A look round at what it happening in the world of food drink.



What I want to do with this blog is use it to inform and tell people about what is happening in the world of restaurants food and drink . If it has some or any interest to me then I think I will post it. I do not want it to be just a list of what celebrity chef is doing what, but more than that. So having said that I will start with a celebrity chef Hugh Fernley-Whittingstall.

River cottage rising and rising, or so it would seem Hugh Fernley-Whittingstall Devon based restaurants have been voted the most sustainable in the UK by the Sustainable Restaurant Association (SRA). They was awarded 87% for River Cottage HQ at Park Farm and 84% for the River Cottage Canteen in Axminster . Hats off to Hugh who has set out a stall and stuck to it. I have been a big fan of his programs and I really support his champagne with fish at the moment so good on him.

For beer drinkers it was bad news as the average cost of a pint is now officially £3 larger between £3.08 and £2.95 and bitter between £2.59 and £2.95 the cheapest beer prices are in the north east and no surprise really that the most expensive are in London. The thing I find amazing about this is that some one commissioned the report I thought it would have been common knowledge.

Also it is interesting to see that Barkley’s have been making noise that the restaurants service business could buck the trend in the hard biting reception times. The idea that the Olympic Games and strong growth in tourism will build this sector. I do not know all I can say is that now as ever it is a hard marketplace and the chains will survive as they can put for the small independent establishments it will still be hard. Lets hope I am wrong and the bankers are right.

And now Coffee shops are more popular than pubs, a survey of 3000 customer said that 32% of them had a dinning experience in coffee shops , cafes and sandwich bars , 24% in pubs, 16% in bars and 14% with fast food , 7% casual dinning and 4% fine dinning and finally 3% in night clubs. Now what does this tell us. I think that it shows that most of us now eat out when we shop or are out around the town during your lunch break. A pub you go in have to wait for your food, a sandwich in a coffee shop is almost instant. And even if it is full of mayonnaise or dressing it seems to be more healthy than fast food. What does the future hold, well that depends at the moment I would not see this breakdown in the market shifting that much. The good old British pub has been through some tough times as of late and I think it will be going threw some more. What I did find interesting was that fast food did not have a bigger percentage than it did. The trend for easy cheap food when money is tight I would have thought been higher than it was.

And below is a list of some of the many food and drink festivals that will be held in and around the country

Liverpool Food and Drink Festival
Sefton Park, Liverpool 3rd and 4th September

Chatsworth Country Fair
2nd, 3rd, and 4th September 2011

SPECIALITY & FINE FOOD FAIR
4-6 September 2011
London Olympia

Scottish Food & Drink Fortnight
3rd-18th September 2011

Ludlow Food Festival
Friday 9th - Sunday 11th September 2011
Ludlow, Shropshire

Feast of Dorset
Saturday 17- Sunday 18 September 2011
Feast of Dorset Car Park, King Street, Wimborne, Dorset, BH21 1DY

Taste Cumbria Food Festival
Saturday 24- Sunday 25 September 2011
Various locations and venues around Cockermouth Town, West Cumbria C13

Aldeburgh Food and Drink Festival
Saturday 24th- Sunday 25th September 2011
Snape Maltings, Nr Aldeburgh, Suffolk, IP17 1SR

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