Fork2fork Executive Summary: Independent Evaluation

FoRk2fork

An integrated campaign from Four Cymru Executive Summary: Independent Evaluation

+ . . . . . .

Brand creation Stakeholder engagement Public relations Direct marketing Events Digital marketing

We are one of Wales’s leading integrated and creative marketing communications agencies, specialising in award winning bilingual branding and design, public relations, public affairs and digital media.

With offices in Aberystwyth and Cardiff, we have worked with clients in both private and public sector in Wales for over 25 years.

As part of the Four Communications Group, a leading independent, integrated agency with offices in London, Edinburgh and overseas, we are able to offer further services to our clients and experience and expertise from across a wide range of sectors.

Aberystwyth Caerdydd | Cardiff www.four.cymru @fourcymru

CONTENTS CAMPAIGN INTRODUCTION 02

01

PHASE 1 SUMMARY 03 OVERVIEW OF OUTPUTS AND KEY IMPACTS

05

BRAND CREATION

07

STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT PUBLIC RELATIONS DIRECT MARKETING

09 11 13

PLEDGE 15

EVENTS 17 DIGITAL MARKETING

19

02

PHASE 2 SUMMARY 21 DIGITAL PLATFORM

23

PUBLICATION 25 FOOD INNOVATION WALES

29

CAMPAIGN CONCLUSIONS 31

Design: www.four.cymru 01/2016 This product has been printed using paper from sustainable sources

01

CAMPAIGN INTRODUCTION

Four Cymru designed, delivered and evaluated a ÂŁ1.3m EU Welsh Government funded pan-Wales behaviour change campaign to promote direct sales of farm produce. This integrated marketing and communications campaign involved consumer and producer promotion and engagement.

In Wales, numerous attempts had been made over the years to promote the direct food sales agenda, all resulting in a number of unresolved issues and negativity by key stakeholders.

Initially, a two year project was funded through the EU Supply Chain Efficiency scheme via the Welsh Government, to assist direct sales operators and alleviate the perception that there was no existing promotion of direct sales. Additionally the project would lay the foundation for a potentially larger future project.

Following a competitive bid, Four Cymru was appointed to plan, implement and evaluate an integrated information and awareness raising campaign. Its aim, over the two year period, was to build capacity amongst stakeholders, as well as market and promote to consumers the benefits of buying food direct from producers.

Four Cymru defined clear strategic objectives for the project in order to create a cohesive campaign plan:

To raise awareness amongst consumers of opportunities and benefits of buying directly from producers

02

To encourage greater consumer footfall to farm shops and farmers’ markets to increase turnover of direct sales T o raise awareness and increase direct sales trading opportunities for Welsh primary producers utilising regional and pan-Wales marketing opportunities Both the consumer and producer elements were carefully planned and creatively implemented using strategic communication and marketing activities including brand creation, stakeholder engagement, public relations, direct marketing, celebrity endorsed pledge campaign, events and a wide range of digital marketing tools and techniques.

Following interim independent evaluation of the initial two year campaign, Four Cymru secured further funding to build on the successes, act on the evaluation and capitalise on new technological developments.

The campaign was fully evaluated by Miller Research, an independent evaluation company and this executive summary provides an overview of the report for both phases.

PHASE 1 SUMMARY

Phase 1

2010-2013

To overcome some of the negative perceptions of another initiative, Four Cymru placed an early focus for the campaign on consumer promotion about the values of direct sales. This was coupled with pro-active engagement of producers via regional meetings, provision of generic materials for producers and a case study approach.

For both elements to succeed, Four Cymru created a clear bilingual brand designed to work across all media. The Fork2Fork project was officially launched at the Royal Welsh Winter Fair in Builth Wells with media and producer presence.

Phase 1 continued with delivery of a comprehensive media campaign including a successful sign-up pledge campaign, targeted presence at events, regular producer bulletins, production of a e-portal for consumers and producers and a first ever national direct food sales conference.

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03

£1.5 million AVE advertising value equivalent

50,000

‘pledge to buy’ cards distributed

Sponsorship ‘stings’

for S4C food series

 recipe      341,000 booklets viewers   PR value = £4.5 million    855,000  Wales regional tourism brochures   ‘Reasons to Buy   Direct’ calendars distributed to over      21,000 free 164000  Syniadau Slic DVDs ‘O’r Gât I’r Plat’

50,000

= x 1,000

= 100

Seasonal Direct Sales Fork2Fork magazine

readership of 180,000 04

5,000 ‘pledgers’

OVERVIEW OF OUTPUTS AND KEY IMPACTS Over 20 million reader impacts reached by the campaign based on circulation of print (only) media coverage of 8,101,289.

Phase 1

Calendars also distributed by Gwalia Housing Association to 10,000 tenants.

£ 1.5m AVE advertising value equivalent (i.e. cost of like-for-like advertising space) in print media.

Five editions of a seasonal Direct Sales Fork2Fork magazine to encourage consumers to visit www. fork2fork.org.uk and buy direct. Total distribution approx. 60,000 with readership of 180,000.

£4.5 million of PR value (worked out on an industry standard conservative multiplier of 3 x AVE).

5,000 ‘pledgers’ - subscribers to buy direct.

Counting organisational endorsers this figure is above 160,000.

C ollective print run of 855,000 Wales regional tourism brochures featuring generic ‘buy direct’ advertising.

5 0,000 ‘pledge to buy direct’ cards distributed (10,000 in Abergavenny Food Festival bags).

Local Food Heroes element of campaign reached 3,652,628 in all regions across Wales.

Authored columns by Simon Wright, past True Taste Ambassador, reached 731,792 readers in SW Wales.

Sponsorship ‘stings’ for S4C food series ‘O’r Gât I’r Plat’ with Dudley Newbery reached 341,000 viewers (376,000 when additional Fork2Fork brand placement trails included).

On-air promotion of benefits of buying direct over 500 times. Off air promotion included 50,000 S4C recipe booklets in partnership with Fork2Fork.

20,000 ‘10 Reasons to Buy Direct’ bilingual leaflets distributed to individual consumers at events.

‘Reasons to Buy Direct’ seasonality calendars distributed to over 164,000 consumers, including Daily Post (40,000 copies); Western Mail (33,000); Cambrian News (24,000) and Bangor Mail (9,000), plus accompanying editorial text promoting benefits of buying direct.

F ork2Fork team presence at 360 events (stand/ trailer or literature). Total footfall reached at events over the project was 2.5 million potential consumers.

Fork2Fork Facebook page has approx. 300 ‘friends’ (online fans).

The Fork2Fork Twitter account has approx.

1,600 followers.

In mid 2011 the Fork2Fork website averaged 200-300 unique users per day. Total visits to date is in the region of 40,000 unique visitors.

3 0 x fortnightly producer e-bulletins sent to 1000+ direct sales producers & sector stakeholders - 250+ case studies.

21,000 free Syniadau Slic DVDs and booklets to farmers and producers.

6,500 visitors have downloaded training material (Syniadau Slic DVD) from the Fork2Fork TV Vimeo.

Welsh Government Promar report found that the Fork2Fork campaign reinforced all 14 Food Strategy for Wales principles.

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05

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BRAND CREATION

Phase 1

In order to ensure that the multi-disciplined campaign was high profile, potentially sustainable for longer term and post-project activity, a clear bilingual brand was developed, named Fork2Fork – Fforch-i-Fforc.

A dedicated e-portal was set up under the same name fork2fork.wales / fforchifforc.cymru as an e-hub for activity.

Using the brand, a wide range of additional activity was carried out by third parties through the Fork2Fork pledge with organisations as varied as Friends of the Earth and the Women’s Institute, through to Mid Wales Local Food Talks training, branding them as joint Fork2Fork activity.

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07

Regular presentat Collaboration with range

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etins

08

ison

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D ng DV

30+

aini dies stu

T o d r r u P c + e 0 r 5 C 2 ase regular produ

VD

IP

w R A t out n s se

12 ,000 Free 'Syniadau S lic' D

rP oduction of 'Top Tips '

of ot h

an

ia d l ojects r od P a r d s

n e n i r w of Best d l o G Ev

ions

STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT

Early engagement with agri-food groups and direct sales organisations (e.g. farmers’ market co-ordinators).

Production of 30+ regular producer e-bulletins on a fortnightly basis to a stakeholder list of over 1,000 producers and wider key opinion formers.

Regular content included a range of information, keeping the direct food sector aware of developments by the Welsh Government and third party organisations such as FARMA and Farmers’ Markets in Wales.

Producer Case Studies - production of 250+ case studies for use on www.fork2fork.wales and by the individual businesses, and used as promotion by example in both print and online media. This included extensive researching, drafting, and promotion of the case studies as a best practice, cross section of producers behind the varied and artisan produce sold.

Syniadau Slic DVD – production of a ‘top tips’ training DVD to up-skill the sector in a range of useful selling and marketing tips. Also to encourage primary producers to consider selling direct from farm gate, farm shops, markets and on line.

Distribution of 21,000 free Syniadau Slic DVDs direct to producers, through third party organisations, as well as to all farmers in Wales using the FUW magazine - Y Tir (7,500) and NFU Farming in Wales magazine (9,000). Total amount produced and distributed through publications, third parties and direct was in the region of 21,000 DVDs.

Phase 1

20,000 ‘top tips’ accompanying brochure produced and distributed with the DVDs. Creation and organisation of inaugural National Direct Food Sales Conference ‘How do you market your produce in these recessionary times?’ was Gold winner of the Best Event at the 2011/12 Chartered Institute of Public Relations.

Collaboration with a range of other food projects, related Welsh Government initiatives, and wider third party stakeholders to disseminate key information about activities to the sector by providing engaging content.

Support for third party related food events- e.g.

Meet the Producer event, before the Mold Food Festival (in collaboration with Cadwyn Clwyd) to help direct food producers meet key hospitality industry players in North Wales.

Regular presentations and liaison to the WG Direct Sales Steering Group and other key stakeholder committees such as the Agri-Food Advisory Group.

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24m 23m 22m 21m 20m

READERSHIP

OF PRINT MEDIA OVER

20 MILLION

19m 18m 17m 16m 15m 14m 13m 12m 11m 10m 9m 8m 7m 6m 5m 4m 3m 2m 1m 0

10

2 SERIES OF

‘DUDLEY’ 341,000 VIEWERS

PUBLIC RELATIONS

To the end of Phase 1 the readership reached by the campaign was projected at over 20 million, based on circulation of print media (only) coverage of 8,101,289.

Overall AVE, advertising value equivalency (if the PR generated was advertising in these publications) was over £1.5m for print media.

The PR value, a conservative industry recognised multiplier due to the trustworthiness of editorial copy over advertising, created a return of investment on PR alone of over £4 million.

Development of a Local Food Heroes competition in the Western Mail, Daily Post and Cambrian News. Over 70 producers were case-studied as part of the competition, supported by wider messaging on reasons to buy direct and local.

In total, the Local Food Heroes part of the campaign reached a readership of 3,652,628 in all regions across Wales.

Creation of Food Sections for the first time in magazines such as The Big Issue, Red Handed Magazine, Daily Post Online, and Golwg 360, in order to promote the benefits of buying food direct. Wider secondary benefit of reinforcing the True Taste brand.

P romotion of the benefits of buying direct in a range of other key media, including Buzz, Country & Border Life, Country Life, and a range of print media including a regular double page spread in The South Wales Evening Post.

Four Cymru worked with food writer Simon Wright for authored fortnightly columns in The South Wales Evening Post, Carmarthen Journal, and Llanelli Star featuring reasons to ‘buy direct’. The articles were also printed in Swansea Life and Welsh Country Life magazines and in total, the column reached over 731,792 readers.

Consumer articles and competitions in a range of publications featured producers as the ‘men and women’ behind the products. Case studies of why buy direct in farm shops, farmers’ markets, farm gate, box schemes and online.

Phase 1

‘ Spot the Sign’ competition promoting why people should shop direct in farm shops with clear key messages included in the following publications - The Wrexham Leader, Powys County Times and Denbighshire Free Press.

UK-wide media promotion included a range of editorial content in publications such as BBC Food Magazine and Great British Food.

Fork2Fork liaised with The Great British Food magazine in order to create a specific ‘I Love Wales’ issue.

A range of wider ad hoc promotion included activity in a range of broadcast, radio and print media including: Radio Cymru; BBC Wales; Radio Wales; Ffermio; The Daily Post; County Times; Tenby Observer; South Wales Evening Post; Y Cymro; Radio Pembrokeshire; Carmarthen Journal; Llanelli Star; Daily Post; Cambrian News; NUS Connect, and Lingo magazine etc.

Looking specifically at broadcast promotion, Fork2Fork worked closely over two series of the well-known cooking programme Dudley, attracting a total of 341,000 viewers. Key aspects of the campaign included: On-air promotion of the benefits of buying direct over 500 times.

Audience reach 341,000 for all programming and 376,000 when additional Fork2Fork brand placement is included.

Off-air promotion of the benefits of buying direct included the production of 50,000 recipe booklets in partnership with Fork2Fork.

Four cooking events selling the benefits of local Welsh produce – ‘cooking direct with Dudley’.

The first half of the series (6 episodes) saw Dudley cooking at a number of farmers’ markets throughout Wales. The second half (8 episodes) concentrated on great cooking using Welsh produce.

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An additional celebrity promotion of promoting local food was also carried out with the Christmas series of Dudley, reaching 120,000 viewers.

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DIRECT MARKETING

Phase 1

Top ten reasons to buy direct information collateral was handed out or distributed via third parties to approx. 20,000 individuals in 2010-11.

Creation of a seasonality calendar to be pinned on peoples’ walls and fridges highlighting seasonality of fruit and vegetables, as well as top ten reasons to buy direct, were distributed to over 164,000 consumers.

Distribution of Fork2Fork seasonality calendar included the Daily Post (40,000 copies), Western Mail (33,000), Cambrian News (24,000) and Bangor Mail (9,000) accompanied by editorial text promoting the benefits of buying direct.

Four Cymru worked with Gwalia Housing Association in order to create a tailored calendar highlighting reasons to buy direct. Distribution was 10,000 to all Gwalia Housing Association tenants.

The production of five editions of a seasonal magazine, aimed at consumers to encourage them to visit fork2fork.wales and buy direct.

Total distribution approx. 60,000 with a readership of 180,000.

Issue 5 was the most striking with a regionalised and inner page to cover – North Wales, Mid Wales, South East Wales and South West Wales.

Between January and December 2010, generic direct sales advertising in tourism brochures alone initiated by Fork2Fork had a collective print run of 855,000 in order to promote the food tourism agenda currently promoted by the Welsh Government.

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Buying food locally can help cut carbon emissions and our food miles, and buying directly from producers is the best way to find out where your food comes from...

Friends of the Earth

It is important that the individual backs the pledge and buys local and direct regulary, which will lead to more jobs in the future.

Dudley Newbery

Supporting local producers is a core value I hold, and I thoroughly support the Fork2Fork campaign, calling on us all to do our bit by thinking local and direct when it comes to our weekly shop.

Henrietta Green

We fully support the Fork2Fork pledge and are delighted that the Scarlets are the campaign’s 3,000th pledgers to, wherever possible, buy direct from local producers.

Jon Davies & Rob McCusker

I endeavour to source local products whenever and wherever I can.

Wales overflows with a wealth of fantastic home grown produce of world-class quality.

James Sommerin I fully support the Fork2Fork pledge and am delighted to be the 2,000th pledger to, wherever possible, buy direct off local producers. People are becoming more interested in local produce – where it comes from and how it’s produced.

Graham Tinsley

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PLEDGE In August 2010 the Fork2Fork campaign launched the pledge to buy direct. The key rationale for the pledge was to draw attention to the initiative each time a celebrity, chef or influential organisation pledged to endorse the direct sales agenda.

In addition, some of these other organisations used their existing internal communications structures to further promote the Fork2Fork campaign, or to offer guest speakers the opportunity to present on the advantages of direct sales.

By signing up to the Pledge the aforementioned institutions allowed the Fork2Fork campaign to engage with their established collective memberships.

By creating bespoke newsletters containing key messages and case studies (e.g. for the Merched y Wawr membership of over 8,000 highly engaged individuals) including competitions and copy especially designed to encourage further awareness and participation from members.

By August 2011, over 5,000 individuals had signed the Fork2Fork pledge alongside numerous national organisations. The pledge was championed outside Wales as well as in publications such as the Great British Food Magazine, which highlighted James Sommerin’s (a Michelin starred chef based in Monmouth) support of the campaign.

Phase 1

F ork2Fork Pledgers - A range of high profile pledgers signed the pledge. Examples included Graham Tinsley; Ian Lucas MP; Joyce Watson AM; Rhodri Glyn Thomas AM; Jonathan Edwards MP; Dudley Newbery; Henrietta Green; James Sommerin; Rhodri Ogwen-Williams and Kevin Johns.

F ork2Fork Organisational Endorsers - A range of high profile organisations also signed the pledge.

Examples included Scarlets Rugby Team; Riverside Community Market; BMA Cymru; Friends of the Earth; NUS Wales; Sustrans Cymru; Women’s Institute; Merched y Wawr; Mid Wales Food Talks; Local Food Wrexham; Taste of Powys and North Wales Food.

Each pledger received a Pledger Bulletin each month promoting further the benefits of buying direct. Over 15 pledger bulletins and updates were sent out over the period.

In total, 50,000 pledger key message cards were produced and distributed in order to encourage the buying of food direct. One example of this being the distribution of 10,000 in each bag at the Abergavenny Food Festival 2010.

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FORK2FORK PLEDGE D E N G I S S L A U D I V 5000 INDI

15

SIOE MÔN

K A W

T S E

DENBIGH &

GWLEDD FLINT SHOW

CONWY

FEAST

K C O

RUTHIN FOOD FESTIVAL

NATIONAL EISTEDDFOD

TRUE

TASTE

KITCHEN

WELSH

ROADSHOW

EAF

OOD

FESTIVAL

2010

CARD

IGAN

BAY

S

FESTIVAL

ABERYSTWYTH

FOOD & DRINK FESTIVAL

URDD EISTEDDFOD

CARDIGAN MERCHED RIVER & FOOD FESTIVAL Y WAWR

PEMBROKESHIRE

SHOW

PEMBROKESHIRE

FISH WEEK

ROYAL WELSH

SHOW

OPEN DAY FOOD CENTRE WALES

WEST WALES FOOD FESTIVAL

LLANDEILO

CHRISTMAS

HAY

FESTIVAL

ABERGAVENNY FOOD FESTIVAL BRECON RYDER GET WELSH BEACONS IN SWANSEA FESTIVAL OF SENSES

FOOD & DRINK SHOW

MUMBLES CHRISTMAS MARKET

16

FOOD

SUMMER FAIR

CUPPORT

W IV B R WALES RALLY GB NFOEOD FEST FE I D ST G E IV ND MARDI AL GRAS

CARDIFF

AL

Phase 1

EVENTS

The Fork2Fork team was present at over 360 events either on foot, with stand/trailer, or literature only.

Approximate total footfall reached at events during Phase 1 was 2.5 million potential consumers. Examples of this being National Eisteddfod of Wales (180,000 footfall); Anglesey County Show (58,000 footfall) and Pembroke Farmers’ Market (250+ footfall).

Example of events attended over the period includes National Eisteddfod; Hay Festival; Brecon Jazz Festival; Food Festivals – Llandysul, Ruthin, Lampeter, Cardiff, Welshpool, Llangollen, Aberystwyth; Royal Welsh and the Institute of Hospitality College Dining Award.

01

17

300 f friendacebook s

} 18

fortnightly producer e-bulletins sent to 1,000+

x30

1,600 follow twitter ers 40,00 0 webs unique ite v isitor

s

DIGITAL MARKETING Production of an umbrella website under the domain fork2fork.wales / fforchifforc.cymru:

Producer case studies online promoting the producers behind buying direct

Information and research on key reasons to buy direct.

Over 500 regular news updates since launch

The Fork2Fork Twitter account had in the region of 1,600 followers and is updated regularly in reaction to topical events or dates.

When monitored in mid 2011, the Fork2Fork website averaged 200-300 unique users per day.

Total visitors to the site to date are in the region of 40,000 unique visitors.

Regular Pledger E-bulletins to buy, wherever possible, direct. Content included a range of recipes, reasons to buy direct, and links through to fork2fork.wales.

Over 6,500 visitors had downloaded training material from the Fork2Fork TV Vimeo site in order to encourage producers to visit a range of collateral training material. This included training sessions on how to market yourself at a farmers’ market; how to sell through box schemes; how to lay-out a farm shop; how producers can brand and package their products, as well as how to PR and promote their products and businesses.

Over 200 emails/calls requesting for information to be included on the website or for existing information to be added or updated.

More than 250 producer case studies were created and updated on the website, with links to direct sales.

O nline food sections were created for the first time on Daily Post Online and Golwg 360.

The Facebook page by the end of Phase 1 had just under 300 ‘friends’ (online fans).

Phase 1

Promotion online of the benefit of buying direct through strategic partnership with a number of e-magazines and e-newspapers including:

Wales Online.co.uk (food and leisure)

Daily Post Online (creation of an online food section for the first time)

Golwg 360 – sponsorship of the online food section

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PHASE 2 SUMMARY

Phase 2

2013-2015

Fork2Fork Phase 1 comprised a very pro-active, resource intensive campaign to prompt behaviour change and raise awareness. It created a wellestablished brand that could be used to maintain and further develop cohesion amongst the direct sales community and provide information on new developments.

Advances in mobile technology and social media opened up exciting new possibilities for engagement and dissemination and exchange of ideas and links between operators. Accordingly, Four Cymru scoped Phase 2 of the project around three distinct strands with digital as a focal point: Fork2Fork Digital platform – a sustainable digital platform and interactive facility Fork2Fork Local Food Journeys publication – a showcase of best practice, driving traffic to the new digital platform Food Innovation Wales – a new umbrella brand to develop focus and publicise the potential benefits of Food Centres to the direct sales and primary producer sector

02

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ood Festivals microsite F www.foodfestivals.wales

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‘ Events’ Producers upload their own content ‘ Community’ Creation of Community Member profiles ‘ Recipes’ Uploaded by chefs and producers ‘ Twitter pull-through’ Innovative, ground breaking technology

DIGITAL PLATFORM

Phase 2

he Fork2Fork digital platform was developed to T provide a modern, bilingual and organic approach to accommodating relevant audience needs.

I nnovative, ground breaking technology collation of all uploaded content, automatic, pull through of relevant updates from other foodrelated accounts on Twitter, use of a bespoke F2F app as a unique interactive facility that is free to users. reation of Community Member accounts with C their own public-facing profiles. roducers upload their own content and P promote their business through Events, News or Recipes, as well as connecting with each other plus tailored ‘Trade’ page. onsumers can explore more about food in their C local area and share recipes that use seasonal produce. hub for EU and SCE programmes - examples A of projects that have uploaded project content are Cywain, Horticulture Wales and BOBL (Better Organic Business Links).

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ood Festivals microsite - online toolkit providing F information and guidance on how to set up and run a food festival including how to design and plan festival content, logistics, branding and design, marketing and legislation.

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PUBLICATION

Phase 2

JOURNEYS IN LOCAL FOOD

F our Cymru created and produced a free one-off publication to:

Celebrate and showcase the ‘best in class’

case studies generated during the project

Increase consumer awareness

Drive traffic to the digital platform

The publication was structured around the five main categories of food and drink produce - Beer, Fish, Baking, Meat and Cheese.

For each category a themed two day road trip was devised to bring to life the stories of a selection of primary producers and the places that stock and serve their produce.

Each trip aimed to showcase people who are passionate about bringing locally sourced produce direct to the public.

The publication was edited by Simon Wright, former editor of the AA restaurant guide, and a team of professional writers from various backgrounds were commissioned to produce 2,000 word articles for each category.

Professional photographers accompanied each writer and together they captured in words and pictures the journey of discovery for the reader, what is special about Welsh food, culture, landscape, the traditions and unique history.

To demonstrate the wide variety of outlets to buy direct and encourage people to visit for themselves, the publication showcased some of the farm shops, festivals and markets via one-toone interviews with organisers and owners.

To support the message that food and drink in Wales is easily accessible, the recipes were all simple, achievable and relevant using local produce relating to the articles.

Between each of the themed section, there is a clear call-to-action to visit the website for more information, recipes, ideas and locations for buying direct.

Interesting facts and figures for each category were featured graphically as food lore and legends.

Aimed at tourists visiting Wales, local people and producers, 15,000 copies were distributed to target locations across Wales during August where they were likely to see high readership and enjoy repeat use.

Outlets included local/specialist food outlets, festivals, farm shops, arts centres, boutique hotel/B&B properties, tourist information centres.

Content was re-purposed for the Fork2Fork website and used for feature articles in newspapers and other published magazines.

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PUBLICATION

Phase 2

JOURNEYS IN LOCAL FOOD

“” “” “” “”

The direct food and drink sales sector in Wales has much to celebrate in terms of the Fork2Fork campaign. I was absolutely thrilled to be the Editor of this publication and help others to see how far we have come in such a short time. Fork2Fork has been a fantastic campaign overall – infusing energy, bringing people together, providing expertise and showing that with a little imagination, a great deal can be achieved. I hope that we see a continuation of this approach in the future.

Simon Wright, Wright’s Food Emporium As a relatively new business it felt like F2F had tangible effects for us here. Overall, I feel that F2F welcomed us into a community of like-minded food producers in Wales, who all share an ethos of quality, ethical and delicious food… the publication was, in this sense, a platform for all of those featured to establish disparate types of networks and working relationships.

Jack Smilie Wild, Bara Menyn We were delighted to be featured in the publication and thought the finished product was great - excellent quality and interesting stories. It was so useful to have something that we were able to leave out on tables for our customers to read at their leisure while enjoying our product. We know from feedback that it directed them to other producers in the area that they might not have known about otherwise. We also had several new customers visit as a direct result of reading about us in the publication picked up in their hotel or places they had visited close by.

Rachel Bowman, Cowpots Firstly, I was delighted with the appearance and feel of the publication… loved the matt finish and tasteful layout/photos etc, which I thought really matched the artisan produce/high-end items featured. It did help me at Abergavenny Food Festival as people sought me out after seeing the publication. I have had some online orders directly as a result of being in the magazine, which is lovely… you never know how far-reaching such things are. I have the magazines on my stall (nonchalantly open at ‘my’ page, of course) which if nothing else, creates a talking point… Wales/Welsh produce… and people are happy to engage in their ideas about recipes/food/quality which is all good!

Mel Constantinuou, Baked by Mel

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FOOD INNOVATION WALES

Phase 2

The three Food Centres in Wales support the food industry by providing:

Advice and encouragement

Technical support

Innovative ideas

Guidance on regulatory and legislative complexities To address low awareness of these resources available to primary producers, Four Cymru created an overarching brand for the industry to access the support and development they need to meet Welsh Government growth targets and develop a sustainable legacy for the project.

Key outputs included:

Concept creation

Full brand guidelines

Commissioning a free photo-library

Launch planning and promotion of the new Food Innovation Wales network

Creative and production of marketing collateral

Ministerial launch at Royal Welsh Show 2015 with key food industry representatives attending

02

se of F2F platform for e-campaign to promote U Food Innovation Wales developments.

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CAMPAIGN CONCLUSIONS

PARTNERSHIP WORKING

CREATIVE APPROACH

From the outset, Four Cymru placed a key emphasis on working in partnership with other organisations, to minimise duplication and share information and best practice. By encouraging other organisations to amplify and disseminate the Fork2Fork brand and promote the direct sales agenda through publications, websites and events, the campaign extended well beyond the coverage capacity of its own activities.

The Fork2Fork campaign generated noteworthy outputs, particularly through the inspired case study competition that informed both phases of the project. By careful and creative means, for example by introducing the Local Food Heroes initiative and encouraging the use of generic Fork2Fork materials to help promote individual producers and events in local publications, the campaign creatively overcame the state aids legislative barrier.

SUSTAINABLE LEGACY

INCLUSIVE RESULTS

The digital platform is a fitting legacy and achieves exactly what the original project set out to do, which was to support the direct sales community, help it develop and become self-sustaining; inspire, share best practice and provide knowledge transfer. The Food Journeys publication leaves a legacy that celebrates excellence in direct sales and the development of the Food Innovation Wales umbrella brand now provides a clear route to future expansion and growth by the sector.

Four Cymru sought to be as inclusive, integrated and extensive as possible in delivering the campaign.

One of the most significant aspects of Fork2Fork overall has been that most direct sales producers have reported progress during the period. In addition, the climate and understanding of primary produce and artisan food and drink is better appreciated by consumers and the range and diversity of food events and direct sales opportunities has increased.

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Aberystwyth Caerdydd | Cardiff www.four.cymru @fourcymru

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