Born in New Zealand · Nationality New Zealander — Food / entrepreneurship / television

Nadia Lim

Also known as: Nadia Rui-Chi Lim

Celebrities, influencers and social media Business and billionaires

New Zealand chef and entrepreneur born in 1985, MasterChef NZ winner and My Food Bag co-founder.

Nadia Lim is a New Zealand chef, dietitian and entrepreneur who won MasterChef New Zealand in 2011 and co-founded My Food Bag. Her name features in debate about the company’s 2021 IPO and shareholder criticism in 2023, with no identified personal legal proceedings. In May and November 2022, she was the target of disparaging remarks by executive Simon Henry, who later apologised and retracted further comments. She also described an isolated objection to her farming practices in a 2024 interview.

Are you concerned? Right of reply

Profile No. 6086 · Updated on 8 November 2026

1Documented controversy

3Sources

0Formal charge · all time

0Conviction

§ Legal statuses reflect the documented sources as of the date shown; they replace neither court decisions nor the presumption of innocence. Counts are not a rating. Methodology

I. Documented controversies

May 2022

May 2022: Simon Henry makes sexist and racially disparaging remarks about Nadia Lim

Protagonist is the victim

Protagonist is the victim — these proceedings are not counted in their formal charges or convictions.

DGL chief executive Simon Henry made disparaging remarks about Nadia Lim’s background, appearance and photograph in the My Food Bag IPO prospectus. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and business leaders condemned the remarks. Lim warned about their impact on women and ethnic minorities; Henry subsequently sent a written apology.

State of the evidence: Multiple outlets reproduced the public remarks and reported an apology.
Legal status — source text: No known court proceedings; public controversy or media criticism.
Attribution: No allegation against Lim: she was the target of disparaging public remarks.
Person targeted by the proceedings: Simon Henry (speaker; no reported proceedings)
Role of the person profiled: Protagonist is the victim

Sources · 3

[1]
1NewsSimon Henry's Nadia Lim comments insult 'all women' - Ardern6 May 2022MediaHigh reliability
[2]
NZ Herald / Newstalk ZB'So damaging': Nadia Lim hits back at rich-lister's derogatory 'Eurasian fluff' criticism5 May 2022MediaHigh reliability
[3]
Otago Daily TimesRich-lister sends two-line apology email to Lim11 May 2022MediaHigh reliability

Last verified: 8 November 2026

Add to this entry Any news?

II. Constellation of documented links

Linked profile (portrait or initials) — click to open it
Line width: number of documented references
Hover over or tap a line: controversies and sources

Two profiles are linked when a documented controversy of one names the other. The link points to that controversy and its sources; it does not indicate a personal relationship.

List of documented links (1)

Jacinda Ardern1 documented reference
- May 2022: Simon Henry makes sexist and racially disparaging remarks about Nadia Lim Source ↗

III. Has something changed?

A new court decision, a missing source, a mistake? Tell us what should be updated: every request is read by the editorial team.

Support the archive

Controversia checks and updates its profiles independently. Support is optional and has no effect on the content of profiles.

Donate

Controversia profile, updated 8 November 2026. Latest version: https://controversia.info/en/fiche/nadia-lim