Lancashire on Food Map
Marketing Lancashire’s Food Tourism Connect* project, aimed at raising the profile of the county’s rural producers, may have come to an end in March this year, but it’s legacy and impact continues to benefit local producers and the visitor experience of Lancashire’s food and drink attractions.
During the life of the project a new food & drink website and Taste Lancashire magazine were created, an estimated 232 million consumers were reached through media activity, and 24 new contracts for local rural producers were secured through a range of exhibitions and ‘meet the producer’ events.
At the VisitEngland Excellence Awards, held on Monday 20 May at Lancashire County Cricket Club, Old Trafford, Manchester, three of Lancashire’s most enthusiastic champions of Lancashire produce and supporters of the project were recognised with awards: Michelin starred restaurant with rooms Northcote, located in Langho, received the Bronze Award in the category Small Hotel of the Year; The Redwell Country Inn and Smokehouse, in Arkholme, received a Bronze Award in the Taste of England category; and, in the new Tourism Pub of the Year Category, The Millstone at Mellor was Highly Commended and named one of the top 5 tourism pubs in the country.
Commenting on the awards and the impact of the Food Tourism Connect project, Marketing Lancashire Chief Executive, Ruth Connor said “This week we’re celebrating the success of three superb Lancashire food businesses who have received much-deserved recognition from VisitEngland, our national tourism agency. Each played a significant role in the success of the Taste Lancashire Tourism Connect project and each has a long history of supporting local producers – long before it was fashionable to do so. They brought real creativity and dynamism to our project, which in turn helped place some of Lancashire’s hero-producers firmly in the spotlight. It’s only right that they themselves now gain this national acknowledgment.
“The Tourism Connect project allowed Marketing Lancashire to build on the achievements of the Taste Lancashire brand and helped secure new contracts for several rural producers, many of which look set to result in recurring orders.
“The project also increased consumer and industry awareness of Lancashire produce, with millions of people exposed to marketing materials and media coverage championing the county’s food and drink. The legacy of the project is a food-focused website boasting new films, new photography, food event listings, recipes and a useful directory of local producers.
“We are grateful to all our partners and will continue to fully explore and exploit Lancashire’s potential as a visitor destination for quality food and drink experiences on their behalf.”
This summer Marketing Lancashire will continue to promote Food & Drink – encouraging visitors and residents to discover their own food trails through Lancashire. A handy food map will be produced, which will help them locate some of the newest foodie experiences n the region, alongside digital marketing and presence at key events over the summer.
The Taste of Lancashire Food Map will be available in July from information outlets across the county and at some of Lancashire’s biggest food festivals including: the Clitheroe Food Festival 10 August and the Great British Food Festival at Stonyhurst 24 – 26 August.
Businesses that would like to see themselves on the new Taste of Lancashire Food Map can find information here.
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Media enquiries: Anna Izza, Communications Manager, Marketing Lancashire
01772 426 459 or [email protected]
Notes to Editors
1. Marketing Lancashire is the new name for Lancashire and Blackpool Tourist Board (from 1st April 2012)
Our activities in marketing and communications, commercial membership, `Welcome to Excellence` training and place marketing are all designed to grow the visitor economy and develop the destination as a great place to visit, live and work.
In 2011 Lancashire attracted just over 60 million visitors who contributed £3.37 billion to the local economy and helped support 55,603 jobs.
2. The Food Tourism Connect* project (Feb 2012 – March 2013) was funded by the Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE) for which Defra (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) is the managing authority, part financed by the European Agricultural Fund for rural development: Europe investing in rural areas.
The programme approved by Defra included: Taste Lancashire Produce events – dining experiences designed to bring consumers and producers together, in Taste Lancashire accredited restaurants where local food provenance is paramount; Meet the Producer events – where producers were invited to showcase their food and drink, with a view to securing new contracts; Exhibitions and trade shows – to help generate sales and raise awareness of the variety and quality of Lancashire’s rural producers; The creation of online resources for consumers and trade contacts, which connect Lancashire food with the tourism experience and encourage industry engagement with local suppliers; and the positioning of Lancashire food and drink at the centre of marketing and media activity undertaken by Marketing Lancashire.