Food Envy’s recipe for success

Every day, cars emblazoned with ‘Food Envy’ can be seen buzzing around Wellington. They’re the company vehicles for a local catering company, delivering food to every corner of the city and beyond. 

Food Envy is a trusted Wellington catering institution. You can find the team catering parties, weddings, and events throughout the region. They are one of the preferred suppliers for Venues Wellington, catering to functions at The Opera House, TSB Arena, Shed 6, the St James Theatre, and Michael Fowler Centre. From the glittering spectacle of the World of WearableArt to the prestigious launch of Aotearoa New Zealand Festival of the Arts, Food Envy will be there. 

The Food Envy story began in 2012, with chef Taz McAuley. He was working from the suburban family kitchen of Michael Ny, Taz’s soon-to-be brother-in-law. Taz’s vision was to create a boutique catering company delivering food matched to the needs of each occasion. No two events are the same, and the Food Envy point of difference would be exactly that: difference. If you were lucky enough to attend two weddings catered by Food Envy, the menus would be different — but each would be perfect. 

In those early days, Food Envy was a one-man operation, with Taz cooking, delivering, and setting up. Despite being a trained structural engineer, Michael joined Taz in 2018 as co-director and operations manager. As he says, the principles of engineering and management aren’t so different. Structures have to be robust, expandable, and delivered on time and within a budget — just like catering. 

At the time, the Food Envy kitchen was in The Exchange, one of Wellington’s busiest entertainment hubs. By 2020, it was time to expand again, and they found a new commercial kitchen nearby. After sticking it out through the pandemic and subsequent lockdowns, the team was ready to work. 

While business was pumping, the team found themselves with a vacant space in their old kitchen at The Exchange. Taz and Michael recognised it was a great site to launch a new café and wine bar, Glou Glou. Michael says the location was perfect. Glou Glou’s position is next to a large atrium connecting two busy streets. The versatile space is easy to reconfigure, making it perfect for large groups and event hire. 

The vision for Glou Glou was to create a meeting place for the people who keep the Courtenay quarter humming. Since opening in 2024, Glou Glou has been a popular spot for locals and visitors alike. Serving picture-perfect pastries and coffees, it’s bustling throughout the week and weekends. For Taz, it was crucial to ensure Glou Glou remained accessible to entrench itself in the community. “It was important to us to always be visible and a hub of hospitality, even outside of normal work hours.” 

Taz, Michael and the entire Food Envy crew are proud of the cooperation and collaboration they see across the Wellington hospitality sector. Every other month, they host a free breakfast for the industry. They welcome people from the industry, connections forged through their work with WellingtonNZ. “It’s a chance for all the businesses to network, share ideas, build relationships and create great networks”, says Taz. 

For Michael, WellingtonNZ has been a supportive — and friendly — team to work with. “They offer a lot of marketing and communication assistance and initiative. They want the same things for Wellington that we all do: wanting the city to be thriving and a great place to do business.”