British Food Fortnight starts tomorrow

British Food Fortnight is the national food celebration organised by Love British Food.  The event happens every Autumn, during the traditional time of harvest festival and invites communities and organisations across Britain to celebrate the diverse and delicious, high quality food produced in this country. It was first held in 2001 in response to the effects that the foot and mouth crisis had on the farming industry. The aim was, and still is, to boost domestic consumption of British food and, in doing so, to create a robust home market that gives farmers and food producers the confidence to continue to farm and produce quality food.

It is now established as the biggest annual, national celebration of British food. Hundreds of activities and food promotions take place during it. It receives involvement from schools, hospitals, care homes, universities, sports venues, visitor attractions, pubs, restaurants, hotels, high street shops and, in some instance, entire cities, towns and villages.  It is an event proven to deliver results and to motivate people to buy British food year round.

This year has seen a huge number of organisations sign up to be a part of the celebration: NHS Trusts, the Houses of Parliament, major food service organisations, care homes, teachers, local authorities, prisons, the army, community organisers and many more.

Love British Food Founder, Alexia Robinson, says: “There has never been a more important time for us to focus on British soils for stability in our food supply. British Food Fortnight is a proven strategy for promotion in putting British food first, across the private and public sectors.”

“With the British public’s appetite for British food and drink growing all the time, we’re expecting interest in this year’s event to hit record highs. We’ve been inundated with requests from international organisations, independently run stores and everything in between.”

Taking part in British Food Fortnight not only benefits the students, but universities too, especially for university caterers as it generates great PR. Our experience has found that it is proven to increase the number of people eating in their restaurants and it establishes a point of difference between university outlets and restaurants serving bland, mainstream products.

Mike Haslin, TUCO CEO, says: "We understand it has never been more important to support our local businesses and feel that British Food Fortnight is a great opportunity to raise awareness of British ingredients and educate young people about healthy, quality produce in a university environment.”

There are a host of activities and things university caterers can do to take part in British Food Fortnight, for example:

• Promote a special British Food Fortnight menu in your university restaurants or canteens for the Fortnight.
• Offer cookery demonstrations for freshers using simple recipes and guidance for students about where they can buy fresh, healthy, affordable ingredients.
• Add a paragraph to the catering pages of the University website about your activities and menus during British Food Fortnight and provide advice on eating healthily and variedly.
• Set up a stall at Fresher Fair to advertise the healthy benefits of British seasonal food and promote your menus.
• Promote your participation in the national food promotion by using British Food Fortnight’s promotional material to decorate your outlets.

For more information visit the website here or email [email protected] for promotional material.

Participating in British Food Fortnight? We'd love to see your images! Send any content to us on Twitter (@TUCOLtd) or by email to [email protected]