About Us
Culinary background
Chef Select was founded by Alun Bain, a fine food lover from way back!
Blessed to have parents and grandparents that were all great home cooks, and home gardeners, he was exposed to great food from very early on.
Growing up on farms and in rural communities, gave him exposure to the challenges of horticulture and agriculture in New Zealand (and his first jobs, picking fruit and bailing hay!)
His career might have started in IT, but in the year 2000, he fell in love with a chef and then his passion for fine food really ramped up!
Adventures in food
After travelling Australia, South East Asia and the Pacific, Alun and his partner took the leap and bought a restaurant in Northland (the highly-regarded Sahara Restaurant) sourcing produce direct from growers and wholesalers (and from their own restaurant garden!)
Some years later, Alun and his partner bought an under-performing cafe near Cambridge in the UK and revitalised the business, adding coffee subscriptions and an online store - which saved the business during the Covid years.
Culinary adventures in Morocco, France, Sweden, Japan, Belgium, UK and around Asia-Pacific further exposed Alun to the wonderous world of food, cementing his future in the industry.
A new venture
After returning to New Zealand, Alun worked for the largest fresh produce wholesaler in New Zealand, working with restaurants, food service companies and speciality retail, to source great quality produce, from New Zealand's best producers, at a fair price.
This experience, the connections made, and relationships formed, has helped him to bring Chef Select to life!
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Chef Select is a division of Bain Products Limited
Welcome, fine food lover!
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