Press Release June 21 2010

AN award-winning food trail devised by Ribble Valley Borough Council is to be re-launched two years after being a runaway success.

 

Now the search is on for Ribble Valley's best food producers, retailers and restaurateurs for inclusion in the new-look Ribble Valley Food Trail.

 

The trail, which was launched in 2008, heralded Ribble Valley's ongoing recovery from the 2001 foot and mouth epidemic, showcased the borough's fine food and drink, and acted as a springboard for Taste Lancashire '08, a year of events coordinated by the Lancashire and Blackpool Tourist Board aimed at promoting food producers, farmers' markets, up-and-coming chefs and fine food.

 

It featured 36 restaurants, inns, shops and delicatessens, chosen for their top-quality food, exceptional customer service and commitment to local produce, on a dedicated map and web site.

 

As well as unearthing some fantastic success stories, including several businesses that had successfully diversified following the devastation of foot and mouth, the trail scooped several awards, including from the Chartered Institute of Public Relations, Lancashire and Blackpool Tourist Board and Countryside Alliance.

 

Now the trail is to be re-launched and the project team is on the lookout for new members.

 

Ribble Valley Borough Council's tourism officer, Rebecca Kay, said: "The Ribble Valley Food Trail was a huge success for a variety of reasons and we hope to make it even bigger and better.

 

"We want to hear from food producers, retailers and restaurateurs, who are passionate about food, particularly producers with off-the-beaten-track farm shops, or who sell from the farmhouse door."

 

Several other food-related initiatives are also planned for Ribble Valley, including a Clitheroe Fine Food Street Market coordinated by the Clitheroe Chamber of Trade and Commerce in August.

 

Applications packs for membership of the trail will be available at www.ribblevalleyfoodtrail.co.uk from the end of June. Existing members of the trail will have to re-apply. For a preliminary discussion, phone Rebecca Kay on 01200 414496, or Ribble Valley Borough Council's principal communications officer, Theresa Robson, on 01200 414483.

 

Fact Panel

 

10 things that every foodie should do:

 

1/    Make toast on an Aga and eat with salted butter
2/    Pick your own woodland mushrooms at dawn
3/    Learn how to make the definitive dry martini (six parts gin to one part vermouth shaken over ice and strained into a chilled glass)
4/    Pod fresh peas in the sun while sipping chilled white wine
5/    Get up early and go to market (preferably in Provence, otherwise Clitheroe)
6/    Queue for fish and chips (if you are queuing, the chances are they will be good)
7/    Catch you own dinner
8/    Bake a loaf of bread (there is nothing quite as good as tapping a loaf's bottom straight from the oven!)
9/    Milk a cow
10/    Squeeze a fresh pineapple in the setting sun (ideally on a beach in Hawaii, otherwise in the Trough of Bowland)

 

Ends.

 

Ref: PR3210.

 

Date: June 21 2010.