Competitive vibe set aside at Food and Wine Festival

With the Marlborough Wine and Food Festival approaching, William Woodworth continues his series of chats with those who help make it special. He catches up with Giesen’s Export Sales Manager, Roscoe Johanson.

Throngs of ticket holders will be at this year’s Food and Wine Festival but behind the scenes, it’s a chance for the industry to come together and celebrate.

Since 2012, Roscoe Johanson has seen the Marlborough Wine and Food Festival grow and evolve.

And as much as he enjoys sharing Giesen’s story with anyone he meets, Roscoe says it’s the shared ambition of stallholders which makes the day.

“The Wine and Food Festival shows how healthy and collaborative Marlborough’s wine and food industry is - we forget about being competitors and make a great event,” he says.

“It's an opportunity to highlight winemaking and viticultural teams, learn about the people and stories behind bottles.

“Whether it’s with Giesen or any other stand – and the festival team create a fantastic all-round culinary experience, pulling big name chefs to work local produce and getting some fantastic musical acts for dancing later.”

Roscoe’s key role is to make the Giesen stand as big, bright and popular as possible – with plenty of planning going into each year’s showcase.

“We’ve been liaising with what concepts the stand will take with marketing and builders, and as we get closer, we're catching up more, deciding on wines we show, and building a run sheet for the day - it's quite a big job.”

“The team sets up Friday afternoon, and it's an early morning Saturday on site - for me, I’m hosting international guests through the day – and

“That evening we catch up on the stand, have a well-earnt relaxed barbecue and a glass of wine, look for little improvements in offerings, sustainability, messaging and catchments, and we’re back on the train again.”

Roscoe says branching into new opportunities is part and parcel of being at the festival, whether on site or further afield.

“My favourite moment was having a live Festival crossover on one of Australia’s key TV channels a few years ago, because Australia is such an important market for Marlborough. We really pushed the region as a whole into millions of homes with great flow-on effects for suppliers.

“Zero or low-alcohol wines will be a big focus for us this year – we’ll be involved in the low-alcohol wine masterclass for the first time which will be exciting, but still offering right through our range.

“We need to adapt to what’s happening, and the whole zero or low alcohol category has evolved so fast regulations haven’t really kept up – it makes challenges, yet I’m excited to see where it goes.”