Celebrity Chef Backs Liverpool Food Producers

The Food Tourism Connect project is funded by the Rural Development Programme for England and raises the profile of rurally-produced food.

Local producers including Claremont Farm, the George Wright Brewery, French Corner and Acorn Farm have already signed up to the project.

Mr Byrne said, “This region has a great deal to celebrate when it comes to food production. The food we produce is of the highest quality and it is about time we started creating a strong brand in the way other food producing regions have.

“The Food Tourism Connect project is a much needed way of enabling local suppliers to showcase their businesses to a wider audience, and I hope that it will be of great benefit to these rural businesses in our region,” he added.

Andrew Pimbley, manager of Claremont Farm, commented, “This project is great news for rural businesses like ours. We know that the quality of our products is such that we could easily attract a wider customer base, but it is reaching that wider audience that can be difficult.

“We already supply a number of local businesses within the Liverpool city region with our produce, but we want to work with more and explore other avenues such as hotels and into the public sector, which has proven tricky in the past. This fantastic project will hopefully see the barriers we’ve faced brought down and given us a chance to supply a different range of businesses,” he said.