Food & Farming
Please check that the regional food and drink producers you know are listed in this new online index for South Wales.
In a new initiative led by Dr Ben Reynolds at Urban Foundry, food and drink producers across South Wales are being asked to add themselves to a new website that’s been designed to enable many more people to discover and access local produce during lockdown and beyond.
Surveys suggest people are more interested than ever in where their food comes from, and in the first few weeks of lockdown more than 3 million households in the UK ordered a local veg box delivery for the first time. But with the closure of regular local produce markets across the region, many micro businesses that depend on them for customers have been left scrambling to find other ways to sell their local produce.
While some were able to pivot to online ordering and deliveries, others have been struggling to get established in what has become a very busy online marketplace.
The new website, https://southwalesfoodanddrink.com/ is intended to provide a central resource for producers to promote themselves and for people across the region to discover fantastic local producers who are able to deliver in their area.
So regional partners are calling on all businesses that make and sell food or drink in South Wales, to list themselves on the site. From fresh farm produce, to local bakeries, to takeaway kitchens, to wine merchants and chocolatiers, the goal is to create a comprehensive directory of regional food producers with goods to sell in South Wales.
As the number of food and drink traders listed on the site grows, and with more people ordering via the website, there’s the potential to develop further support and greater collaboration, such as joint ordering and shared deliveries. For now, the goal is to get everyone working together to support local producers and each other.
As a food producer – make sure you’re listed (it’s free).
And for everyone else – please use the site, discover some wonderful local produce, and support a regional business to survive.
Because as we emerge from COVID-19 and begin to feel the reality of its economic impacts, there is one thing we can all do, to support our region’s recovery – and that’s to buy regional. A widespread commitment to keeping more spending within the region will be needed if we are to keep as many of our homegrown businesses alive as possible.