Designed to tempt everyone’s tastebuds, from those who eat and maybe enjoy a tipple or two, through to the food buff or wine connoisseur, the Good Food & Wine Show has it all. Purchasing tickets at a reasonably priced $26 each, whets your appetite with the anticipation of what these sought after entry tickets, will provide.

For three days, dedicated businesses manned and operated their stalls out of the Brisbane Convention Centre, all in aid of the promotion and marketing for their products. With a broad cross range including, large companies, family enterprises and Mum & Dad businesses represented, the variety of choice is simply impressive.

Vibrant colours adorned food vans, stalls and food areas. More formal settings were a part of the different regions set up throughout the hall. Here, you could take your tastebuds and palate on a trip around Australia, or the world, without leaving the convention centre.

If you have ever wondered what some of those different foods out there taste like, then this was the place to be. I would be very surprised to find anyone who couldn’t find something here to suit their tastes, or test a little something out of their comfort zone. The variety of tastings on trial is overwhelmingly mouthwatering, creating the initial first problem for the day – where to start??

Our group attended early in the morning which was definitely a good idea. At this time of day, there was plenty of room to move with the added plus of happy stall holders, refreshed and keen to talk to you about their products. As the morning progressed, alley ways started to fill with potential product testers, and some counters became a little harder to access.

Chatting with some fabulously interesting people from an assortment of areas, learning about their products, was both enlightening and a superb way to spend a weekend morning. I had a wonderful chat to a Father & Son about the family Lychee Farm in Hervey Bay, tasted a delightful probiotic gingerbeer, sampled organic melt in the mouth cheeses, oils, balsamic vinegars, yoghurts, chilli products, chocolate vodka and an array of wines. Helpful James at Wine Selectors, took us on a private tour of Australia, with his selection of wine tastings from different regions. Most enjoyable all round!

The majority of stall holders were happy to take treat you to tastings while taking the time to chat about their wares, without pushing their products. In fact, we only came across one young lady who was a little too insistent at trying to sell one of their product show bags. Everyone else was fantastic. The win for them was we did purchase their products after partaking of some interesting tastings.

As we progressed through the maze of alleyways, one did start to feel like a pack horse. Bag went into bag, which was usually already inside another bag. Yes great idea, less bags to carry but the couple you do have become progressively heavier. A neat little solution was raised, with stall holders offering to hold our bottles and purchases from their stall to one side, with us collecting them before we left the show. The only problem with this solution, remembering where you had left bags 😄. We did clear this hurdle though, with a well spent ten minutes at the end, collecting our shopping. It was about now, we realised how much we had brought!
(A very small selection only, in this next photo)!

This time round, we simply wandered the walkways without any plan of attack, and did not partake in any of the classes, masterclasses and demonstrations on offer. We will keep that for next year!

This event occurs in different states throughout the year, be sure to keep an eye out for advertising. Most certainly worth a visit. See you there next year!