21 May 2007, 13:02 PM
  • Food Radio, the newly-launched integrated web portal, pod casting and radio programming channel has joined forces with market development consultancy, Food from Britain (FFB), to provide regional food and drink producers with another channel to promote themselves to consumers.

The partnership will allow FFB to promote the variety and quality of the UK’s regional food producers to an online and broadcast audience. Regional producers will benefit directly from Food Radio’s link to FFB’s popular regional producers buyer’s guide, which contains information on over 3,000 quality food and drink producers across the UK.

Food Radio website users will also be able to identify suppliers within a 20-mile radius of the user’s postcode and cross reference producers to an extensive list of recipes and food ingredients.

Commenting on the partnership with Food Radio, Charlotte Lawson, FFB’s director, business and UK services, said, “This is an exciting move for the UK’s regional food and drink industry. FFB and Food Radio share a passion for promoting the quality and variety of British regional food and drink. Working with Food Radio provides regional producers with another channel to connect with consumers via Food Radio’s broadcasts and web portal.”

Robin Ford, CEO of Food Radio, said, “It is a testament to the calibre of our team at Food Radio that Food from Britain has signed a partnership agreement with us. This partnership sits perfectly alongside our policy of supporting quality regional suppliers and encouraging the public to be more aware of seasonality in food, and sourcing from local suppliers. We are honoured to be able to tap into the awesome knowledge and credibility of FFB and we will be working together to promote their messages.

“We shall be having live links to many FFB regional events throughout the summer and interviewing food and drink producers. There are many plans for joint marketing initiatives and promotional activity, as well as using the Food Radio portal and its interactive elements to research attitudes to, and awareness of, British regional produce.”

Some 20% of UK consumer expenditure is on food and drink – nearly £154bn in 2005 alone. Food and drink is the largest manufacturing sector in the UK, with a turnover of £70bn and accounting for 15% of the total manufacturing sector. Britain leads Europe in new food and drink product launches - in 2005 a there were over 6,000, which is twice as many as in France.

“Many people are unaware that the UK accounts for eight percent of all food and drink product launches worldwide. We are already punching well above our size,” Charlotte Lawson adds.