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12th April 2013

Winter 2009 - British Food Fortnight

Written by: Admin
Fighting the British food cause, chefs across the UK showed just how British food can play a leading role on menus.
The eighth British Food Fortnight (BFF) kicked off on September 19 to celebrate the diverse range of food that Britain produces and more pubs, restaurants and food festivals than ever before took part.

The organisers claim more British food was consumed through the catering sector over those two weeks, with eight of the largest food service organisations, six of the biggest pub groups, all the chef associations, and many others putting it on the menu.

Schools nationwide tapped into the event’s network of 9,000 chefs who were available to go into class to teach children how to cook. A huge emphasis was put on 5-a-day and local food, with vegetables grown in school gardens, locally hunted game and produce donated by local suppliers all incorporated into cooking lessons.

Judging is underway to select the 110 schools that participated in the most imaginative way, which are being rewarded with class sets of Kenwood cooking kit.

Event organiser Alexia Robinson says: “Major retailers and caterers have almost unanimously given a high five for British food during this year’s British Food Fortnight. Why? They know consumers don’t just want it, they are demanding it.

“In these tough economic times, people are thinking more carefully about the sustainability of the food chain. They want value for money but value in the case of food has never been just about price – it is about taste, freshness and quality. The best guarantee of these values is British food, produced to the highest standards in the world.”

Aramark has been the main catering sponsor of BFF. Marketing communications manager Victoria Clarke says: “British Food Fortnight has once again been a hugely successful event for Aramark. Thousands of employees in some of Britain’s biggest organisations have enjoyed special British menus and schools, colleges and the local farming community have all been involved.”

Other leading caterers were equally effusive about the fortnight. “Our new Best of British recipes were served in more than 1,000 workplaces across the UK during British Food Fortnight and were well received by our customers,” says Nick Vadis, executive chef at Compass Group UK & Ireland.

Sodexo marketing director Jeff Brades also says BFF was a great success for Sodexo and once more it was delighted to be associated with it. Sodexo ran special menus across 1,200 Sodexo sites, an increase of 500 sites from last year. It also ran a competition to discover what their customers’ favourite British dish is. The winner? Sunday roast.

More than 2,500 people voted in the competition, which was open to its customers in schools, universities, hospitals, offices and military facilities across the UK.

The Sunday roast was chosen as the nation’s favourite, with many people citing childhood memories of sitting round the family dining table as the main reason for choosing the dish.

In fact, comfort food was popular among submissions with fish and chips, toad in the hole, shepherd’s pie and chicken curry proving to be British favourites.

Commercial director Michelle Hanson says: “We are delighted to see the dishes highlighted in our competition are all featured regularly in many of our menus.

“It was also timely for us, as it coincided with our corporate accreditation to the Red Tractor scheme, further confirming our commitment to food provenance and, of course, British farming.”

• British Food Fortnight 2010 runs from Saturday, September 18, until Sunday, October 3. The Guild would love to know about any members wanting to take part in next year’s event, so please call 0208 948 3870.