A feast of features and a bestselling Lancashire recipe book
2017 begins with a bang for Marketing Lancashire’s food and drink campaign
Marketing Lancashire’s campaign to put Lancashire’s food and drink firmly on the national culinary map continues to build momentum, with a series of spectacular press features, a best-selling Lancashire cookbook, and national recognition at the start of the year.
January began with a visit from BBC Radio 4’s flagship food and drink programme, The Food Programme which has a listenership of over 2 million, and a major travel feature in Olive magazine. Lancastrian Food Programme presenter Sheila Dillon returned to her roots and visited iconic cheesemaker Mrs Kirkham’s, explored Lancaster’s ‘coffee quarter,’ with J. Atkinson & Sons, and met pioneering Lancashire chef Nigel Haworth, while Olive magazine’s four page travel feature focussed on the thriving food and drink scene of the Ribble Valley.
The Lancashire Cookbook, published in 2016 by Meze Publishing, and prefaced by Visit Lancashire, became a bestselling cook book at fine food retailer Booths and Waterstones in the North, outselling Nigella Lawson, Yotam Ottolenghi and Jamie Oliver.
Ruth Connor, Chief Executive of Marketing Lancashire said, “There has been an undeniable step change in the awareness of Lancashire’s exceptional food and drink offer. We are extremely proud of our producers, chefs and hospitality champions who work so hard to make and to serve the best. We are a force to be reckoned with when we collaborate, and pivotal events like our Lancashire Day pop up lunch in London brought together some of Lancashire’s finest chefs and producers, giving the UK’s top journalists a taste of Lancashire and tempting them to visit us and see for themselves.”
Food and drink is worth around £756 million to Lancashire’s visitor economy, accounting for 20% of all tourism revenue and is a key theme of the newly launched #WeAreLancashire campaign which tells the story of Lancashire's strengths and assets and is aimed at attracting more interest and investment to the region.
“It is the tremendous work of our partners and businesses, their quality and commitment to the sector that made Lancashire the highest performing county in the Top 50 Gastropub Awards, and led to Northcote and the Freemasons at Wiswell receiving listings in the Sunday Times Top 100 restaurants, one of the most esteemed national accolades for British food and drink. 2017 will be the year of the Red Rose county!”
Marketing Lancashire is always looking for new food and drink heroes to champion and work in partnership with. If you are a Lancashire food producer, retailer, café, restaurant or supplier interested in being part of our campaigns and media opportunities, please contact the team to find out more. www.marketinglancashire.com