Slow Food - Flavours of Herefordshire

Flavours of Herefordshire is an annual competition, which recognises the best use and promotion of local produce and has been recognised for raising the standards of quality and service throughout the county since its inception in 1999. Over the years, the scheme has also helped to highlight Herefordshire's reputation for its food, and locally sourced menus - both domestically, and overseas.

Herefordshire Tourism looked to expand the impact of the Flavours of Herefordshire scheme into an annual local food festival, which took place in the autumn. The aim of this project was to raise the awareness of the food and drink produced in the county of Herefordshire by making the county a “Food Destination”, incorporating the values of the Slow Food Movement and working with the producers in the county.

The Slow Food Movement originated in Italy and has become an international organisation that protects food and wine culture worldwide. This organisation has over 83,000 members throughout 54 different countries. Joining the Slow Food Movement helped raise the profile of the Herefordshire Food Festival, the excellent products from the county and also provided details of traditional recipes involving local produce on its own website.

Before the first annual Herefordshire Food Festival was launched, a number of activities took place, for example:

• “Meet the Producer” events which link the producers with retailers and accommodation operators
• Local producers workshops will develop a comprehensive directory of products made in the county
• Promotion of the Flavours of Herefordshire scheme
• Judging of the Flavours of Herefordshire scheme

The annual food festival incorporated an awards ceremony for the Flavours of Herefordshire competition, giving it a broader focus within the county to the residents and visitors attending the festival, not restricting itself to the producers, retailers and accommodation providers who entered competitively.

The local producers directory was available at the food festival, as well as being distributed to accommodation operators in the county.

A steering group was established to monitor the success of the festival throughout the duration of this project, and to develop ways of ensuring the festival was sustainable once this project ended. The steering group consisted of representatives from the local produce, accommodation and tourism industries, along with representatives from Heart of England Fine Foods and the Herefordshire Tourism project officer.

The impact of this festival brought additional 2,000-plus visitors to the county annually, aside from making Herefordshire produce internationally known. This meant that there was an increase of business to all the tourism and retail operators in the county, particularly when visitors took advantage of the special ‘gourmet Herefordshire’ breaks on offer.

Principal Tourism Officer
Herefordshire Tourism
Tel: (01432) 383068
Email: tourism@herefordshire.gov.uk

Websites: www.visitherefordshire.co.uk

www.slowfood.com