Food and Drink
Food and Drink processing is the largest industrial sector in the South West . Outputs include meat and poultry, a wide range of dairy products, cider, beer and wine, bakery goods, fish, organic products and of course a flourishing speciality niche market. The region has, arguably, the most well known and abundant ‘regional produce’ enjoying a thriving market not only nationally, but also internationally. Products such as farmhouse cheddar, cider, clotted cream and Cornish pasties have enabled the region’s food and drinks industry to expand its remit.
South West Food and Drink in their strategic role have developed a three year framework to release the business potential of the region’s food and drink industry. This programme will dovetail into other investments including RDPE to deliver change along the food and drink value chain, including all aspects of environmental issues. Their vision is for the South West to be ‘the UK’s leading food and drink region with the most successful and sustainable producers offering unrivalled product choice by 2015.’
The wider South West food and drink sector aims to beboth prosperous and sustainable, and well known for supplying imaginative,safe and nutritious food products. The region’s customer base including local, regional and visitor, should be encouraged to understand the importance of keeping its supply chain viable and thus sustainable – both for its communities and for the environment itself. Sourcing local produce offers many opportunities; assisting smaller, local firms to prosper by supplying their own communities, reflecting regional tastes andtraditions, but also by contributing positively to the mitigation of climate change by reducing overall congestion due to diminishing road miles.
The region’s high profile food culture will be developed to create an industry that becomes the priority market for trade buyers and businesses seeking new suppliers. This image will be nurtured carefully, recognising the tangible links the food and drink sector enjoys with the hospitality industry. The local food culture will become increasingly high profile if supported by all involved in the food chain including consumers, pubs and restaurants, highlighting a place which tourists visit because of the quality of its food.
The Strategy for the Food and Drink Industry in the South West of England 2005-2015 is available at www.southwestfoodanddrink.com
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Last updated 02Apr08