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Posts Tagged ‘Best Of Welsh & Borders producers’

FOI 5995 – Festival Funding – At Last

17 May

Was it worth waiting for? I’ll await your views!!!!

It’s taken a lot of time and a great deal of effort to get this list and I had to resort to asking for it under Freedom Of Information Act, so I hope that you appreciate the effort involved!!!! I’m not sure that you’ll agree with Wag’s and Visit Wales’ decisions, but sure you will let me know by posting your comments or email me with your views.

My initial concern was that two events that run in early March Saundersfoot and a Swansea festival and will run again 2013 but still count as in this year’s budget have not been shown. So I’m asking if this is an error or if these events are running again next year. My other surprise is that Fish Week now appears in this budget taking out a whacking £31, 671. I thought that this event was funded under RDP for 2007-13 and last year received grant funding of £55,636, plus £30,711 from Pembrokeshire County Council, in 2010 grant funding was £77,157. I have also asked why Fish Week is now being taken from the festival budget.

In case you wish to know, 52 food festivals applied for the Food Festival Grant Funding Support for 2012/13  and to save you totting up, I’ll tell you that only 33 festivals were lucky enough to get funding, with some as always, appearing luckier than others. I’m interested to know if any of the food festivals got the amount of money they applied for. I’d also like to know how those in power wokred out the amounts they were going to offer each festival, but even I can’t be bothered to pursue that one!!!

I do wonder about the wisdom, or lack of wisdom, in that Newport and Neath have each been given £8k – £9k but they are  running on the same weekend, as it Brecon, though Brecon will obviously draw from Powys for producers. But do we really have enough quality producers to put on three good festivals?  Time will tell, but I do hope these three festivals, maybe more than most put some serious energy into their promotion and marketing. Traders you have been warned, please ask before you pay, because unhappy Best Of Welsh & Border producers I do not need!

Wag’s ‘Big 3’: Abergavenny, Cardiff and Conwy have all had budget reductions from last year, but 10/11 was the final year on a 3 year plan, funded under the Total Supply Chain Efficiency Funding. These all had huge increases from 08/09 – 10/11, for example Conwy went from £25k, to £43k to £41k and now this year gets £33,683.61. What continues to puzzle me is that wag has been sounding off for years that festivals must try to get to be self-funding and these three have the best chance for sponsorship, but they are still well funded as wag has now decreed that they have been awarded ‘international’ status which is an easy way of wag saying: “don’t worry we’ll keep funding you guys”…………………………..
Any further updates will of course be posted.

 

Name of
Festival

Date

Amount of
Funding
Gorseinon Food Festival

28 April

£8,460.00
Riverside Food Festival

20 May

£2,249.00
Caerphilly Food Festival

26 May

£9,753.00
Welsh Perry & Cider Festival

1 – 4 June

£5,260.00
Llyn Land & Seafood Festival

2 – 3 June

£8,230.00
Gwyl Fwyd Castell Newydd  Emlyn

16 June

£7,133.80
The Pembrokeshire Fish Week Festival

23 June – 1 July

£31,671.00
Hay Food Festival

30 June

£2,601.00
Llandysul Food Festival

30 June

£5,644.00
Margam Festival - Margam Market Day

01 July

£9,889.20
Cardiff International Food & Drink

6 – 8 July

£25,608.85
Cardigan Bay Seafood Festival, Aberaeron

08 July

£9,500.00
Eating Green / Cider Palooza Festival

12 – 14 July

£5,000.00
Really Wild Food & Countryside Festival

27 – 28 July

£11,963.77
Lampeter Food Festival

28 July

£6,150.00
Carmarthen Food Festival

01 August

£6,500.00
Cardigan River & Food Festival

11 – 12 August

£10,400.00
Welsh Food Festival

1 – 2 September

£6,225.00
Aberystwyth Food & Drink Festival

15 September

£7,418.61
Abergavenny Food Festival      15–16 September

£46,800.00
Narberth Food Festival      21–23 September

£8,161.40
Mold Food and Drink Festival      22- 23 September

£8,025.00
Feastival (Bridgend)      28- 29 September

£9,900.00
Newport Food Festival

5 – 6 October

£8,105.97
Neath Food and Drink Festival

5 – 6 October

£9,999.00
Brecon Beacons Food Festival

06 October

£4,480.00
Anglesey Oyster Festival

13 – 14 October

£3,098.00
Mumbles Oyster Fair

19 – 21 October

£9,500.00
Llangollen Food Festival

20 – 21 October

£4,000.00
Gwledd Conwy Feast

25 – 28 October

£33,683.61
Cowbridge Food and Drink Festival

27 – 28 October

£9,900.00
Hay Winter Food Festival

24 November

£1,771.00
Abergavenny Christmas Food & Drink

11 December

£2,200.00

 

Wag’s list has now gone up on welshcountry.co.uk and of course it has been sent around our Best Of Welsh & Borders producers, so at least some of the rumours which have been frantically doing the rounds, will now be quashed.

 
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West Wales Food Festival

14 May

This event was held over the weekend at the National Botanical Gardens and as this is not one of my favourite venues, I still went and hoped some lessons had been learnt from last year. As Ian and I left the entrance, the shuttle train had just arrived and Ian heard the driver shout to a couple that they were waiting in the wrong place, and let me tell you that the lady was in a wheelchair and an elderly gentleman was with her. Hindsight is a wonderful thing and I shouldhave walked back and told the driver just what I thought of his attitude and hope that he never has the misfortune to be in charge of a wheelchair, let alone have to be restricted to one!!! As far as I’m aware it’s not clear at all where visitors should wait for a ride, but surely the point here is that this couple were just that – visitors!!!

I carried on with my walk to the summit, well at least to the festival and thought how lucky the event had been with the weather, which although windy, was at least dry. There was no improvement in the layout of tradestands, the main marquee had the
same barrier down the middle, which I didn’t feel helped to create any atmosphere or buzz. The outside, again in my view, was even worse. There was what was supposed to be a hot food area for visitors, which consisted of just 4 separate pagodas. Not too impressive and just one wooden table and bench which apparently one of the traders moved there himself. Oh sorry, I nearly forgot that the NBG had made the most of this opportunity to erect their own BBQ unit and of course their cafes were open too. The only part I thought really worked was a run of market-style stands that were selling a range of coffee, hot food, welsh cakes, brownies, cheese etc. I’d have loved to see the space planned out professionally and all traders with market-style stands, lots of tables and chairs to encourage visitors to buy and eat from the traders. Is that not one of the objectives of a food festival? There was children’s entertainment and there were wandering musicians too, but perhaps because the stands were so spread out, the place didn’t buzz at all.

I was pleased to see so many of our Best Of Welsh & Borders producers there, but I’d have been a lot happier if they’d had even one day out of two with decent trading.

My main complaint about this event is that every visitor attending the food festival had to pay £8.50 to go in, yes £8.50, a figure I just cannot believe. Are adults going to be happy to spend £17.00 to watch the food demonstrations, well ok , of course some were, but hardly enough of them to then go around the food stands and spend what money they had left with the traders. One producer said he’d asked one of the committee why people had to pay to come into a food festival, bearing in mind this entrance charge is on a par with Abergavenny Food Festival and he was told it was because this festival is not funded by Wag. Why NBG couldn’t have offered this as a free weekend entry and used it for their own marketing is another puzzle for me and the traders to ponder over.

Over the years I have suggested to many traders before they pay their hard-earned money up front, just ask the organisers what promotion they are doing for their event. Sooner or later this message will hit home to them and then they can make a
more sensible decision as to whether to to attend or not. I not sure what marketing this event did, I know I didn’t get a press releases about it and the first festival sign I saw was when I got there!

But what was even more annoying was that going onto their website it was full of ‘what a busy programme we’ve got’ but nowhere could I find a list of producers attending, now does that make sense? Am I the only person who might have wanted that information? Perhaps the event was advertised in their local paper and I was told that there was an advert in Western Mail, which would make sense, as that paper’s owners publish NBG’s own magazine so possibly helping each other out? I have no idea how many people came through the NBG gate and how it compared to a normal sunny and windy weekend, but what is relevant to me is that the producers I talked to, and I talked to a lot of them in the five hours I was there, had not had a profitable time. So what was the point for them?

I enjoyed catching up with one of my favourite chefs, Gareth Johns, owner and proprietor of The Wynnstay, Machynlleth, he’s such a great ambassador for Wales, but not impressed that he was scheduled on at the same time as a pasta making Masterclass with Angela Gray. If that makes sense to the organisers, it sure doesn’t make sense to me.

I’m confused how the food producers, which were charged around £85.00 to attend for two days, somehow didn’t seem to be the priority at this food festival.

I wish these food festivals would have the commonsense to invite a local trader to come onto the committee and help in the planning, because at least the basics such as layout and marketing could then be sorted out. Surely that’s not too difficult is it?

 
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Hope For Suppliers With Groceries Code Adjudicator Bill

11 May

News that third parties will be able to take complaints from suppliers to the newly created Groceries Code Adjudicator
will bring huge relief to Welsh farmers and growers supplying into the large retailers, said NFU Cymru today.

The NFU have been campaigning for over a decade and today’s news means that trade associations, such as NFU Cymru,
should be able to protect farmers and growers who, for too long, have been subjected to unfair practices by the major supermarkets.

The Bill will begin its passage through Parliament in the coming weeks and NFU Cymru will be examining the fine text of
the Bill to ensure the adjudicator’s powers are fit for purpose.

For once some good news for farmers and growers in what are increasingly difficult times. I’m sure many of our Best Of Welsh & Borders producers and growers will appreciate the work the NFU have put into this BIll.

 
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Food Festival Funding

11 May

The wait continues for sight of wag’s list of food festival that they are funding. This was promised w/c 19th March.

I have heard from various festivals, sadly they are not all happy about how they have been funded and treated by wag, but some seemingly have received more than they asked for. Guess that makes sense to someone, somewhere……………….

I have submitted a Freedom Of Information question on food festival funding and have been promised a reply by 16th May.

I was pleased to receive a press releases this morning from Caerphilly County Borough Council who have been awarded £10,000 from the Welsh Government Food Festival Funding for their festival at the end of this month.

I’m sure many of our Best Of Welsh & Borders producers will be attneding and I hope it’s a busy festival for you all.

 
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RHS Cardiff

01 May

I have had a fair amount of ‘feedback’ on this event, starting with a host of traders, including some of our Best Of Welsh & Borders, who despite supporting this event for years, this year were not allowed a tradestand, although they had been sent application forms. Who said loyalty pays or loyalty will be rewarded? I find that puzzling and understandably many traders were very angry. When you been attending an event for years, then get an application form through as usual, then I too would assume I’d be accepted again this year. But this didn’t happen and it meant that loyal RHS traders were bumped off and of course hadn’t applied for anything else. Can someone please tell them that traders are trying to run businesses……………….

I hate hearing of this happening, especially when by all accounts it’s such a busy, profitable event. One Welsh trader who did get in had a super few days there, but was disappointed that the majority of food traders were fromEngland.

I have no idea why RHS appear to have changed their policy for tradestand acceptance. Does the fact that wag are not supplying any funding have any relevance to lack of Welsh food producers being bumped off?

I know that if I was attending the RHS in Cardiff as a punter, I would certainly expect to see Welsh food producers there, wouldn’t you? So why have it changed with RHS? It is a huge shame that in our capital, the food shop window at the RHS show was basically food from England. What message does that send out?

 
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‘A Sense Of Place’ For Welsh Food………

17 Apr

Just to keep you updated, follows is an extract from press release received from Wag on 30th January about their support for food festivals.

Alun Davies, Deputy Minister for Agriculture, Food and Fisheries said, “Each year food festivals in Wales contribute millions of pounds to the economy and are a key element in promoting Wales’ burgeoning food culture and giving visitors a sense of place’. Large or small, they have their own distinct character, but with one common thread – to bring to the public’s attention the fantastic array of food and drink produced in Wales.”

The press release ended by saying:
“Any financial support provided by FMDD will be limited to that which is necessary to achieve the overall objective of providing capacity building opportunities for food & drink producers from Wales as well as contributing to a broadened & strengthened rural economy”.

Well this got me thinking, or fuming, because basically I’m not sure what this press release means. Initially I would think building opportunities for food and drink producers from Wales is spot on, until I get complaints from producers saying that some festival organisers, give priority to producers from outside Wales.  But its not just a priority in allowing them tradestand space, but often they get the best sites too! So how does that work? Especially considering that this isn’t just happening at the larger, or let’s say Wag’s ‘Big Three’, Abergavenny, Conwy and Cardiff that allow all comers in from the UK, but those that I’d class as only small to medium size events. When I have raised these issues with Wag, I’ve been told that as this funding is from European money, all
tradestands must be accepted.

But if you’re a visitor to Wales and go along to one of our food festivals, where do you expect the food to have come from, the Isle of Wight, Scotland, Oxfordshire, Yorkshire? Of course not. ‘A sense of place’ for our visitors has to mean local food, food sourced here in Wales from our superb artisan producers. Isn’t that what you’d expect too?

So why then does Wag’s press release appear to say that they are backing our food producers all the way? That
is certainly not what I hear day after day so eiother Wag is wrong or our producers are. After talking contstantly to our Best If Welsh & Borders producers, I certainly know which I believe.

 
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25 Mile, Cardigan – Great Concept – But Check When Food Served

16 Apr

On Saturday I was driving back home from Pembrokeshire and called into Cardigan to pay a further visit to the 25 Mile establishment. It’s about a three or four weeks since I last found this place and readers, it did impress me! So much so that I was asking people if they’d been, thinking I was the only one that had been missing out, but no everyone I spoke to had never visited it because they knew nothing about it!!!

So then Kath,m ever the professional, goes into her PR mode and explains that their principle is to source products from within a 25 mile radius as the crow flies, bearing in mind there are always exceptions like coffee. Actually it was their coffee supplier, Preseli Coffee, who told me about it and as I rate their Preseli Coffee enormously, that was sufficient encouragement for me to track down 25 Mile Cardigan. So my first visit was a huge success, wonderful food, great service,

I loved their local food concept and having details of where they’d sourced their products, was a bonus. The young lady that served us was delightful, smiley, helpful and friendly; even I couldn’t ask or want for more. But on Saturday, it all fell apart because when Ian and I went in and were checking out the menu which is on huge blackboards on the wall, a young man asked us if we wanted food, which we did, but then told us they stopped serving at 3.00 and the time then was 3.10pm. I’d walked in under a sing above the door which said ‘Local Eating House’ and there was another blackboard outside saying ‘Open All Day’. We did look, but couldn’t see lunchtime food as 12 – 3.00 anywhere, but there we are. The young man said everywhere in Cardigan stops food at 3.00, which was obviously acceptable and made sense to him, but not to me.

Firstly I’m not even sure that statement was true, but Wales relies on tourists, and it was still in theory,  the Easter holidays. He certainly wouldn’t know we were locals or tourists but either way the kitchen was closed, and we weren’t even offered a sandwich. So there was no option but for us to walk out. My suggestion is, if it’s vital that 25 Mile has to close for a break at 3.00, which obviously has to be their choice, just have a board or sign outside giving times of food service. It’s easy with hindsight to say that I shouldn’t have been tempted to pay a second visit to 25 Mile, I should have played safe, stayed in Pembrokeshire and visited
again either The Shed at Porthgain or Morawelon on the Parrog, Newport!!!

They certainly impressed me the first time, but ………………….

Hopefully some of our Best Of Welsh & Borders producers might be lucky to be supplying them

 
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Still Awaiting Wag’s Food Festival Listing

10 Apr

Anger and rumours still abound about why Wag’s list is so late. But I’m hearing that organisers have this morning received their letters of confirmation of their funding from Wag.

I’m sure a press release is on its way to me, but needless to say I am not holding my breath!!!!!

Best Of Welsh & Borders producers will get the list sent through to them from our team as soon as we have it.

 
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Newport Local Produce Market

10 Apr

Easter often gives me the chance to go out and about on the Bank Holiday Friday and Monday, such a pleasant change from being chained to my computer.

I went to Haverfordwest market on Friday and then onto Newport on Monday. Trade was reasonable at Haverfordwest which was good to hear after a lot of poor reports have come into me.

However Newport was a very different story. Wind didn’t stop actually play, but the Newport Market Manager decided to cancel the market because of a forecast of gusts of wind over 30mph. The reason for this is it’s a limit imposed by St Dogmaels market, whose stalls Newport use, for Health & Safety reasons!!!

Pathetic doesn’t even cover this scenario, especially as St Dogmaels ran an Easter Fair themselves on Easter Monday, so Newport had to hire in stalls from Haverfordwest! So this was puzzling. Yes of course with that forecast, they’d have had to take extra care, but they’ve done this in the past, I think it comes under ‘sandbags and commonsense’.

I really couldn’t believe it. The Market Manager had listened to the weather report; gusts of wind were forecast, so the decision was made that the market would not run.

I assume that the Market Manager responsible for this decision has:

  1. Never worked as a market trader – or
  2. Never been self-employed when gusts of wind just don’t stop play, especially when you have the added pressure to earn some money to survive.

Surely I cannot be the only person that goes shopping in the wind and rain, can I? No of course not, otherwise most of Wales would at times be short of many basic food stuffs, sorry I’m being silly.

I was, and still am, cross with this feeble excuse for cancelling a weekly market as weekly markets are something I have been championing for years. Then Newport starts up a weekly market and I’m told by  traders that business is quite good and much appreciated by the locals – brilliant – winners all round. As I regularly travel around Pembrokeshire, I’d seen a sign telling of their Monday market, but this was my first chance to visit, so I was also very disappointed.

I have two main moans, firstly for the producers. At least three traders made contact with the market manager on the Sunday  afternoon/evening, one as late as 7.30pm to be told the market was going ahead. The Market Manager then sent out an email at 8.30pm Sunday night to say the market was cancelled. Did he/she really expect  all the traders to be sat checking their computers on Sunday night? Or have these traders all been making so much money that they can afford email phones!!!!! Was it was too much trouble for the Market Manager to telephone every trader? Well obviously it was, because it didn’t happen. But I want to
know why not?

What about the physical work the traders had already had to do to get themselves and their stock organised for Easter Monday? Vegetables had been picked, cakes baked, sausages made and some extra animals killed. To prepare produce takes planning and that is  not something that can be achieved in 5 minutes, some traders have to plan a week ahead. Then my concern moves to the locals who had possibly decided not to do a huge supermarket shop over the weekend knowing that their market would be
operating as usual on Monday. Local shoppers supporting local producers, isn’t this how it should happen?

If the Market Manager is going to continue flapping about Health & Safety procedures, then why not close the road as normal every week? Newport has the legal signs and cones, so that’s not a problem and then any traders that wish to trade in inclement weather, have the ability to do. Traders could also bring their own stands, so that would also save you a job, wouldn’t it? What I saw on Easter Monday morning, was a few determined traders running around Newport trying to find somewhere to trade from.

The more I think about this cancellation, the more puzzled I am. What difference does it make to that ‘wise’ Market Manger who decided to cancel this Easter Monday market, what did the wind and rain matter to them? Unless he/she had simply decided they’d just rather not work at all. If it’s a windy, wet day the people that are taking the risk are the traders, no-one else. If the weather deters locals attending, then obviously traders’ takings will be down, but the traders will have already paid for their stands so where is the loss for Newport? Does the Market Manager get paid regardless whether a market is run or not?

I know I’m not alone, that weekly markets are well accepted by locals and they do like the ability to do their shopping locally each and every week, it really is that simple. I wonder how many people like me decided to take the opportunity to visit a Monday or Friday market that they can only visit on this Bank Holiday?

The organisers must be loyal and supportive to the traders and the local people – goodness knows how much trade was lost through the  holiday makers that were about. I hope the Market Manager issues an apology to those poor traders who lost out big time on Easter Monday and my congratulations to those few traders who decided to trade anyway.

I’m sure some of our Best Of Welsh & Borders producers will keep me updated about Newport.

 

 
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Proof Of Producer Power

02 Apr

I had an interesting phone call this weekend from Caravan, Motor Home and Outdoor Leisure Show which was held in Sophia Gardens, Cardiff from Friday 31st March – Sunday 1st April.

The glossy publicity PDF that was sent to traders, cited visitors expected 15,000 over the 3 days and my interest in this was because around 15 – 20 Welsh food producers were attending.

The weather was good, the site is attractive, it’s our capital city, it’s a well-established even and it is now in its 18th year.  Of course no-one can be certain if the fuel fiasco shortage had any bearing, but surely you would have expected more support from the people of Cardiff themselves, but that was not to be. Adults were being charged £5.00 entry and children under 16yrs had free entry.

So why did someone call me, I can hear you yelling?

Well the show was a disaster with only about 80 people through the gate on Friday, which was low enough to stir the traders into action. On Saturday morning the traders boycotted the gate and said unless their trade stand fees were refunded in full, the event would not continue as they were all ready to pack up and go home.

The organisers agreed and sent around a sheet of paper for all traders to complete how much they had paid for their stands. But instead of claming these troubled waters it opened another can of worms. The variants in the prices charged for stands was
well let me just say inconsistent. One stand with about 50m, paid £300k whilst another with about 13/15m, had been charged £1,800!!! Now please don’t ask me why the organisers even bothered to send this list around the traders – wouldn’t you think that somewhere in their system they would have had a record as to which trader paid what amount?

Visitors through the gates on Friday was about 85, Saturday 300 and Sunday 400, so a long, long way short of the organisers hopeful 15,000.

I really hope that all stand holders get their refunds quickly and the organisers were not just paying lip service to their demands. But traders you have my utmost admiration for making a stand– oops, sorry bad pun – and to the organisers for listening. The
traders make these events and if you cannot get your marketing and promotion right then you don’t deserve to take any money from these hard-working traders.

I’m sorry some of our Best Of Welsh & Borders were there but again 10 out of 10 guys for sticking up for yourselves – because they are not many on your side as well you know.

 

 
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