Defra Names 2016 ‘The Year of British Food’

In line with this, next year will see trade missions and pop-ups across the UK, offering British producers a chance to promote their work and expand their customer base.

In support of this year-long celebration of British Food & Drink, Defra has also launched a Great British Food Unit, a partnership with UKTI with an aim to champion British produce at home and abroad.

In her speech at the launch event, Elizabeth Truss, environment secretary said, “Next year’s food campaign is going to involve events, it is going to involve trade missions, pop-ups, even pop-ups in Defra, which we’ll be organising – but also linking together the parts of government that deal with food, so UKTI on the food promotion side, and Defra on food exports, to create a Great British Food Unit that really is a champion for food right across government.

“What we want to do is to challenge people’s perceptions about British food. People in Britain are not as proud of our food as maybe we should be. There is massive potential to grow the industry, which is already worth £100bn a year, and I want to make sure that we help people understand the opportunities [there are] with food – the ability to cook it, the ability to enjoy it and the ability to work in it.”

Natasha Lovell-Smith, editor of Great British Food said, “It’s great to see the government committing to put a proper strategy in place to celebrate British food and the amazing people who create it.

“Over the past few years London has grown to become one of the world’s top food capitals, but there’s still plenty of work to do to get our myriad regional specialities the recognition they deserve.

“In terms of protected foods we lag behind the rest of Europe at the moment – so anything that can be done to change that is very much welcomed by me. There are exciting times ahead I think.”