RSS
 

Posts Tagged ‘food’

Food, Tourism And Construction Panels Revealed

01 Nov

I have recently been informed by the Welsh Government on the three panels they have formed to advise them on business policy for the tourism, construction and food and farming industries.

The food and farming panel will include Heather Jenkins, director of agricultural strategy at Waitrose; Kevin Morgan, professor of European regional development at Cardiff University; Ieuan Edwards, managing director of Edwards of Conwy; Sue Evans, director of policy at the Wales Countryside Land and Business Association; Dai Davies, chair of Hybu Cig Cymru; Simon Wright, chef and writer; Melanie Leech, director general of the Food and Drink Federation; Mary James, director of the National Farmers Union Cymru; and Nick Fenwick, director of agricultural policy at the Farmers Union of Wales. It will be chaired by Haydn Edwards, the former principal of Coleg Menai.

The tourism panel will include Mike Morgan, proprietor of Llansantffraed Court Hotel in Abergavenny; Menna Heulyn, co-owner of the Harbour Master Hotel, Aberaeron; Paul Lewin, managing director, of Ffestiniog Railway; Sir Brooke Boothby, owner of Fonmon Castle and Fontygary Caravan Park; Philip Lay, retail director of SA Brain; Manon Williams, director client services at CMI; and Margaret Llewelyn OBE, former managing director of Dragon Shipping Line. It will be chaired by Dan Clayton Jones, chair of the Heritage Lottery Fund.

The construction panel will feature David Harris, divisional managing director of Cowlin Construction; Ann-Marie Smale, director of Powell Dobson Architects; Chris Jofeh, director of Arup; Danny Fellows, director of DFA International; and Rhodri-Gwynn Jones of the Civil Engineering Contractors Association (Wales). It will be chaired by David Joyce, chief operating officer of Vinci PLC.

As the food panel will be of obvious interest to our Best Of Welsh & Borders producers, we sent this info to them. Well as our busy producers catch up on their mail boxes, our phones and emails have been very busy! The unanimous message they would like me to send to the Welsh Government is – where is the voice for the food producers?

Is Ieuan Edwards of Conwy, a well-established True Taste Winner, able to talk on behalf of all producers, whatever their company size? Or is it safe to rely on Simon Wright, last year’s True Taste Champion, to be aware of the needs and wants of our producers? I’m sure you have already spotted the True Taste link and certainly the government link, but where is the representation for the dairy industry? Where is the representation for the horticultural industry? How does anybody make representation to these august bodies?  

So is this more food for thought, or is it yet more food producer frustration?

 
5 Comments

Posted in Uncategorized

 

Pembrokeshire Show – Food Stands

11 Aug

Can anyone confirm stand price in the Food Centre Wales area, or any other food area at the Pembrokeshire Agricultural Show?

I’ve been quite surprised by the price I’ve been told and would like it verified by anoyone else attending, as it doesn’t make much sense. The price I’ve been given is £60 plus VAT for about a 9m frontage, this includes a pre-show vehicle pass, but no vehicle pass or day ticket for the actual trading day! How can you possibly trade if you don’t have a vehicle pass? As traders always have lots of equipment to bring with them, where will they be parked?  

My memory could be failing, that’s quite possible, but I thought food traders attending last year under the Pembrokeshire Produce Direct banner; paid £100.00 inc VAT for a three day’s trading. That price included daily vehicle passes, as well as daily tickets for two people. But this year it appears to be a different scenario and I cannot believe any event expects traders to pay to come in and park out with the public when they have already paid for a tradestand. The Pembrokeshire website says tickets are £14.00 per day, so for two traders to run one stand it’s an extra £28.00, plus stand fee, plus travel, which will be around £100.00 for the day. Gosh, you’ll have to sell an enormous amount of produce to break even, let alone make some money.      

I’m also not sure if Pembrokeshire Direct are running their food area again this year but it will be interesting to compare prices and what they are offering. I’m sure a producer will confimr or deny what I’ve been told. I cannot understand the confusion here unless Food Centre Wales has just forgotten to send the traders additional vehicle passes and tickets out yet ……………………..

 

 
4 Comments

Posted in Uncategorized

 

WAG Axe Falls On Aberystwyth Christmas Fair

02 Jun

I had a phone call yesterday from a producer asking why Aber Fair had been axed. He wasn’t one of our Best Of Welsh & Borders members, so wasn’t aware of the furore that’s been going on and the difficulties we’ve had even obtaining this year’s dates from the Welsh Assembly Government, Wag. Apparently he’d read a piece in his local paper and was very upset that this fair was not now going ahead.

Ceredigion Council have said that as Wag are now not going to fund the £4,200 that the event got last year, it could not go ahead in it’s current form.  Wag has funded this event for eleven years. In 08/09 Aber received £3,840 and in 09/10 £4.000. However this year Aber has fallen foul of Wag’s new ruling that states: ‘all events supported will have food activity as the core’. Culture, tourism, arts, crafts and Christmas markets now do not qualify for Wag support. The Council state that last year’s poor weather badly affected the Christmas Fair, but in 2009 the event attracted over 4,000 people. I really do disagree with the Council on numbers for 09, how, if the event is free, do they get even a rough number count? Am I’m sure I’m not alone in wondering where Aber managed to find parking for such a number of cars, it’s difficult enough on an ordinary Saturday!! However I’m told that of 46 stalls, only eight were non-food. So I’ll continue to stick to what I have been saying for some time which is that that craft stalls do add interest to a food event. The longer people stay at an event the better. Of course I can understand that Wag feel that are then supporting craft, but maybe a compromise is that crafters pay more for their stands. But to drop support for this event because of 8 craft stalls is childish and short sighted and is certainly not supporting food and producers.

Whilst this dispute was raging Ceredigion AM Elin Jones slammed Wag’s decision saying that the festival gave important support to local producers. She then went on the political bandwagon, trying to shame Labour on cutting back support for local food festivals. Well I’m not in total agreement there but do accpet that I haven’t all the facts but it’s not for the lack of trying, is it? I’ve been asking for a list of the festivals Wag were supporting in January and was told I couldn’t have the list until the end of March. Then, at end of March I was told I couldn’t have the list now as we were in ‘a pre-election period’. So my thinking is that this list was already done and agreed, and who was the Minister responsible for signing this off? Step forward Elin Jones…………

We then had our elections on 5th May and I received Wag’s funded festival list on 13th May. I’m not sure if you think in just over a week; Wag started from scratch with the new Labour team, made their decisions, informed the organisers and then told the media. I don’t think so as the organsiers were told I believe on the 6th May. I think all decisions were made whilst Elin was still in ministerial power and were rubber-stamped by Labour, but we’ll see what else we can find out about this………………………

Of course budgets have to be slashed, there isn’t a choice because as a nation we are broke|. But who agrees to Conwy and Abergavenny getting the same amounts as last year, no cuts for them let alone even a reduction for two huge festivals who can get sponsors in, whilst Aber gets axed for £4k? Has Wag changed it’s mind about getting festivals to be self-supporting? It must have, because otherwise wouldn’t these two have had their funding requests reduced at least?   

Wag have apparently responded by saying that with a reduced budget and the evaluation of food festivals taken over last two years, then to make the best use of resources it was decided that events where food was not the core activity would not receive funding. For those of you not up to speed, last year Miller Research from Abergavenny, were asked to visit all Wag supported festivals and evaluate what they were doing. Most organisers I have spoken to have received their copy of the Miller report, but I’m still waiting for Wag to send through my copy. I have been told that Crymych Food & Craft Fair also fell foul of the new no -craft rule so that event is also not running this year. Lampeter was also told by Miller that they had too many craft stands, even though the craft stands are set in a different part on the Lampeter University grounds, plus a new festival in Newcastle Emlyn was told ‘no craft or no funding’.

I also wonder if this ‘no craft or no funding’ was made clear at the organisers meeting in February, otherwise surely this issue could have been clarified and sorted then and not left until now. I’m sure Jan Fenner who organises the Aber fairs and markets would have been there, but why that didn’t happen is rather puzzling.

Ceredigion County Council are appealing Wag’s decision and I look forward not only to hearing the outcome, but an explanation too!!!

Food Festival funding has been a hot topic on welshfoodbites so  please check out posts around March this year for more background.

 
13 Comments

Posted in Uncategorized

 

Success For Welsh Food At Smallholder

23 May

Congratualtions to Steve Shearman from Farmer’s Markets in Wales, who put on a great show in the old Food Hall at the Smallholder show this weekend. As already posted, I had expected to find the producers in the new Food Hall, but was relieved to find that sector busy and some relatively producers on Sunday when I visited.

What really made me very angry was the fact that this event received no funding from the WAG, the Welsh Assembly Government.  I’ve no idea who told me, but I knew that Steve attended the festival organisers meeting in February, but I couldn’t work out why. The funding for this event has not, to my knowledge, ever come from Wag’s festival funded budget.  If I’m wrong, then it’s been left of the list I have received from Wag for the last four years. So as this funding has always come from another budget, which budget was it from? My next question is why has this funding been withdrawn and who made that decision?

I’m not sure whether you would label this event as a Food Festival or a Farmer’s Market, but the label is irrelevant. What is relevant and is very important, is that thisevent was actually a celebration of Welsh food at its best and surely this is what Wag (Food) should be promoting.  This year Wag’s criteria for festivals they are supporting is that they ‘will have food activity as the core. Therefore events such as Agricultural Shows with a food hall or events that use a food hall as an additional attraction will not normally be eligible’. What normally be eligible means must qualify as ‘Wag speak’ which makes us none the wiser…………….so can anyone clarify that statement please. I feel that maybe it means that Wag will continue to do as is pleases, regradless of the consequences.

As an example of my confusion, can I remind you that I attended Saundersfoot in March this year and counted 18 food stands, plus a cookery demo area and 9 craft stands. This festival got funding again this year, around £8k, but according to Wag they should have had 20 food producers. Did anyone attned from Wag and if so does that mean this funding is now reduced? Saundersfoot have also been awarded funding for 2012 but with a lesser amount of £5,006.35.

But back to the Smallholder event which had over 40 of our best producers on show, got no financial support at all, due to Wag’s change of criteria. Wag’s other big push as far as food festivals are concerned, is that huge prominence is made of True Taste Food and Drink Awards winners. I won’t bore you again with my views on True Taste, but check out my post on 22nd November and let me know what you think. The financial headache that no funding caused this event meant that stand prices had to be doubled, bad news for the producers in this economic climate, but there was absolutely no choice if this was to go ahead. I cannot imagine the Smallholder without Steve Shearman’s market and our offering to our visitors is bog-standard fast food vans with little if any local  food.

This event was a success despite Wag’s childish behavouir, they even had a covered area on one side where Steve had put seating so people could enjoy some great coffee, food, ice-cream and a chance to rest and chat with family and friends.

Carwyn Jones, our First Minister says, “I am delighted the Welsh Assembly Government has been able to continue to support food and drink festivals across Wales.”

Well Mr Jones and Wag, I’m not happy that I don’t understand what has happened to the Smallholder funding and why Wag (Food) don’t put their onus on Welsh food first and True Taste second – if you can improve the standard and variety of local producers you’ll of course improve the entries for the True Taste. Please explain to me why this event had to run without financial support from Wag bearing in mind RWAS say 26,026 attended over the two days. This is yet another instance where Wag need to wake-up and understand what is actually happening in Wales with our food producers.

 
5 Comments

Posted in Uncategorized

 

When Is A Food Hall Not A Food Hall?

23 May

When there’s no food in it!

But welcome to the Royal Welsh Smallholder & Garden Festival, which ran from 21 – 22 May as the new Food Hall housed the Green Horizons (Eco) Exhibition. Sadly some traders who understood they’d paid to be part of that event, were instead put into the Members Restaurant, where there was a distinct lack of customer throughput and for many traders a waste of two days trading.    

As reported here on 21st July 2010 at the Royal Welsh, amid great pomp and trumpet fanfare, Rural Minister Elin Jones officially opened the new Food Hall on the showground announcing a new deal between  the Welsh Assembly Government, WAG ,and the Royal Welsh Agricultural Society, RWAS, to manage the £1.6m food hall. I am told that WAG will financially support the Food Hall with £300,000 over the next three years, which means RWAS will be paid £100k per year for WAG to run two food events, the Royal Welsh and the Winter Fair.  So that’s why no food in there this time but to the visitors it looks totally stupid to have this new, expensvie Food Hall – but without food in it.  Although that’s the latest figure I’ve heard, I’m sure that this isn’t the only money Wag is putting into the RWAS.

 
5 Comments

Posted in Uncategorized

 

Food Festival Request Via Freedom Of Information Act

06 May

I think in the my dim and distant past, that I won a Girl Guide badge for endurance, so  do you think the Welsh Assembly Government Food, (WAG),  might like to consider awarding me something similar whilst I continue to ask for a list of food festivals they are supporting this year? For those of you that aren’t up-to-date, the WAG Food press office promised to send me their list at end of March - I’m still waiting – although not patiently. The WAG Food press office have now taken the decision not to answer any of my questions - in case I blog them! I’m not sure how many times I need to explain to them that I’m only resorting to blogging because they are not giving me the information I ask for as a journalist.  I’m now waiting for an offical response from WAG Food before I decide what to do next.

But back to the food festival listing request. With another failure with WAG press office, my next option was the Freedom Of Information Act and I submitted two food festival questions to them on 14th April. On the 4th May, I got an acknowledgement from WAG Food saying they had received my request on 15th April and that I could expect a reply by 17th May…………………………..

Well I shall look forward to that, but can WAG really believe they are serving the public with this sort of sloppy, laid-back service? I do not believe for an instant that this information isn’t available, as a food festival organiser has told me they should get to hear today, 6th May, on how much funding they will receive. So if that information is correct,  and it is because this festival organiser has just rung and told me how much they are getting. So why do I have to wait until the 17th May? Are WAG Food, like their press office too busy to respond to me any quicker than this, or is it that Welsh Country doesn’t matter?  

  

 

 
1 Comment

Posted in Uncategorized

 

Are There Any Checks On How Our Money Is Spent?

04 May

Today, whilst I was searching for some website statistics on Alexa, I did a quick check on Golwg360 web figures which was interesting  – no that’s not true – horrifying is a more apt description. Golwg360, a site that has money pumped into it from the Welsh Assembly and the Welsh Books Council over the last 2 years, was only ranked at 12,624,621 – yes over twelve million. Recently this site has had more funding for a food feature, again also being funded by by the Welsh Assembly Government via the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development: Europe investing in Rural Areas the Rural Development Plan.

If it were easy to find out exactly how much funding has been poured into Golwg360  over the years, I would do it, but even with limited research, it is in excess of £660,000 over 3 years. The objective to have a Welsh language website is laudable, but  apart from just being there, what is it supposed to achieve? What are its aims? But just as importantly, who is checking up how it is progressing – or is this another instance of money ebing thrown at another project and then – just waste it as you wish?’   

We are in difficult financial times, no-one will disagree with that, so it has never been more important that there should not be a total disregard for taxpayer’s money – it’s neither right nor fair!  Does this website strike you as good value for money or do you feel because it’s Welsh maybe that’s ok? I’d love to know how you feel on this issue.   

For interest, welshfoodbites and Welsh Country websites are not funded and are ranked at 301,394 and 226448 respectively  – source again Alexa.

 
1 Comment

Posted in Uncategorized

 

Thanks So Much – Our Rankings Are Still Rising

16 Mar

I think it’s amazing that our rankings still improve  - of course it is all thanks to you. On 15th March welshfoodbites was 409,087, truetaste.tv was 1,919,717 whilst walesthetruetaste was 1,582,454

For some time now I have added these figures as a footer on my emails, but have now decided that I will no longer plug Wag’s two food websites for free!! I’m sure all you business people out there will understand this move perfectly!!

My thanks to you all for your support and the feedback comments left on welshfoodbites. It makes interesting reading. If you wish to leave comments I promise you your details will not be published, so feel free to let us know what your views and any issues that are causing you concern.

 
12 Comments

Posted in Uncategorized

 

Our Rankings Go Up, Up, Up – Thanks Again To You

24 Feb

I can’t believe you busy people can find the time to browse welshfoodbites – but you certainly are, as figures below show – can you guess which two sites are funded by us the taxpayers through, WAG,  the Welsh Assembly Government?

Ranking @ 24/2/11: welshfoodbites was 570,424 as compared to truetaste.tv at 2,037,060 and walesthetruetaste at 1,642, 717 

Our Welsh Country and welshfoodbite team are loving all your input. It’s helpful and encouraging to hear your thoughts and concerns about the Welsh food scene. We’re also pleased that you love what we are doing. Many thanks

 
9 Comments

Posted in Uncategorized

 

Our Rankings Rise – Again Thanks To You

18 Feb

Gosh you have all been very busy visiting welshfoodbites and it really is appreciated. As of 18/2 welshfoodbites was 627,015 compared to truetaste.tv at 2,070,854 and walesthetruetaste at 1,661,858   (Source Alexa taken over a 3 month period)

How good is that against two WAG funded sites?  

(Source Alexa taken over a 3 month period)

Isn’t that great news?

Here at Welsh Country, the team and I really appreciate your support, your suggestions and your queries. I think most of you know that we’ll do whatever we can to help if you have specific issues or worries about the Welsh food industry, but after reading posts on welshfoodbites, you’ll know how difficult it is for us to get answers.

 
8 Comments

Posted in Uncategorized

 
« Older Entries