NZCA President Hughie Blues has announced the appointment of chef Gary Miller as Salon Director for New Zealand's top Hospitality Championship event, which will take place from 11-13 August 2019 at Trusts Arena in West Auckland.
“I have known Gary for quite some time and his hands-on approach and ability to get things done is legendary,” Blues said. “His wealth of knowledge, skill, ideas and understanding of the competition process itself is ideal for this role and we firmly believe he will be a great asset to our team.”
Miller is well known throughout the industry for engaging in many roles for both the NZCA and other prominent industry bodies. He runs his own company, Kitchen Productions, based in Christchurch.
"I am delighted to take on the responsibility of Salon Director and wish to acknowledge the tireless work of former director, Martin Harrap,” Miller said. “I anticipate that there will be numerous video calls back and forth between us during the six months leading up to the Championships. I know that the 2019 event will be even bigger than previous years with the additional expo element and an exciting new venue.”
“I love fresh challenges and following new directions. When I think back to when I was a competitor, then a judge, then a senior judge and thereafter manager of the reformed New Zealand Culinary Team in 2001, I am ever thankful for the opportunities to attend the various international shows and competitions because I was exposed to so many innovative ideas and experiences. I cannot wait to share them with the NZCA Salon & Expo team and hopefully incorporate some into this year's Championship event.”
Miller’s focus is always on the end result, but he also believes that the competitor should always be at the very heart of the contest.
"We must ensure that the entire experience, from registration to competition day, is an enjoyable one for the competitor. That starts at check-in and includes the environment, infrastructure, availability of information and communication – in fact, everything that creates the 'experience' so that win or lose, they come away having had a great time among industry friends and rivals and hopefully learned something too.”
