Local Food Heroes - Stephen Wheeler talks to John Sheaves of Taste of the West Ltd.

Over the past few months I have been introducing you to some of Gloucestershire’s best food producers, food personalities and food products. Taste of the West Ltd, led by chief executive John Sheaves, has been at the forefront of the South West’s food and drink industry, from Gloucestershire to Cornwall, since its inception in 1991.

As a regional food group it aims to unite the food chain in the region by connecting it from beginning to end – from farm to fork or plough to plate. I talked to John about its work at the recent Taste of the West trade show in Exeter where over 200 South West food and drink businesses were exhibiting their products.

Trade buyers are invited from small restaurants to supermarkets and national wholesalers such as Creed Foodservice. John told me that the organisation now has over 800 members from all stages of the food chain, whether they are growing it, processing it, selling or cooking it.

Members pay a subscription which provides Taste of the West with their income. “In the beginning, most of our funding came from Government but now we have to pay our own way, although we continue as a non-profit making concern,” said John. I asked John, what, in a nutshell, do South West food producers get in return for their membership fees? “Primarily, a route to market,” he answered. “Whether they’re a small producer wanting to sell at local farmers’ markets, or whether they have aspirations to break into the supermarkets, we give them the know-how to reach their target market. “We work hard to boost demand for locally sourced food and drink and create business opportunities to help them flourish”. More than 70 per cent of people in Britain want to buy more local and regional food, according to a recent independent survey. “The customer is demanding provenance but the pricing is crucial,” said John. “Local food must be affordable for everyone – not just the well-heeled in up-market delis.” Quality is also critical – and tasting the delicious array of produce from creamy blue veined cheese to a Sauvignon-like nettle wine or spicy Old Spot sausages to handmade chocolates at the trade show, I’d say the Taste of the West is truly a Taste of the Best

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17th April 2010

Taste of the West

Taste of the West