The Local Food Show & Dinner

23rd March 2017

Food Carlisle – Local Food Show event

The first ever Local Food Show took place on 23rd March 2017 at H&H Exhibition Centre in Carlisle. The event showcased a delectable assortment of local food and drink producers from a 50 mile radius of Carlisle; going into Cumbria, South West Scotland and Northumberland. Originating from the work of Food Carlisle, and developed in partnership with local organisations, the show boasts what our region has to offer and how it can benefit your business.

The day began with 40 local businesses setting up their amazing displays ready to impress the range of people, service and businesses who attended. There were a wide range of stalls, from local food producers to local food businesses. The variety spanned from homemade jams, muesli, milkshakes and coffee to local cheese and meat suppliers, and even homemade marshmallows.

At 2pm the attendees were treated to a cooking demonstration by Luke Whittle from The Forest Side, who illustrated how local produce can be used to create exemplary dishes and make a delightful difference to your menu. The day came to a close at 5pm, after an exciting and busy day of spreading the word on our regional produce.

With over 300 people coming through the doors there was certainly a lot of interest in all of our local food producers sparking positives discussions for businesses, cross border working and the next steps forwards for the Carlisle area.

Interested in hearing more? Click here for the Local Food Show pod cast by Yum! Cumbria, featuring some of the fabulous food businesses that were present on the day.

Also, in conjunction with the show, a team from Carlisle College have created a short video to celebrate the work of the Food Carlisle Partnership which will be available from this site soon.

Local Food Show Dinner

The Local Food Show was followed by an evening dinner which took place at The Shepherd’s Inn and was attended by a wide range of local stakeholders and sponsors (we are grateful to everyone for their support in making this happen).

The dinner menu was created and served by Carlisle College students, using locally produced ingredients, with support from the chefs at the Shepherds Inn and with a provenance linked to some of our Food Carlisle Partners. It was a great way to showcase and galvanize the day and celebrate our area and local business further.

During the meal a fantastic creative video (also made by Carlisle college students), was played to the guests outlining the work that the Food Carlisle partnership has advanced and why more people should be involved. It featured 3 of our projects: Fair Meals Direct, Local Healthy Options Awards and Phunkyfoods.

The night was topped off with a brilliant speech by the guest speaker; Andrew Keeble, the Founder and Director of ‘Heck Sausages’, who discussed the ways in which you can get your brand into the key supermarkets, and keep it there.

All in all, the day was a great way to not only learn more about what our region offers but also celebrate the fantastic produce and businesses involved. We hope this emphasis will encourage more people and businesses, both small and large, to focus on using our local food producers, as well as working together to help boost our area as a key food region. We’d like to further support and advance a number of projects which benefit our area and local community; as such any income generated through this and any future similar events will be used to help drive local food projects forward.

In order for the Local Food Show and Dinner to take place we are grateful to our sponsors: Armstrong Watson, Bendles, Carlisle City Council, McVitie’s, Nestle, Pladis, The Lakes Hamper) and to the organisations who supported us: Carlisle Partnership, Cumbria Tourism, D&G Food, Food Carlisle and the University of Cumbria.