“British Food Fortnight gives caterers a reason to be enthused
about quality British food.”
Bob Cotton, CEO, British Hospitality Association

WHAT IS BRITISH FOOD FORTNIGHT? Running from 20th September to 5th October and now in its seventh year, British Food Fortnight is the biggest national celebration of the diverse and delicious range of food that Britain produces.  Every year, pubs, restaurants, tourism attractions, public sector restaurants and food-service organisations take part, all enjoying the commercial benefits that participation brings.  Many of the largest food service organisations and major pub groups regularly run British promotions during the event. 

WHY SHOULD CATERERS TAKE PART?  Catering establishments taking part in British Food Fortnight have proved that buying British is affordable, adds real value to profits and is a powerful way to differentiate from the competition.  The buzz of the national food promotion makes it an attractive time to experiment with new suppliers, explore alternative supply chains or, if you already source British, to shout about the fact that you do.

“British Food Fortnight provides the retailer with a fantastic opportunity to grow
sales and profits with the support of a nationally recognised event.
It would be foolish not to take part.”
Libra Europe, consultants to the food supply chain industry

WHAT IS BRITISH FOOD FORTNIGHT? Running from 20th September to 5th October and now in its seventh year, British Food Fortnight is the biggest national celebration of the diverse and delicious range of food that Britain produces. Every year, small, medium-sized and major retailers take part, all enjoying the commercial benefits that participation brings. Over a thousand independents, 200 medium-sized retailers and five supermarkets run promotions during the event.

WHY SHOULD RETAILERS TAKE PART Retail promotions during previous British Food Fortnights have proved that the event has a serious impact on sales:

“Long Live British Food Fortnight!” -
Country Life

WHAT IS BRITISH FOOD FORTNIGHT? Running from 20th September to 5th October and now in its seventh year, British Food Fortnight is the biggest national celebration of the diverse and delicious range of food that Britain produces.

The organisers of British Food Fortnight call for Ed Balls to include traditional British dishes in his list of the “top eight” dishes that young people should be taught in school. In addition to British dishes such as Shepherd’s Pie, Roast Chicken, Hot Pots and Fruit Crumbles, the organisers hope that schools will teach pupils how to prepare and cook the seasonal British vegetables that accompany these dishes.

Hundreds of schools – Primary, Secondary and Special Needs schools - invited chefs into the classroom to give cooking lessons, visited farms and allotments and toured local butchers, fishmongers and greengrocers as they took up the challenge to include food and cookery within their curriculum teaching during the Fortnight. Irish, Scottish and even some overseas schools participated for the first time.

A total of 66 schools in the UK are being rewarded for their efforts with class sets of Kenwood bakeware, smoothie makers, aprons and scales so that they are fully equipped to teach pupils how to cook long term. The national winner, who will also receive a top-of-the-range Kenwood chef, is… Greencroft Community School, Stanley, Co. Durham. Follow this link to read what Greencroft Community School did during British Food Fortnight.

The British Food Fortnight ‘Cook for Life’ Challenge in 2008 will again be sponsored by Kenwood. You will be able to download details of the competition and an entry form in due course.

To read about what schools did in 2007 please follow this link .

Please follow this link for free Kenwood 'Cook for Life' resource materials.

The sixth British Food Fortnight that took place from 22^nd September to 7^th October 2007 was the biggest ever national celebration of the diverse and delicious range of food that Britain produces. More shops, pubs, restaurants, schools and food festivals took part than ever before producing a myriad of events and promotions. As a result, whether people were shopping in supermarkets or local shops, eating in pubs or restaurants or attending one of the glorious food festivals that took place during the event, everyone could enjoy the best of British food during the Fortnight.

Highlights included:

The sixth British Food Fortnight starts this weekend. Running from 22nd September to 7th October, the next two weeks sees the biggest ever national celebration of the diverse and delicious range of food that Britain produces.

Highlights include:

Despite the shadow cast by the re-emergence of Foot and Mouth disease there is good news for British farmers: more shops, pubs, restaurants and food service outlets than ever before are taking part in British Food Fortnight which takes place 22nd September to 7th October.

“Tell me and I forget,
show me and I may remember,
let me do it and I learn.”
Prue Leith

Organisations representing over 9,000 chefs have volunteered to go into schools during British Food Fortnight (22nd September to 7th October) to teach children how to cook, signifying the biggest mass movement geared to teaching children about food. This means that British Food Fortnight has already over-taken France’s long-running Semaine du Gout that sends chefs into French schools every October to teach children about the delights of their national cuisine.

This year's event is set to be the biggest yet with activities ranging from the wild to the practical.

Details of regional events are given in the releases below:

Something on the Menu for something in the South West Read more...
Something on the Menu for something in the South East Read more...
Something on the Menu for something in East Anglia Read more...
Something on the Menu for something in the East Midlands Read more...
Something on the Menu for something in the West Midlands Read more...
Something on the Menu for something in Yorkshire Read more...
Something on the Menu for something in the North East Read more...
Something on the Menu for something in the North West Read more...
Something on the Menu for something in Wales Read more...
Something on the Menu for something in N.Ireland Read more...
Something on the Menu for something in Scotland Read more...

With the cost of meat likely to rise due to increased animal feed costs, the organisers of British Food Fortnight, which takes place 22nd September to 7th October, give consumers seven reasons to buy British meat:

Musgrave Budgens Londis has won best consumer initiative in the Grocer Gold Awards 2007 for its sponsorship of British Food Fortnight. The campaign was deemed to be a ‘unanimous win’ by the judges...

“The fast-growing umbrella organisation for all aspects of food is British Food Fortnight.”
The Observer

WHAT IS BRITISH FOOD FORTNIGHT?
Running from 22nd September to 7th October and now in its sixth year, British Food Fortnight is the biggest national celebration of the diverse and delicious range of food that Britain produces.

British Food Fortnight is an established date on the school calendar. Hundreds of schools use the event as an opportunity to teach young people about food: about the diverse and delicious range of food available, the benefits of healthy eating and about the pleasures of eating quality, fresh, seasonal and regionally distinct produce.

Schools are invited to enter the British Food Fortnight ‘Cook for Life’ Challenge, sponsored by Kenwood, which is looking for the schools that incorporate cookery in their curriculum activities in the most imaginative and innovative way. Prizes will be awarded to the best six schools in each region (Scotland, North West, North East, Yorkshire, West Midlands, East Midlands, East of England, South West, South East, Wales and N.Ireland) with a special prize for the overall national winner. Regional prizes include aprons, a bakeware selection, digital scales, spatulas and a smoothie maker to make healthy drinks all year round. The national winner will also receive a top of the range Kenwood Chef for pupils to create even greater masterpieces. Entry form and details of how to take part are in Taking Part ....for Schools.

Retailers are invited to run British food promotions during the event, to offer tastings and promotions to highlight new products, to encourage producers to come into stores to meet customers and to decorate stores with bunting and British Food Fortnight posters.

In addition to the commercial aspects of the promotion, retailers are also invited to work with their local schools during the event to help teach children about the pleasures and health benefits of eating fresh, seasonal and regionally-distinct produce. The event’s initiative teaming chefs with schools has been expanded three-fold with organisations representing 9,000 chefs volunteering their support and retailers are invited to join this mass-movement.

Catering establishments taking part in British Food Fortnight have proved that buying British can be affordable and add real value to profits. It is also a powerful way to differentiate from the competition. Spend per head is reported to have increased by between 5 - 17% during the event[1].

The national promotion is also an opportunity to teach the next generation how to cook. The event’s initiative inviting chefs to work with schools to teach children how to cook is being expanded three-fold. This year, organisations representing over 9,000 chefs have volunteered to take part signifying the stirrings of a major mass movement. This means that British Food Fortnight has already over-taken France’s long-running Semaine du Gout which sends chefs into French schools every October to teach children about the delights of their national cuisine.

[1] - Figures from menu promotions run by the Youth Hostel Association and National Trust during British Food Fortnight.

“The fast-growing umbrella organisation for all aspects of food is British Food Fortnight.”
The Observer

• WHAT IS BRITISH FOOD FORTNIGHT? Running from 22nd September to 7th October and now in its sixth year, British Food Fortnight is the biggest national celebration of the diverse and delicious range of food that Britain produces.



• WHAT’S NEW THIS YEAR? The event’s initiative inviting cooks and chefs to work with schools to teach children how to cook is being expanded three-fold. This year, organisations representing over 9,000 chefs have volunteered to take part signifying the stirrings of a major mass movement. This means that British Food Fortnight has already over-taken France’s long-running Semaine du Gout which sends chefs into French schools every October to teach children about the delights of their national cuisine. Retailers, farmers and producers are also signing up to participate.
  

The fifth British Food Fortnight which took place from 23rd September to 8th October 2006 was the biggest national celebration EVER of the diverse and delicious range of food that Britain produces. The event was sponsored by Aramark, Budgens, Londis and Nationwide and featured the Pyrex Cooking Challenge for schools.

The theme of this year’s event ‘Are you Cooking it?’ was embraced by retailers, caterers and schools all of whom organised a myriad of events and promotions across the country. Highlights include: