So ultimately Air New Zealand can serve and promote anything they want.  

Yes they're a national carrier, yes they represent us, yes they are partly owned by us, but ultimately they are responsible for a solid bottom line.

And in part, that bottom line and success that we have all enjoyed in recent times is based on being edgy and coming up with new and interesting ideas, branding and marketing.  

But I will tell you this, I fly to Los Angeles and I fly in business class, but I won't be ordering the burger because I love meat.  

Not as much meat as I used to because my doctor is an oger, but plant based protein is not a part of my future.  

And here's why this country doesn’t really need to worry about it the way some do.  

It's trendy and I suspect it will remain trendy for a long time.  

And even when it isn't trendy, history is very instructive in how to survive in times of change.  

So first issue is they still haven't produced a product that tastes like the real thing or anywhere close.

You can probably hide it with sauce and dressing but on its own it's still stuff out of a lab.  

Not unlike margarine was, and margarine was the great health saviour remember, until they worked out butter is not just fine but good. And we're all back on the butter.  

And then if it gets past the taste test, and goes mainstream where does that leave New Zealand? The premier producer of red meat.  

It leaves us, if we are smart, where Chateau Lafite is.  

Chateau Lafite is a producer of a blended wine in the region of Bordeaux in France.

They take Cabernet Sauvignon, some Merlot and a little bit of Cabernet Franc and they blend them together to make a wine.  

They've been doing it for hundreds of years, back before we ever planted a grape here or SouthAfrica, Chile, California, Australia.  

The new world, as it is known in wine circles, was the plant based protein of wine. It was the threat.  

If these regions could ever produce quantity and quality, surely the shaky old empire of France would be brought to its knees.  

Three or four hundred years on you will pay, depending on the vintage, between $1300 and $2000 dollars a bottle for Chateau Lafite.

And how have they achieved this economic miracle?

By being the best.

Not unlike we are.

Are there alternatives? Yes. Are they cheaper? Yes. Is there a market? Yes.  

But there is also a market, always has been, always will be, for quality.  

Quality, originality and tradition.

And when it comes to product of the land that is us.  

Who knows they might get like the Jetsons and people will eat dinner from a pill.

But there will always be a market for the best.

And as along as we remember that and don’t freak out every time someone like an airline tries something new, we will  be fine.