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Wales Farmer JANUARY 2014 FOOD 25


Breakfast Week gets new year off to agood start


FARMHOUSE Breakfast Week is returning in January to celebrate the most important meal of the day. The campaign, run by the Home Grown Cereals Authority (HGCA) is marking its 15th anniversary of promoting the importance of eating a healthy and balanced breakfast. Anew addition for 2014 is the Best Breakfast Awards, where eateries across the UK can enter their best breakfast dishes to win titles of best regional and national breakfasts. HGCA chairman Jonathan Tipples, who farms 770 acres in Kent, is


Sights high for growth in turnover


By Debbie James


THE Welsh food and drinks industry has been promised a30per cent uplift in turnover within six


years. The Welsh Government chose


the RoyalWelsh Winter Fair as a platformtolaunch an action plan thataims to delivergrowth and jobs within Wales’sfarming and food sectors. Agriculture, fishing and food


manufacturing in Wales current- ly have an annual turnoverof morethan £5.2 billion butfarm- ing minister Alun Davies says morecan be done to boost this figure. He wants to see turnover


increase to £6.7 billion by 2020 with an interim target of 10 per cent achievedbythe end of 2016.


Government aims for 30pc increase in turnover by 2020


Under the newaction plan


therewould be an overarching body–aFood and Drinks Federation similar to the Dairy Task Force–toidentify opportu- nities forgrowth and knowledge sharing. Welsh food and drink would


be givenanew brand identity to support trade and marketdevel- opment. Therewill also be support for


training throughout the food chain. Mr Davies said the action plan


reflected the importance of food production in Wales.“We already have agood story to tell on food and drink, with Wales having seen asix per cent growth in food


and drinks sales last year and a combined turnoverfor agricul- ture, fishing and food manufac- tureofover£5.2 billion, however we can and must do more. “I want our final action plan


to set out ambitious butachiev- able targets and allowustoeasi- ly measureour performance against them.” Although the farming industry


has welcomed the plan, NFU Cymru said therehad been too much strategy and not sufficient emphasis on delivery in the Welsh food and drinks sector in recent years. The plan is still at the consul-


tation stage butafinal plan will be published in the spring.


Enjoying abanging banquet!


MID WALES farmers enjoyeda banquet of bangers in aspecial celebration of British Sausage Week laid on by Farmers’ Union of Wales members Ithel and Linda Brown, of NeuaddFach Baconry


at Llandinam,


Montgomeryshire. They provided samples of


their quality sausage range to members of


the FUW’s


Montgomeryshirecounty execu- tive committee. Mr and Mrs Brownestab-


lished the baconry over 14 years agoafter giving up milk produc- tion on their small farm. Ithel had always kept pigs when they were milking, selling them direct to anearbyabattoir.


To makethe most of the pig enterprise they decided to create the baconry and markettheir ownbacon, gammon, fresh pork joints and sausage range. They nowsell directlytolocal


pubs,village shops,post offices and the public and also supply twobranches of local supermar- ketHarry Tuffins in Machynlleth and Churchstoke. FUW


county chairman


Montgomeryshire Alwyn


Vaughan said: “They have grown the business over the years and provide employment foranum- ber of local people. “Quite rightlythey arevery


proud thattheir products have full traceability and thatthe pigs


arereared on afeed ration mixed on the farmtomeet their own specification. “It’sgood to see asuccessful


business being established on a small farmand Icongratulate Mr and Mrs Brownonproducing a quality product thatfullyendors- es the FUW’slong-standing cam- paign to ‘Buy The Welsh One’ and the union’s efforts to encour- ageconsumers to buylocal and support our rural communities.” British Sausage Week is an


annual celebration of the taste, quality and diversity of the tradi- tional porksausage when the winners of anational competi- tion forthe greatest sausages are revealed.


Warm welcome for trade mission Fellow travellers


AGROUP of Welsh food produc- ers are celebrating the success of atrade mission, despite it being described as like “taking


coal to Newcastle”. The group attended the first Food &


Drink ShowNorthern Ireland 2013 after being assembled by Farmers’ Union of Wales (FUW) member Robert Vaughan, whoispassionate about agricultureand the meatproduced at his Longhorn cattle and Lleyn sheep farminthe hills over- looking the Gwaun Valley near Fishguard, Pembrokeshire. “Wehad afantastic welcome through-


out the three days of the showinthe King’sHall Pavilion in Belfast –the orig- inal site of the RoyalUlster Agricultural Society’sBalmoral Show, which is now held on anew site at Balmoral Park, Lisburn,”said Mr Vaughan. “The food and drink showwas ahuge


attraction forhundreds of consumers whoenjoyedadelicious mix of greatpro-


duce,celebrity guests and live The


demonstrations. organisers


wouldn’t let us go until we promised to go back again next year. “All the pro- from


ducers Wales


agreed


thatithad been a very and


enjoyable successful


trade mission. We sold out of the various products we offered for sale at the event and received lots of neworders.” Mr Vaughan farms in the shadowof


Carn Edward mountain thatgivesits name to his established herdof Longhorn cattle,which grazethe striking surrounding landscape. “Weproduce good old-fashioned beef at modest prices,” added Mr Vaughan


who, along with his family, endeav- ours to provide aquality prod- uct at realistic prices. The farmisapproximate-


ly 500 acres and runs from the valley bottom to the hill top,providing avari- ety of diverse habitats. The familydecided to specialise


in rearing Longhorns 10 years ago


fortheir meatquality and their suitability to the area. “They suit the local envi- ronment needs by helping maintain the diverse habitats that arerich in avariety of floraand fauna,”


Robert said. Lleyn sheep were also chosen forthe


farmbecause of their temperament and suitability to the environment. The 200-strong Longhorn herdisgrass


fed throughout the year and finished on home grownbarley and oats in winter.The Lleyn flock consists of about 600 sheep.


OTHER members of the group included:


Aerona,which produces liqueur made by Hazel and Gwilym Jones with hand picked aronia berries from plants grown on the family farm, Rhedynog Isaf, Chwilog, near Pwllheli. Every bottle produced is unique as they are all hand filled, crafted and finished.


Oh Sugarplum!,sisters Laura and Katie Jenkins produce homemade confectionary using high quality ingredients and seasonal local produce at their kitchen in Wolfcastle, Haverfordwest.


Little Welsh Deli,ofGrovesend, Swansea, is an award-winning artisan pastie-making company. All their pastry and fillings are hand crimped and include local ingredients wherever possible.


VDeli,ofCarmarthen, produce arange of meat-free sausages, burgers, pasties and scones using fresh, locally sourced produce and combining unusual flavours.


Samosaco,ofPontyclun produces samosas, bhajees, gluten free pakoras and gluten free mixes. All its products are 100 per cent vegetarian and they do not use any artificial preservatives, colouring, flavouring, MSG, or GM products.


For the latest Wales farming news: walesfarmer.co.uk


urging farmers and workers in agriculture to get involved. He said: “Each year Farmhouse Breakfast week gains fantastic support from farmers and farm shops; and this year we want to encourage even more growers to take part in spreading the message around breakfast and ahealthy start to the day.” The aim of the annual consumer campaign is to encourage amore regular consumption of anutritious breakfast. The 2013 campaign inspired more than 1,000 events and


promotions nationally, and HGCA sent out 1,700 resource packs. Every year hundreds of breakfast events take place around the country, from schools to cafes, farm shops, restaurants and hotels. Events are still being registered but to find out what’shappening in your area see www.shakeupyourwakeup.com. People can also vote online for the country’sbest breakfast dish in the Best Breakfast Awards from cafes and restaurants to farm-shops, food vans and hotels. The winners will be announced during the week.


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