Butter takes the biscuit at home and away

MARION VAN DIJK/Nelson Mail

ALL SORTS: David and Rita Bell with a selection of their shortbread, including chocolate and ginger, cappuccino, lime and coconut, and chocolate and chilli on the platter, and traditional all butter on the plate.

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A Wakefield couple are taking the buttery taste of Kiwi shortbread to the Chinese. Naomi Mitchell reports. 

Whether it is served with tea or eaten alone, shortbread is a fantastic way to savour the taste of Kiwi butter.

Wakefield couple David and Rita Bell have been serving up old-fashioned Kiwi shortbread since they bought Glendenings Bakery in Wakefield three years ago, and now many of their customers are thousands of kilometres away in Asia.

Their shortbread was recently selected by New Zealand Trade and Enterprise to feature in material being distributed in Chinese supermarkets to promote New Zealand products.

The NZTE initiative, known as the China Retail Channel Development Project, is aimed at creating new business opportunities for New Zealand food and beverage companies in the China retail sector.

The Bells' shortbread, manufactured in a small but specially designed commercial kitchen in Wakefield that meets all the international food standards needed for export, appears in catalogues alongside other big Kiwi brands like Wattie's and Monteith's.

There is also a cheesecake recipe that uses the company's shortbread in its base.

The Bells hope inclusion in the campaign will boost plans to expand export into Asia.

A love of baking and an understanding of the chemical processes involved have helped the couple develop the business and the products for export in the three years they have had it.

David worked as an industrial chemist before he and Rita took up farming in Upper Moutere more than 20 years ago.

When they lived on the farm, they ground their own flour and used a converted hop kiln to bake fresh bread, which they sold at local markets.

The couple worked with the Salvation Army in Africa for seven years and when they returned in December 2004, they "needed something to do to keep off the streets" and bought the bakery and shortbread business.

They are particular about the flour they use.

They always buy enough to make sure batches are consistent, and test its quality and taste before it is used.

"There are a lot of differences in flour and the ones that are high in gluten have a strong bitter taste sometimes."

The traditional all-butter shortbread is their best seller and was the only flavour being produced when the couple took over the business.

They have since introduced new flavours, including lime and coconut, almond, chocolate and ginger, cappuccino, chocolate and chilli and truly Kiwi flavours horopito and lemon, kawakawa and vanilla, and manuka honey.

It is packaged in special bags to keep it fresh but the Bells say because shortbread is quite porous, it is best not stored for long periods once opened.

- © Fairfax NZ News