I was delighted to hear about Assembly Member Hannah Blythyn, whose constituency is Delyn, as she recently organised an event to celebrate the huge range of food and drink producers from North East Wales. Its focus was ‘Shining a light on the fabulous food and drink sector as part of the wider tourism offer you can discover in North East Wales.’ Well this event certainly achieved that. It also featured initiatives run by Wrexham, Denbigh and Flintshire Councils to promote food and drink/food tourism – such as the Good Grub Club. Food and drink tourism is an incredibly important sector not just for producers but to encourage all involved in the hospitality industry to support and promote Welsh food and drink and to make sure their menus highlight all the Welsh products they are serving.
Held in the Senedd it was run as a market style event with invited Assembly Members and guests, including Wrexham constituency member, Lesley Griffiths AM, Minister for Environment, Energy and Rural Affairs. Guests enjoyed a North East Wales themed buffet after viewing a display staged by 50 North East Food and drink producers. This was an innovative idea that worked and hopefully will be repeated across Wales.
Kath Rhodes
Member of the Welsh Assembly for Delyn
AM Hannah Blythyn commented,
“It was brilliant to be able to bring some of the best of the North East Wales food and drink sector to the Senedd to showcase all that we have to offer in our corner of the country. The event was incredibly well received and I know that producers found being part of ‘Discover North East Wales’ of real benefit.
We have such fabulous and an increasing number of food and drink producers in the region that are central not only to tourism, but the economy as a whole and I look forward to building on the success of the Senedd event in the future.”
Sabor de Amor
Beatriz from Sabor de Amor explained that the company had a fantastic evening showcasing their sauces at the Senedd on 18th of June. This initiative by AM Hannah Blythyn helped small producers like us in the North East Wales to tell our story and the work we do in this small and lesser known area of Wales. We were lucky to have the support of our Minister Lesley Griffiths during the event. She is a huge Ambassador of Food and Drink Wales and she always has the time to visit the stands and promote it.
During the event we had a chance to speak to several members of the Welsh Assembly and it was fantastic to hear from them how much they have enjoyed our Paella which was served at lunch time as part of the Welsh Assembly menu. Everyone we talked to showed a huge interest in our sauces and they were pleasantly surprised that we made them here in Wales.
Since the event we have experienced new sales from other parts of Wales and we are hoping to supply our catering Paella sauce through foodservice.
Our hope is that there are more events like this one as it would be fantastic to meet other producers from other areas in Wales and perhaps establish collaborations with them.
Visit: www.sabordeamor.com
Llaeth Y Llan
The company had the honour of being invited down along with other producers from North East Wales to the Senedd in Cardiff to showcase the wonderful array of produce that’s available from this area. It was so good to see so many producers in one space and it really highlighted what diverse and exciting business’ that are currently running thanks to Welsh Government support and funding. This was one of many similar events that Llaeth Y Llan has been present at organised through the Welsh Government. This was a great event to promote our brand and a great opportunity to discuss future plans for our business and Wales as a region. It was also positive to hear of future developments from the Welsh Assembly.
Visit: www.villagedairy.co.uk
Cariad Gin
Launched back in November 2018, Cariad Gin is produced down a quiet country lane in the heart of the Flintshire countryside at Clwydian Range Distillery, which is quite possibly the smallest distillery in Wales.
It was a great honour to be invited to Cardiff and be provided with a platform to showcase Cariad Gin to a wider audience and to promote our local area and what North East Wales Food and Drink Industry has to offer.
The event provided us with an opportunity to meet other local talented producers which helps to build relationships with other businesses within the Food and Drink Sector as well as helping us to develop our market within Wales and further afield. We made some great business contacts at the Senedd who were able to provide us with guidance on how to take our business forward. We received great feedback from attendees and since the event we have obtained positive new business opportunities which has helped us to develop our market opportunities across Wales and further afield.
We would like to thank Assembly Member Hannah Blythyn for organising such a wonderful event, enabling us to introduce our gin to a wider audience. We are also thrilled to share with you that Cariad Gin is now being served at venues in Cardiff.
Visit: clwydianrangedistillery.co.uk
Denbigh Plum
It was a fantastic opportunity for the Vale of Clwyd Denbigh Plum Protected Designation of Origin, PDO, to promote itself at the Discover North East Wales event in Cardiff. It highlighted the products produced using the plum by a local gin maker Merywen and Shlizzy another local Vale of Clwyd producer who receives her plums from her next door neighbour. Chocolate maker Aballu from Wrexham makes a limited edition truffle with plum. New contacts were made with other producers who are also interested in using the plums in the future. The Vale of Clwyd Denbigh Plum PDO was served in the Senedd Canteen 18 months ago. The pudding produced by chef Mitchell Penberthy went down a storm with AM’s and staff. Hopefully we can send further supplies of plums down to Cardiff for more people to sample Wales’ only and most definitely best plum.
