Food Glorious Food

The Food Glorious Food competition was launched last week at Hartpury House, the home of Hartpury University & Hartpury College. The launch was attended by food experts from across the industry and offered food and drink producers from across Gloucestershire the chance to win a £10,000 cash injection into their business, as well as listing in our stores throughout the county.

Our President joined guests at the launch

To judge the competition we will be setting up a Dragons’ Den-style competition, which will see the budding entrepreneurs pitch their ideas to a panel of local industry experts. The Dragons will include Miss Macaroon, aka Rosie Ginday, and Paul Williamson, the director of Hillside Brewery. The Glorious Food campaign is being run in conjunction with Hartpury University and Hartpury College, Folk2Folk, and The Growth Hub and is supported by the National Farmers Union. Representatives from The Wiggly Worm Charity, Gloucestershire Local Enterprise Partnership and Happerley were also on hand to offer support and advice.

All the drinks served at the event were part of the Best of Our Counties range and canapés were hand-made by our two in store chefs from Bourton and Chipping Norton, Judy Cheyne and  Denyce Blake, using local Gloucestershire ingredients from the Best of Our Counties range. Those attending the launch had the chance to meet some of our existing Best of Our Counties suppliers including Paul Williamson, the director of Hillside Brewery.

Our in store chefs Judy Cheyne from Bourton and Denyce Blake from Chipping Norton

Paul summed up how we can help when he said ‘The support we have received from The Midcounties Co-operative has been instrumental in allowing us to grow our business, helping us to reach areas we would never be able to get to on our own. There’s a real focus on both quality and local sourcing, which made them the perfect retail partner for us.

 “I can speak from experience when I say that securing investment at those early stages can make all the difference. What is perhaps even more useful for local suppliers and individuals, however, is the stamp of approval that you receive from being listed by a major retailer and the ongoing mentoring and support offered by Midcounties. The Food Glorious Food competition is a unique opportunity for local businesses to work with a dedicated team that is committed to helping put Gloucestershire producers on the map.”

Tom & Aimee (team managers at Bourton) modelling a range of canapes all made from Best of Our Counties ingredients

The winner of the competition will receive

• £10,000 cash injection
• A place in our Best of Our Counties range  of locally sourced food and drink
• Shelf space in 52 Gloucestershire Co-op Midcounties food stores
• Mentoring from a competition judge
• Business development support
• Help with a marketing launch package  in 52 Co-op Midcounties food stores

The runner will receive:

• A place in our Best of Our Counties range
• Entry to a business skills seminar

It was a really inspiring evening which I enjoyed greatly and I’d like to thank all the colleagues who worked so hard to make it happen, particularly Matt Fletcher from Food Retail, Gill Reindl from Hartpury College and Claire Thayes from Folk2Folk.  We’ve had a great response to the competition so far and it will soon feature on television on BBC Gloucestershire.

You can check out the Food Glorious Food Video here.

The closing date for the Food Glorious Food competition is midnight on 31st January 2019. More information can be found at here.