Support your local deli and taste British gold
The Taste British Gold campaign runs for three weeks from 28th September 2007 in local delicatessens, farm shops and small independent food retailers. It will give consumers the opportunity to sample the most exquisite artisan foods recently awarded gold in the prestigious Great Taste Awards.Around 800 products collected gold Great Taste Awards this year, most receiving a one-star grading for their excellence in taste, texture and flavour. More than 100 were give two stars and just 46 of the 4,500 entries were awarded three gold stars – a mark that the expert judges considered them faultless.
The fifth Taste British Gold promotion offers a win-win opportunity for the UK’s delicatessens, farm shops, fine food halls and food-lovers alike. This annual promotion is funded by Food From Britain and provides members of the Guild of Fine Food, the organisation that supports delicatessens, food halls, farm shops and artisan food producers, a £25 tasting allowance if they stock and offer tastings of at least six new Great Taste Award winners.
Guild chairman, Bob Farrand, comments, “This promotion makes a real difference, it encourages small food retailers to showcase local Great Taste Award winners, gives the UK public the chance to sample the very best artisan foods that are not available in the supermarkets and encourages consumers, for three weeks at least, to use their local shops.”
He continues: “Over the last three years, we have seen annual sales of British regional food and drink through our members’ stores grow by a massive 93%, from an average £119,700pa to over £230,000. This promotion does not set out to harm multiple supermarkets, it merely helps sustain small family run businesses and rural food economies whilst cutting back on food miles. Along the way, of course, it also encourages us all to try some really special foods as well. That can’t be bad.”
For details of participating delicatessens in your local area visit Finefoodworld.co.uk and log onto DELIfinder.