Back in Oz for Fine Food… and an unexpected brush with the law

It was fantastic to be back in Australia earlier this month for the Fine Food Tradeshow – three days, nearly 1000 exhibitors, many flying in from around the world, and thousands of eager attendees. The show was buzzing, clever new products, passionate people, and of course, the very serious job of taste-testing my way through the aisles.

One standout discovery was Kiwi company Vital Zing. Their innovation? Tiny flavour drops that turn water into a tasty alternative to soft drinks, brilliant for getting kids off sugary fizz. They’re already making waves in Australia, and you’ll spot them in the NZ supermarkets.

Naturally, I’d taken along plenty of flaky salt samples for distributors. By the end, though, most of mine had been swapped for other companies goodies, a fair trade, I’d say! After three jam-packed days, I headed to the airport, bags loaded with new finds.

That’s when things got interesting.

While catching up with a friend at the terminal, he bolted off and next thing I know I’m suddenly flanked by police. One of them even had a machine gun. Now, I’ve travelled back and forth across the ditch countless times with little baggies of salt samples in my luggage, never an issue. But this time? Bad timing.

Turns out, when I opened my suitcase to get changed, one lonely little baggie of flaky salt had slipped under my chair. To the casual observer, it didn’t exactly scream “artisan salt from New Zealand.” Cue: raised eyebrows, questions, testing, details taken… and me trying to explain that, no Sergeant, it really is just salt!

Thankfully, my story checked out. Bag cleared. No mugshot required. I eventually made it to check-in a little flustered but still laughing. And no, I didn’t dare ask the officer with the machine gun for a selfie. Whew. 🤭🤣