More than 90 representatives from North-east businesses explored opportunities to develop food tourism within the region and increase the use of local produce in its foodservice sector at a dinner.
The North East Food & Drink Network Dining Event at Meldrum House Hotel, organised by Opportunity North East (ONE) and Aberdeenshire Council, saw a menu of local produce served up to attendees from almost 60 businesses and organisations. Brian Grigor, head chef at the Michelin-starred Number One restaurant at The Balmoral Hotel in Edinburgh, was the guest speaker.
Realising the growth potential of food and drink tourism for the region is a key theme for ONE as part of its agenda to drive business growth across the food, drink and agriculture sector. Guests at the dinner identified existing examples of successful food tourism offerings in the region and looked at opportunities to develop visitor spend driven by its high-quality and world renowned produce from the land and sea.
The 2017 programme of dining events also aims to increase the use of local food and drink in eating establishments by creating opportunities for local producers, processors, hoteliers, chefs and restaurateurs to network and make business connections.
ONE aims to build on the region’s significant strengths in food, drink and agriculture to achieve overall increases in turnover, profitability and high quality employment in the sector in the medium to long term. The focus areas for its activity are business growth; innovation; supply chain integration; market development and skills. ONE co-funds its work with private and public partners, including Aberdeenshire Council, Scotland Food & Drink and Scottish Enterprise, to maximise growth in the sector.
The menu on the evening included gin and tonic from Summerhouse Drinks, Esker Spirits and Moray Distillery; Sutherlands of Portsoy Gourmets Choice smoked salmon and Bruce of the Broch haggis balls canapes; lamb from Presly & Co; and a selection of ice cream from Simpsons Buckie.
Peter Cook, ONE’s director of Food, Drink & Agriculture, said: “There is a growing trend for tourism built around authentic, high quality food and drink products with a good back story and provenance. There is a real opportunity for North-east Scotland to capitalise on this because the range and quality of our produce is quite unique.
“ONE’s aim tonight is to facilitate effective collaboration to build a quality, region-wide food tourism offering based on authentic local food and drink production. Achieving this will boost the tourism and food, drink and agriculture sectors by increasing visitor numbers into the North-east, upping overall spend on locally sourced food and drink by all visitors, and creating new demand for our produce outside the region when they go home,” said Mr Cook.
Brian Grigor, head chef at Number One, The Balmoral’s fine-dining restaurant, said: “Home-grown produce is at the heart of everything we do at Number One and it has been the reason that we have been able to take the menu to a new level with creative dishes that celebrate local produce. I have worked closely with many suppliers to perfect my dishes, including The Balmoral's Tomatin Smoked Salmon - our signature dish - that sees salmon smoked with whisky barrel chips for a new twist on this Scottish classic.
“Our guests love to hear the stories of the food that we serve in the hotel and we love telling them especially as we know exactly what farm, wood or moor it comes from. If, as an industry we commit to serving up local produce in thoughtful and innovative ways, and make sure we're telling the producers' stories, then I think there's ample opportunity to bolster food tourism in the region."