By Katie Murar – Reporter, Pacific Business News
Oct 3, 2017, 12:13pm
The Hawaii Food and Wine Festival is partnering with BuzzFeed’s Tasty to access more than 100 million food fans and unlock a potential new pool of visitors to the state.
“This is a pivotal partnership for Hawaii Food & Wine Festival,” Denise Yamaguchi, CEO of the festival, said. “We started the festival seven years ago to share Hawaii’s story through food by attracting world class chefs and prominent media exposure to spotlight local ingredients, our culture, cuisine, and emerging talent. Tasty will spread our story to a global audience of more than 100 million fans who have an appetite for food content.”
Tasty will share preview videos of Hawaii recipes, such as Roy Yamaguchi’s Classic Melting Hot Chocolate Soufflé, and will cover the festival which takes place from Oct. 20 to Nov. 5 on Maui, Hawaii Island and Oahu. The videos of the seventh annual event will be shared on Facebook and Instagram.
“Tasty is thrilled to be a part of this exciting partnership with the Hawai’i Food & Wine Festival,” Ashley McCollum, general manager of Tasty, said in a statement. “We’re looking forward to working with chefs from around the country to highlight the local Hawaiian cuisine, while connecting with our audience both on-screen and in person.”
The partnership will also include a giveaway that will include roundtrip airfare for two people to Hawaii from anywhere in the United States, four nights in an ocean front suite at The Modern Honolulu and tickets to three events: Spice Market at The Modern, Hawaiian Airlines Presents Uncorked at Hawaii Convention Center and Taste of the Seasons at Ko Olina Resort with Aulani, A Disney Resort & Spa and Four Seasons Resort Oahu at Ko Olina.
Last year’s festival had 8,000 attendees and raised $394,000 for 14 local nonprofits.