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Hold the front page Aber Falls Farmers Market
Dolwen Welsh Lamb & Beef
Aber Falls are opening their doors this winter to invite the finest selection of Welsh producers to showcase and sell the best food and drink in the country. Aiming to make the market accessible all year round, the distillery is first hosting a festive edition, celebrating the quality of small businesses. Opened by Welsh TV presenter and celebrity Sian Lloyd, Aber Falls are hoping to connect the community to local businesses at the market to encourage the long-term loyalty between customers and nearby producers. The launch of the market also saw the presenting of the Local Hero campaign winner, Garry Frost. Garry worked relentlessly throughout lockdown volunteering for Blood Bikes Wales, supplying resources for the community over around 700 shifts, as well as providing sustenance to milk banks for premature babies. Nothing short of a legend. Selling produce at the market included Farmers preserves from Pembrokeshire, Feast Brothers with their Italian pasta dishes, and many more.
Returning with the three stars from this year’s Great Taste Awards for their Welsh Lamb Shoulder was Dolwen Welsh Lamb & Beef. Among the top 2% of entries, Glenda and Mike Crawshaw were left “gobsmacked” by the response and praise of their product. One of only 10 products across Wales to have earned the three stars, Dolwen’s hard work has paid off after being encouraged by their customers to enter the prestigious competition. Converting to organic in 2014, the farm’s lamb, black beef and hogget are popular with their loyal customers as they know where the produce is coming from. As well as the awardwinning lamb shoulder, the Welsh Black Beef is highly admired by its customers, delivered to their doorsteps in beef boxes. The boxes include topside/silverside joint, brisket/knuckle joint, a selection of steaks, diced, braising, minced beef, sausages and burgers. Wrapped in environmentally friendly ‘woolcool’, Dolwen’s boxes are sustainable due to the reduction in plastic packaging, as well as being sourced locally, leading to the support of smaller communities.
www.aberfallsdistillery.com
www.dolwenlambandbeef.co.uk
Victory is at Steak Ben Roberts, 29-year-old butcher, was among seven of the finalists at this year’s Butchery WorldSkills UK competition, and stole the bronze award at the competition, where one point separated the top four candidates. On the 11th and 12th of November, this group of talented butchers headed to Reaseheath College, Nantwich, seeking victory at this prestigious event. Roberts, who represented Wales on behalf of the Craft Butchery Team, stated, “I have wanted to compete at WorldSkills for several years but, until this year, have always struggled to dedicate the time needed to the competition to make it possible.” With 12 years of experience in the meat industry under his belt, Roberts felt he was ready to compete at WorldSkills and hopefully steal a win. Being the manager of a successful shop, he also hoped that the skills he will inevitably gain from the competition will benefit the prosperity of the business, returning the victor or not. Roberts will also be competing at the highly renowned, global World Butchers Challenge next September 2022, saying “Hopefully the skills and experience I gain from both competitions can be brought back into the business and one day allow me to run my own shop”.
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www.taste-blas.co.uk
Royal Welsh Winter Fair Over the 29th and 30th of November 2021, the showground at Llanelwedd welcomed crowds from all over once again after a tumultuous couple of years for the Royal Welsh Winter Fair. With competitions, festivities and plenty of Christmas shopping opportunities, each day is also packed with 12 hours of entertainment, attractions and displays. As one of the highlights of prime stock events in Europe, this year’s Winter Fair saw the usual proceedings for its first time back since 2019. Hybu Cig Cymru were promoting sustainability at their stand, and how consumers can trust Welsh beef, lamb and pork in terms of climate friendly food purchases. With sensible precautions taken, producers enjoyed a busy couple of days and relished the opportunity to meet customers again and present some of the finest cuisine from across the country. The CEO of the Royal Welsh Agricultural Society, Steve Houghton described the Fair as celebrating “...everything that’s best in Wales...You can meet friends, have a chat with the politicians that are making the decisions, and you can influence change.”
