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Posts Tagged ‘welshfoodbites.co.uk’

Food Hygiene Rating Regulations – Scores On The Doors

06 Jun

One of the many perks of joining the Best Of Welsh & Borders producers is that we try and keep producers updated with food news, views and of course gossip. So this week we emailed around to all BOW the following: Food Hygiene Rating (Wales) Regulations 2013

The consultation document asks for comments on regulations which set out the detail of the statutory Food Hygiene Rating Scheme. Consultation period: 27/03/2013 – 21/06/2013

We wanted our producers, who are the people on the front line that are affected by wag’s latest food brainstorm, to have a chance to raise their feelings on the Food Hygiene Rating Scheme.

Delighted to get some feedback from our BOW and this is a short summary, no producers will be mentioned as that is the whole point of welshfoodbites, you can air your views, you can rant and rave, you can also praise too, but all your comments are confidential. I don’t care if we have hundreds who wish to be known as producer or trader that is fine. It is your opinions that are needed because as we are finding so many of you are thinking the same, but many of you are afraid to air your views officially through wag or food organisers because of repercussions. Well I hope I’ve taken that fear away from you and can assure you that the only people getting the backlash from wag are Welsh Country.

Anyway back to food hygiene. The concern amongst our BOW is that the information given to the consumer, our general public regarding the Food Hygiene Rating, is misleading. Let me explain, if you asked the man/woman in the high street, what do they believe ‘hygiene’ means, I am convinced that most of them would state ‘cleanliness’ as the obvious reply, that’s the first thing that comes into their minds. However the rating is not only about cleanliness, it is very much about completing the necessary paperwork demanded by the Agency.

All business’ have a responsibility to ensure that the produce which they are selling is safe to eat and, that all aspects of safety are strictly adhered to. There should be the necessary paperwork to complete, but the consumer should be made aware that in addition to cleanliness, the necessary paperwork has to be undertaken and it is the paperwork that is the major part of the scoring. One producer was told by an environmental health officer that even if a business was spotlessly clean and showing care, if the SFBB booklet had not been completed, then that business would only receive a rating of 1. Now I you’d think this hard to believe, wouldn’t you? But when I hear this same tale many times I am horrified. Plus I’m hearing tales that Environmental Health standards between our counties makes this far from a level playing field for our BOW to operate on and if the general pubic knew what has happening they would also have no faith in this scheme.

Of course paperwork has to be part of the rating, in order to prove to the various bodies that the regulations are being adhered to. However it is very important that full information be given to the consumer of what the rating entails, at the present time I do not believe that this is happening and I’m so cross that wag come up with an idea but somehow fail to think it through fully, from all angles.

 

 

 
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Food Festival Funding 2013/14

19 Feb

Getting this information from wag has never been easy and it would help many people if this came out earlier. I’m constantly asked by a few organisers, producers and some of our readers, when will the dates be available. This has meant I have posted rather a lot about this of late, but it does show you the efforts I go to to try and help. Now I can give you the latest news, direct from wag’s mouth. I shall refrain from saying the horse’s mouth bearing in mind the other top story – horsemeat!

Anyway back to festival funding. Yesterday wag sent out a comprehensive pack to anyone who is requesting food festival funding. Further down I have posted some of it so producers can understand the criteria wag are expecting the organisers to adhere to. Well, in actual fact the organisers must obey the criteria, otherwise – no funding will be forthcoming. The full pack has already been sent out to our Best Of Welsh & Borders producers but here is main part of the application which should be helpful:

Food Culture Grant Funding for Food Festivals Criteria – Annex E

The maximum Food Culture Grant available for Food Festivals is £10,000 or 50% of eligible costs, whichever is the lesser. All applications will be scored against the following criteria:

• All events supported will have food activity as the core. The whole cost of the event must be shown in the application form, however, only the following elements will be eligible for funding:

 Cookery demonstrations – Promoting local / Welsh produce  

Marketing / advertising materials  

Utility costs e.g. water / electricity / refrigeration etc.  

Stands / marquee costs

•Welsh Food and Drink producers must form at least 75% of the total exhibitors, with no less than 25 Welsh food and drink producers exhibiting to be eligible for support.

•Funding is not available for activity which adds value to an existing attraction, e.g. where a charge is made to enter a premises and the food activity is an added attraction.  Where the charge makes a direct contribution to the funding of the festival then these may be considered for support.

•Activity which adds value to an existing market (e.g. Farmers Market) will not be eligible for support.

  • All applications will be required to submit a business plan as part of the application process. As a minimum, your plan must cover the following matters:
    • Aims, objectives and targets
    • Governance and management arrangements with details of relevant experience and track record
    • Budget forecasts (income and expenditure projections)
    • Support from other public sector agencies, for example: local authorities and national governing bodies of sport
    • Details of other funding sources including private sector/commercial sponsorship
    • Risk Management
    • Marketing Plans
    • Legacy Plans and plans for achieving sustainability of the festival in future years
    • Welsh Language provision
    • Sustainable event management
    • Waste Management

 Existing Festivals over £10k will be required to submit a full set of your most recent Audited Accounts.

  • Existing Festivals under £10k will be required to submit a cash flow statement with opening and closing balances taken from your most recent set of accounts.
  • New Festivals, which have never previously applied for funding, will be measured on their application form and business plan alone with your financial proposals.

Should applications exceed available funding, criteria listed in Annex F will be considered when deciding who to award funding to.

A review team will consider each application on its individual merit, and in light of available funding.

The applications will be scored on the following elements in as explained in the criteria:

 

Evaluation Criteria Weighting
Number / % of Welsh food producers 20%
Supporting Welsh Government’s food and drink objectives 15%
Business Plan 40%
Additional Observations 15%
Value For Money 10%

 

Food Culture Grant Funding – Food Festivals Criteria  – Annex F

 The following points should be borne in mind when considering the criteria:

• Promotion of Welsh Food Culture

Clear focus on Welsh food and drink  / supported by strong programme of associated events.

Supporting a good range / quality of producers.

Well established / growth potential.

Supplemented by chefs demos / opportunities to showcase produce.

Awareness raising of the event by promotional material/ Press/signage.

Press, PR and marketing – budget identified/appropriate to the scale of event Greater awareness of local food – championing local producers.

Innovation.

  •  Benefit to Local Community

Educational or social function – building on benefits of fresh, local, quality produce.

Stimulating both the demand for local produce and the supply in the area.

Community engagement/participation Involvement of local businesses particularly hospitality sector.

Cultural entertainment.

Sense of Place.

  •Local Economic Benefit

◦Community links and partner organisational engagement.

Evidence of spend towards local economy e.g. wages / goods / services (accrue to the host community).

Economic impact on Producers.

Creation of jobs.

Sustainability.

Building on the tourism offer / true food destination.

Stimulates new enterprise and business growth.

Other public and private sector investment leveraged.

  •Meeting objectives / aims of the Welsh Government

Grow the sales of Welsh food and drink in the Tourism sector.

Increase consumer confidence in, and awareness of the quality of food purchased in Wales.

Increase sales of Welsh food and drink.

The applications have to be returned by 11th March but after the number of organisers that have been anxiously waiting for funding news I just hope they have their details ready to go very quickly. I’ve been assured by wag food that I should have full details of successful applications w/c 11th April – which is a prompt turnaround bearing in the mind the number of applications expected in, are we going to take bets about the number that are filled in incorrectly? Perhaps not!!!

It’s also a bit of a eureka moment as at long last notice has been taken of welshfoodbites’ many food festival posts when I have moaned and moaned about the lack of marketing & promotion plans, press releases and signage. Let’s hope that when organisers complete these parts, they actually see it through and not just pay lip-service to ticking a wag box.

When the dates and financial details are sent through to me, these will of course be sent around our Best of Welsh & Borders producers and in due course published on welshfoodbites and welshcountry.co.uk It is very unlikely these will be published in Welsh Country magazine unless wag wish to do so.

 

 

 
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Food Festival Funding For 2013

11 Feb

This is one of many topics I’m getting rather bored with posting about – but as needs must – here I go again.

I do NOT have details of the festivals wag are funding this year. If I did, our Best Of Welsh & Borders producers, BOW, would have been the first to know. I’ve told those organisers that still believe I have a hotline to wag food that works, well sadly I don’t. Neither can I, despite my efforts, make the funding list magically appear at the end of each year. Seemingly that is not possible for wag to do. Annoyingly it seems that only us standing on this of the wag fence – standing on the waste ground as it were, that understand that we should have had this vital information months ago. I am totally fed-up of being asked and moaned at because wag have yet to make-their-financial mind up. Although I offer contact details for people to direct their queries to the wag target, I doubt that any/many have taken my advice. But whether the questions are coming from organisers or producers, both sides are concerned, and rightly so in my experience, at wag will then label them as trouble-makers. I’ve even got readers pestering me as a few are looking to book weekends away or organise family gatherings over some festivals. I have no idea what wag think the festivals that are running early supposed to do. Do they assume they will get the money they have asked for, even though they are not one of wag’s Big Three? Or do they decide that they cannot take the risk and pull the plug now and let their festival bite the dust? Organisers are stressing themselves silly, it’s real pull-your-hair-out time for some, which I feel is needless and pointless. But it leaves us with no other option but to wait and wait and wait………. We go to press shortly with our M/April issue. Each year I hope that I will have wag’s funding list by now, which is particularly stupid of me as it has never happened in the last eight years since we first published Welsh Country magazine. So as wag are run out of time as my deadline looms, I shall have to explain to our readers why we have no festival information for them. Negative news is something I try to avoid publishing and most certainly on the food side, but honesty is the best policy and I think it is now time our readers knew how the food side is struggling as wag just take their time. So please no more festival funding questions, just take this as my final assurance that as soon as I receive the funding list from wag that it will be sent to our BOW producers and posted on welshfoodbites.co.uk and welshcountry.co.uk. I can also guarantee you that if you wish to leave comments on any posts, then please do, you have no need to leave your correct name I’m more than happy to have numerous traders, producers, visitors etc. that is fine. All you do need to leave is your email address, and that is it. You can air your views with confidence, because my goodness this food blog is certainly being read judging by our rankings. The only sad news is the powers-that-be haven’t worked out how to action the things you and I so desperately want.

 
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‘Supplier To Buyer’ Regional Tourism Event

05 Feb

Well it’s twelve months on, and back to the Pembrokeshire Regoinal Tourism Event, but I wouldn’t have known it was going ahead if a few of our Best Of Welsh & Border producers, (BOW), hadn’t told me. Held in Haverfordwest, it was again billed as a trade exhibition of Regional suppliers, especially for the hospitality and retail sector. As last year, I have no idea why I wasn’t told ‘officially’ that it was taking place, I signed in last year and the year before, but for some reason I was again not invited. So many thanks to my lovely BOW producers for keeping me in the loop.

My next job was to find out which traders were attending this event, that took a few emails, but I did get a tradestand plan sent through on 31/1 which was a great help.

Last year there were about 90 stands, of which roughly 40 were food, this year about 80 stands and 35ish were food. That does show how tough the trading climate is, but I was pleased to see quite a few of our BOW in attendance and it was good to have a quick catch up when there was a lull in visitors. I was however not impressed with the number of stands that were often left unmanned. This is a a diffcult one though, especially if you running a stand solo. Natural breaks are of course required and coffees and teas are also essential. But it doesn’t look good.

Reaction was mixed as the day went on, many of you are worried about how this year will trade, but quite a few were buoyant with new ideas and new products in the pipeline. That is always good to hear providing you keep us up-to-date with your news. Many of you wanted to know which food festivals were running through wag this year, but at the risk of sounding like a stuck record, as soon as I am told officially, all our BOW producers will be emailed, plus it will be posted on welshcountry.co.uk and welshfoodbites.co.uk too.

When you entered the event, there was a table for people to sign in at, but it was set back and it was quite easy for people to slip in and out unmonitored. When signing in the team did ask if you required a badge, which was fair enough, but in my view they should have insisted that everyone wore a badge. It that’s a problem then maybe a trader event is not for them! One trader spent 10-15 minutes chatting to a couple about their products and when she asked for their business card and details of what they did – she was told, ‘we’re visitors on holiday for the week and just walked in and been sampling the food!!!!!!’ Then I spoke to a company I didn’t know asked them for a business card, to be told, business cards are expensive so neither my partner or I have any. Talk about being ‘nearly’ speechless.……..Harcourt Litho were there, but guess they didn’t get a quote for cards, but when you can get 500 cards for a £5 ex vat, it really does make you think and I’ll start with unprofessional. One event I attend colour codes their badges, which makes it easy for traders to identify if that visitor is their market. Just a thought, but maybe coloured labels would work with each business written on in felt tip pen, rather than biro…..

Hopefully the traders will be able to turn any enquiries into sales and maybe they will have been able to mingle and chat to other traders and see if some of you can work together.

For last year’s report see post 220212

 
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FBA Are Now Working For Their Additional Funding

28 Jan

On Friday 25/01/13 I received an e-bulletin from FBA which had been sent out to producers saying:

We are delighted to note that we have received confirmation that the Fork2Fork website will stay online during 2013. Despite the end of the Fork2Fork pledge in 2012 the website will remain live with the added production of a regular e-bulletin in order to notify producers and wider stakeholders of ongoing activity in the sector during the year.

Well isn’t that interesting? I send in a Freedom of Information question, learn that FBA have asked and been granted an extension, now all of a sudden FBA then tell me they’ve got the extension they applied for. I did wonder what prompted FBA into action, but I think maybe I can guess!!!

Official version:

This Supply Chain Efficiencies Scheme project was originally approved for two years but under the terms of the scheme projects can ask for extensions up to a final date of 30 June 2015. This project has been extended twice and the last extension was approved on 10 October 2012.

Approved on 10/10/12, but it’s well over three months before FBA could be bothered to tell any of us in the food industry.  Do you think that you are getting value-for-money, firstly from the £55k spent on one conference? I’ve yet to talk to anyone who went to it and just in case you are interested, I wasn’t invited to it, which might come as a surprise to some of you, but I guess not too many! Then secondly another £43,761 donation to FBA and it takes them over 3 months before ‘we’ are officially told about it.

Not sure who named this scheme the Supply Chain ‘Efficiencies’ Scheme, from my view it would have been sensible either to have found a better title, or made their ‘donations’ under this scheme to companies who understand what efficiency means!!!!! But unless you are working and watching money being wasted in our food industry, who really cares? Did the person/s responsible for throwing more money at FBA bother to see what the Fork2Fork website ranked when £800k was thrown at it? Did it better the rankings on welshfoodbites? No it didn’t, but this initial project was evaluated by Miller Research. Now it has been agreed that another £43,761 should be give for additional activity for the website, plus some further information circulation.

Let’s then for the moment just leave it at that, but I’m far from happy with this situation and shall continue ask more and more questions …………………..maybe then I shall understand this horrific waste of money

 
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Wales Food & Drink Exports Per Head Only A Tenth Of That Of Scotland, But Why?

09 Oct

Scottish food and drink could soon rival oil and gas as the nation’s greatest export, according to new targets set last month. With the industry booming, the aim is to grow the value of food and drink sent abroad to £7.1 billion in just five years. Oil and gas exports are currently worth £7.6 billion. The new targets, set by Scotland Food and Drink, were unveiled during Scottish Food and Drink Fortnight and at a time when the sector is booming with a growing appetite for Scottish produce overseas. http://www.scotland.gov.uk/News/Releases/2012/09/food-drink12092012

Yes OK, you’re puzzled and thinking that I have lost the plot completely, talking about Scotland when my passion is 100% for Welsh food. The reason is quite simple it started me wondering if I’d been sent any export figures for Welsh food and drink. HCC are very good at giving figures out about Welsh meat exports, but I cannot recall the other sectors.

So my first port of call was Food for Wales, Food from Wales 2010 – 2020, a document looking to the future of Welsh Food. I was sure that this must have some figures from which to start, but skimming through both the consultation document and the report, I couldn’t find any easily, apart from meat once more. Eventually I find some figures from a Welsh Assembly document entitled ‘Food Security March 2011’ which gave me figures for 2009  – ‘Wales imported £342.1 million and exported £143.8 million of food and drink in 2009’.

HM Revenue and Customs, Regional Trade in Goods – Incorporating EU27, [Accessed 23 February 2011]

Now even with my hopelessness in maths, it would be unfair to compare these two figures, so I tried to level the lumpy playing field.

Scotland hopes to export £7.1 billion food and drink in 2015 and has a population of 5,254,800 as of August 2012.

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/News/Releases/2012/08/scotlands-population02082012

Back in 2009, Wales exported £144m worth of food and as of the 2011 census has a population of 3,060,000.

Yet these figures are still biased towards Scotland with its highly profitable Scotch whisky industry which in 2011 exported £4.2 billion. Gosh what an enviable export figure!

So taking out as many variables as possible, here’s my export summary for 2015 -

Scotland: £7.1bn less £4.2bn i.e. £551 per head of population.

Wales exports £46.99 per head of population.

What a difference between the two countries with Scotland certainly leading the way. So where is Wales going wrong? Does the fault lie with wag and the priorities it has set for food and drink? Wales has certainly received a great deal of European funding, which I’m sure also applies to Scotland. But is the explanation to this conundrum lie in Scotland using its European grants more wisely than Wales?

As always, I’m interested in your views  and really appreciate reading any comments. Please be assured that your identity is known only to me and even that is only through your email. You can select any name at all, it really doesn’t matter, but your comments are always of great interest.  With welshfoodbites rankings according to Alexa are @ 215,993 as of 08/10/12, you can be certain that plenty of people are reading your views!!!!

 
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Food Festival Listing Update

29 Mar

Another post as no press release from the Wag as yet as regards the food festival listing that was
promised w/c 19th March. The latest news into our office, although not from wag, is from an organiser who has been told they’ll receive news of funding by the middle of next week. So will this be better than an Easter egg from wag or not?

I’m sorry for those that are still contacting us by phone and email to get this listing, but as I’ve said before, when I get it, all our Best Of Welsh & Borders producers will have it emailed to them and of course I’ll publish it in full, here on welshfoodbites and of course on welshcountry.co.uk.

 
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True Taste Awards 2011

14 Oct

I received another press release about True Taste last week with a message saying: Any members of the media who would like to cover  Wales’ The True Taste Food & Drink Awards ceremony, contact a person in Wag. I’m not sure if this is meant to be classed as this years’ bulk press invitation, or if it’s just Wag’s suggestion that we report on it for them …………………

I asked Wag if they could send the results through to me, embargoed, so we could get them on our website pronto. But for the first time ever, I had to sign a confidential disclosure agreement that I wouldn’t release this information any earlier than their embargoed time. Yesterday I received a press release from the Welsh Government Newsdesk, embargoed, but nothing for me to sign, trusted as a journalist to do my job – yippee!

The excitement and anticipation is building as to who will win what and I’m unhappy that I, as media, not only can’t be trusted with confidential information, but that I would want spoil the thrill of the moment when the gold winner is announced. I have never been 100% behind the way Wag have devised the True Taste Awards and much prefer the Great Taste Awards, who judge producers to win 3, 2, and 1 stars. Three stars means. ‘wow you must taste this product’ two stars means ‘ faultless’ and one star means ‘close to perfect.’ But there is no way I would mar this special moment for any producer and I trust my journalistic colleagues will act as professionals and obey press release that are embargoed.   

The True Taste results will be on welshcountry.co.uk and also welshfoodbites.co.uk as soon as we are allowed to release them.   

For those of you that are heading to Llandudno next Thursday, have a wonderful night, we’ll be thinking about you and the Welsh Country team want to wish our Best Of Welsh & Borders producers going forward for True Taste Awards, the very best of luck. I have my fingers crossed, well not literally or I couldn’t use my keyboard, that you all win gold, but if not, it’s still a great achievement and we know how hard you have work, particularly these last few years!!

 
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Papers, Politicians, Police,

08 Jul

And the demise of the News Of The World – As a journalist there are many occasions when I am very proud of my profession. When wrongs have been highlighted, successful campaigns organised and action like MP’s expenses was a revelation, these are examples of journalism at its best.
But catching up on the News of the World debacle has made me furious. Not just from a journalistic point of view, but from a humane point – have these ordinary people who are victims not been through enough? The stories about alleged back-handers to the police, the illegal action of phone–tapping, the list goes on and on and the behaviour of some individuals and the media machine that is News International can only be politely described as appalling.

It was sad to see the final edition yesterday of the NOTW as Rupert Murdoch decided to pull the plug on our most successful Sunday paper. If reports are correct, this paper is drawing in advertising revenue of £38.6 million per annum. Ok dream on Kath. But the NOTW has been propping up its sister titles of The Sun, The Times and The Sunday Times.

I have no sympathy for all those involved in phone-tapping, your actions were illegal and no editor or publisher should have believed that their title is outside the law. I want those responsible to be held to account, I want them to face the victims’ family and explain just what promoted them to do such despicable acts. Let those families ask the questions that must have been driving them insane over the last few months and years.

Now about 200 journalists have lost their jobs, despite the fact that most of them weren’t there when this hacking fiasco took place. Media has not escaped the recession, how could it? But these professional people are now on the scrap-heap unless Mr Murdoch finds them jobs elsewhere in his huge organisation. Many of them might not wish to work again for this man who has other matters on his mind than these poor guys who have just been made redundant, but many with mortgages and families might feel they simply haven’t a choice if any work is offered. What a mess….. the inquiries cannot come quickly enough or skimp in their thoroughness to leave no stone unturned in the search for the truth.

So why am I posting NOTW on welshfoodbites? A story, which has headed all newspaper front pages, websites and radio and TV bulletins, but is certainly not food related? Well one worry is that all journalists might be tarred with the same brush, which would be totally unfair, as there are rotten apples in all barrels, business, politics, sport, no sector is immune. I hope that all journalists, which of course includes me, always work in a professional manner, which goes without saying, but journalists should not forget that part of their job is to expose injustice and abuse…………………….which is what I shall, in my small way, keep doing too.

 
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Festival Criteria Is Very Shaky

28 Jun

The situation on festivals is shaky and that’s being polite. I have never had so much criticism about the way Wag have set out their criteria and then allowed some festivals to ignore it. As expected this year, festival funding has been slashed to £368,521.36 and only 31 festivals are being supported. Last year 57 festivals were supported with a budget of £529,125,70. With such budget slash, I think most people would have expected Wag to have applied just a little commonsense as to how they could give the taxpayer best-value–for-money by making best use of the funding they’ve been allocated. First Minister Carwyn Jones said: “Indeed, it is estimated that the overall economic impact of Welsh food festivals on their host communities is annually as much as £20.3m. There is a positive knock-on effect on employment in rural areas too with around 1,125 jobs linked to food festivals”.

I’m unsure whether Mr Jones is saying these figures are from last year when he funded 57 events with nearly £530k and the economic impact of £20.3m. Well £20.3m is no mean figure, so why then with such a strong economic impact, has our festival budget been slashed so harshly that Wag is now only funding 31 festivals instead of 57. Isn’t that surely going to reduce the effect of the economic impact, not to mention the impact of 1,125 jobs? I wish my limited brain power could get to grips with political thinking.    

I’ve heard so many times from Wag’s higher management that they want food festivals to be self-supporting, so if that’s the case, why are the three largest festivals: Abergavenny, (£52k) Cardiff (£37,550) and Conwy (£41k), being given nearly £131k out of this year’s budget? All these three festivals applied for the same amount of money they received last year and got it – no budget cuts there – but why not? In 08/09, Abergavenny got £37,360, Cardiff £30k and Conwy £24,665, so Wag’s self-supporting theory, is obviously that, theory. Whilst in practice these three festivals have had increasing money thrown into their rather large pots. Any chance Wag that you can clarify your self-supporting theory? 

Wag’s criteria for this year, insists that festivals have ‘food as the core activity.’

An easy example of this was that the Smallholder was shown the red card by Wag, even though Steve Shearman had been asked years ago to run this event for them. But panic not, there will be a Food Hall at the RWAS or the Winter Fair, as Wag runs both these events and funds them out of a different budget. Please don’t ask me how much those two events cost as the only way I’d get a partial answer will be to send through a Freedom Of Information question again, but a partial answer doesn’t solve the problem. 

Crymch Food & Craft festival, which has run for years, has decided not to run this year because of the, ‘food as the core activity’. Even though their food and craft were held in two separate areas, they guessed wouldn’t fund it. However Llandysul, which as far as I’m aware has had a similar split of food and craft stalls, ran again this year and were funded by Wag £9k, a reduction of £500.00 on last year. Now how can this anomaly have occurred? Wag gave Abergavenny based Miller Research, the task of visiting all their funded festivals and reporting back to them. I’ve asked for a copy of this report as I know a producer has too, but despite the fact that the organisers had their copies months ago, I’m still waiting for mine. Does that mean my copy might be edited before I get it? So how did Wag make their decisions this year? As food was not the core activity in Llandysul in previous years, why were they funded again this year? What did the Miller Research report say about Llandysul and who made the final decision for it to be funded again?

I had a press release yesterday from Hay on Wye festival, which is excellent, because despite 31 festivals being funded I shall be lucky to get 10 press releases in total from them. If festivals don’t send out press releases, they cannot possibly get any publicity and if they don’t get publicity where do the visitors come from. Festival organisers have a duty to the producers to ensure that they do their utmost to generate publicity and get people through their gates. I’m fed-up of hearing from organisers that ‘they don’t have an advertising budget’ what is core accurate is that they haven’t allocated money to advertise their event, but instead spending money on expensive chefs and aren’t bothering to tell their traders what they are doing. Traders pay their money up front and in good faith and organisers should communicate with them their plans for their event. Anyway back to Hay press releases, in the first paragraph it said busy event and estimated 4,000 people there and in the second paragraph at least 5,000 people. Well guess you can take your choice but it does raise two issues, who counted all those people as I understand it’s a free event and where on earth in Hay did all those people manage to park their cars?            

You only have to read welshfoodbites to see what massive interest and concern there is about food festivals. Regular readers will know that Wag Food Press Office have since March, refused to answer any questions from me, in case I blog it and upset as they say they have no right of reply! Well I’ve had had to remind them that when Wag food were working with us in 2008 and 2009 there was no negative food news at all published in Welsh Country magazine. Yet behind the scenes, that was a different matter. No-one should under-estimate the amount of hard work that was going behind the scenes whilst my team tried to get some communication going between the food producers and Wag. The Press Office then told me not to talk to Wag officials directly, but to talk to them. When that system didn’t work too well, I decided to create welshfoodbites in July 2010. Initially the idea was to use it for questions I wasn’t getting answers to, but in effect it has provided a forum for all foodies to air their views and ask their questions.

As far as Welsh Country is concerned, Wag sadly has now had negative coverage. We were waiting and waiting for the list of food festivals which was promised, but again did not arrive so that was published. I have no intention at all of apologizing for doing this, in fact Wag should be very grateful I haven’t devoted pages of welshfoodbites in every issue of Welsh Country. My reason for not doing so is not to save their blushes, because in the world of Wag, nothing is ever wrong. Wag appear to work under the B.S.E. rule, Blame Someone Else. The only reason, so far that I’m holding back is that I feel I should try and paint a picture of positivity in our Welsh food world. The only worry for Wag now is my pot of paint is running very, very low ……………………..……..

 
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