University Challenge To Promote Welsh Food

Welsh universities have gained a first by joining forces to promote and celebrate Welsh food ahead of St David’s Day (March 1st).
 
This ground-breaking example of collaboration is the first time that a single Welsh food promotion event has been launched across an entire public sector.
The member institutions of the Higher Education Purchasing Consortium Wales (HEPCW*) have launched the ‘Welcome to Wales’ food festival week, to highlight Welsh food and encourage more students to choose locally produced food in university eateries.
The festival week will commence on Monday 25th February 2008, and will lead up to St. David’s Day on 1st March.
During the festival week, all the participating Welsh universities which include those at Aberystwyth, Carmarthen, Swansea, Cardiff, Pontypridd and Newport, have agreed to use and promote Welsh produce and foodstuffs throughout their catering operations.
Procurement leader for the HEPCW Catering Group Peter Standfast said:
“In response to growing interest, we will be offering a range of new and established Welsh products and will also be featuring menus specially designed for the festival.
 “We will also be show-casing what the Welsh universities are doing to help promote and develop Welsh foods, both as a university group and in partnership with other public sectors as well as working towards sustainability objectives such as reducing food miles whilst supporting the longer-term economic development of the Welsh food sector as a whole”.
The recent expenditure survey by Strategic Marketing on behalf of Welsh Assembly Government has shown that Welsh Universities are spending over £1.1 million per year on staple Welsh produce, and the percentage of Welsh produce purchased in preference to alternative produce from outside of Wales has grown by eight per cent over the last three years. This trend reflects the growing interest in Welsh food by students, staff and caterers.
During the festival week, Welsh universities expect to serve in excess of 100,000 customers in their restaurant and cafe outlets.
“With some 45 per cent of our student population coming from outside of Wales, this festival not only promotes Welsh food to local people but also helps to raise awareness of the quality of Welsh produce to customers from the rest of the UK and around the world,” said Mr Standfast.
“Wales is world-renowned for its lamb, and of course there will be lamb dishes on the menus, together with other quality Welsh meat. We will also be featuring locally-grown vegetables, together with dairy produce, savoury and dessert foods, Welsh spring water and many other great Welsh products. During the week, our food outlets will also be decorated with daffodils - grown in Wales of course!”
The Welsh Assembly Government’s Minister for Rural Affairs Elin Jones said:
“I am pleased that the HEPCW have taken the initiative to promote Welsh food across Welsh universities. Hopefully it will encourage students to look for Welsh produce outside of the university too. It also highlights the opportunities that exist for local producers in the public sector.”

CONTACT: Peter Standfast, Head of Procurement at UWIC on 029 2041 6089 or email PStandfast@uwic.ac.uk

*HEPCW seeks to foster collaboration throughout its membership and the broader Welsh and UK public sectors to both deliver value for money and share and benefit from best practice across all aspects of its members’ procurement.

Article published on: 21 February 2008