One of North-east Scotland’s award-winning food and drink tourism attractions will be used to inspire further development of food tourism opportunities across the region later this month.
The Legends of the Garioch Experience at Glen Garioch Distillery will be used as an exemplar case study for the next North East Scotland Food & Drink Network event, hosted by Opportunity North East (ONE) and Aberdeenshire Council.
The best practice visit to the distillery on 13 June will provide a taster of the Legends of the Garioch Experience, which won the 2018 North East Scotland Food & Drink Award for the Best Food & Drink Tourism Experience, and explore the use of regional produce in the experience.
Developing high-profile food tourism projects and events to match visitor experiences with quality regional produce with provenance are priority actions for ONE within the wider context of growing the food, drink and agriculture sector. Food and drink tourism also forms part of VisitAberdeenshire’s ambitious new destination strategy, which provides a framework to grow visitor spend in Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire to £1bn per annum by 2023.
Launched in October 2017, the Legends Experience is a celebration of Aberdeenshire’s larder and the role it has played over 220 years of heritage at the distillery’s Oldmeldrum home. It showcases regional producers, including Deeside Mineral Water, Huntly Herb, Mackie’s, Presly & Co and Sutherlands of Portsoy. The experience concludes with a specially designed regional whisky pairing menu specially prepared by the kitchen team at Meldrum House Country Hotel and Golf Club.
Peter Cook, ONE’s director of food, drink and agriculture, said: “Food tourism presents a significant opportunity for growth across the region’s food and drink and tourism sectors. In the North-east, we have high-quality produce, great heritage and provenance, and there’s a growing appetite amongst consumers for first-hand food and drink experiences to be at the heart of their destination choices.
“The Legends experience at Glen Garioch has successfully combined authenticity, a compelling local story, and a range of businesses, into an internationally marketable experience. We believe many more food and drink businesses could tap into the visitor and tourism market. This next network event is an opportunity for aspiring food tourism owner-managers to learn how they can emulate its success and apply the model to their own business.”
Hosted by the Legends team at Glen Garioch, attendees will enjoy:
- A tour of the distillery and presentation about why and how the Legends of the Garioch Experience was developed
- A sample of the Legends of the Garioch Experience whisky-pairing food menu
- Complimentary drams from Glen Garioch’s single cask, limited release and archive portfolio
The North Scotland East Food & Drink Network is organised by Opportunity North East in partnership with Aberdeenshire Council and aims to support the growth of the region’s food and drink sector.
Tickets are £25pp plus VAT and booking fee, must be booked in advance via EventBrite and are limited to two tickets per company. Attendees must be over 18 years of age.