the events were an ideal opportunity for New Zealand companies.

But he said the menu would not be 100 per cent pure New Zealand.

Boysenberries would be used for tarts, and the lamb would be on the spit, but if boysenberry tarts were on the menu the pastry would not be coming from New Zealand.

Representatives from the film maker, New Line Cinema, said they either did not know, or would not comment about the party. Film distributors in London were also unable to comment, or did not return calls.

But one certainty is that Montana Wines will play a prominent role in the events.

It fought off international competitors to secure exclusive pourage rights at every premiere, including London, New York, Los Angeles, Sydney and Wellington.

The deal is also expected to cover the final two films in the trilogy, The Two Towers and The Return of the King.

Montana's international operations manager Jim Robertson said the company was putting in a significant investment.

He would not talk figures, but said it would provide wine for over 7000 people over the course of the British, US and Australasian premieres.

Bubbly will make up almost half of the wine supplied, with those attending in London being served Lindauer and those at the US premieres Deutz.

At the New Zealand premiere movie-goers will tipple Lindauer Grandeur and in Australia it will be Lindauer Special Reserve.

Montana Sauvignon Blanc and Montana Reserve Pinot Noir will also be served. But in the US guests will be served Brancott Vineyard still wines.

A quirk of Montana's international marketing is that its still wines are sold in the US under the Brancott label, to separate their image from the state of Montana.

In return for providing the wine, Montana gets up to 10 tickets to each international event.

But it won't be getting that number for the London premiere, says Mr Robertson.

Tickets for that event are rumoured to be selling for up to £2000 ($6880) on the black market.

Mr Robertson says they are giving the tickets to key overseas distributors and wine writers.

He says the events are an opportunity for the company to gain brand exposure.

Waiting staff at the premieres will be wearing aprons with the Montana logo, and there will be signage in the theatres. He says the Montana winemakers involvement fits with its sponsorship of New Zealand arts.

"The Lord of the Rings involvement gives Montana the unique opportunity to present our brand to high profile international opinion shapers, in a unique environment."

He says there is absolutely no question that the company's involvement with Lord of the Rings will raise the profile of its brands and attract consumer and trade interest.

Frucor Beverages' London office spokesman Ray Nicholls said it would be supplying several thousand bottles of its V energy drink, as the main non-alcoholic option.

He said the premiere would be an opportunity for V to be sampled by "key influencers and trendsetters".

"By their very nature these will be young people who are trend conscious, and have an everyday working need for energy boosts.

"If the staff make off with half the stock and distribute it among friends and flatmates we would be delighted."

He said that several thousand cases of V had been consumed by the cast and crew of The Lord of the Rings.

Berryfruit Export NZ, which is supplying boysenberries, also hopes to use the glamour event to push the berry's profile in the United Kingdom.

Up to a tonne of boysenberries will be taken from the UK's frozen supply, says general manager John Molyneux.

Boysenberries, at wholesale, are worth around $3.80 a kg and Mr Molyneux said the promotion would be extremely cost effective.

The Berryfruit name and logo would be on the menu and this would raise awareness of the product in a relatively new market.

"We want to create wider awareness of boysenberries, for people to talk about them and where they come from."

The market was huge, he said.

Over the past three years exports to the UK had increased by around 500 per cent. Potentially, it was a million-dollar market.

There were too many imponderables to estimate a financial benefit, but he said he would be happy if boysenberries were the subject of movie stars' small talk.

Meat New Zealand is to supply around 300kg of lamb for the London function.

The company's general manager of market services, Collier Isaacs, said providing the lamb was not a massive operation and it had been approached by Trade NZ to participate.

"It's important to get New Zealand product behind the project."

He said he understood lamb would be served at all the premieres - in line with Hobbits' eating habits.

Meanwhile, the Australasian menu is still under wraps, says distributor Roadshow Film Distributors special projects manager Susan Leigh.

She said the detail had been confirmed but would probably be kept secret until the premieres.

Feature: Lord of the Rings