Food Town hamper in exchange for feedback
The presentation has taken place of a food hamper put up as a prize to encourage visitors to the Wellington Food Town launch event to fill in a feedback form.
The hamper was filled with hundreds of pounds of food and vouchers donated by producers who took part in the event, which attracted an estimated attendance of nearly 5,000 people.
Almost 1,000 feedback forms were returned on the day and the winner of the hamper was Mrs Denise Howell, of High Street, Wellington.
Mrs Howell was presented with the hamper by John Pragnell, chairman of Wellington Economic Partnership, which organised the launch event.
She said: “It was a brilliant event to have locally and I was quite surprised to see all the different foods that are available in the area, it really opened my eyes to what you can get locally and how good it is.
“I went along with some friends and to win the hamper just before Christmas is wonderful. It is the first time I have ever won anything like this, I am thrilled with it.”
The launch event was the official start of a five-year project to turn Wellington into the ‘Food Town’ of Somerset, much as Ludlow is recognised as a centre of food excellence in the Midlands.
It involved about 40 local food stalls set up in a giant town centre marquee to showcase everything from Christmas cakes to bison sausages, and food co-operatives to recycling information.
Mr Pragnell said feedback from visitors was important because it would be carefully analysed in order to help the Food Town steering group enhance future events.
He said several more activities were already in the pipeline for 2007 and it was important to be able to let people know about them as details were firmed up.
Mr Pragnell said: “The intention is to move towards a major two-day festival of food in the town which we want to become a fixture on the annual events calendar, probably in early autumn.
“We have made a good start with the launch event and now we must build on it and keep the interest and enthusiasm going.
“Part of that will involve a reception near the end of January where we will invite everybody involved in the launch so we can say ‘thank you’ to them and start to look in more detail at the activities for 2007.”
The Wellington Food Town catchment area takes in much of Somerset and a large chunk of Devon, an containing eight Rick Stein Food Heroes and dozens of other award-winning producers.
Wellington Food Town is organised by Wellington Economic Partnership in conjunction with Taunton Deane Borough Council and Wellington Town Council, and is supported by Wellington Chamber of Commerce and Trade, Wellington Farmers’ Market, and Somerset Food Links.
More information is available from Nicky Saunter at Somerset Food Links on 01458 241401 or email nickys@foodlinks.org.uk or by logging on to www.wellingtonfoodtown.blogspot.com.

• Our photograph shows Wellington Economic Partnership chairman John Pragnell congratulating Denise Howell on winning a hamper of Christmas food from the Wellington Food Town launch event.

Huge success for Food Town launch
Almost 5,000 people are estimated to have attended the Wellington Food Town launch on Saturday, December 2, making the event an overwhelming success.
The launch day marked the official start of a five-year project to turn Wellington into the ‘Food Town’ of Somerset, much as Ludlow is recognised as a centre of food excellence in the Midlands.
Visitors to the event came from as far afield as Plymouth, in Devon, Worcester, Stafford, and Bognor Regis, and even some from South Africa - although some were already staying locally.
Around 40 local food stalls were set up in a giant marquee in the car park of Wellington Conservative Club, in the town centre, showcasing everything from Christmas cakes to bison sausages, and food co-operatives to recycling information.
Producers and retailers were able to talk to visitors about the values of their produce and how to obtain the best from it, and there were also cookery demonstrations by local chefs, compered by ITV West presenter Peter Rowell.
Produce was also on sale and one estimate put the value of sales on the day at approaching a staggering £100,000, plus whatever else was spent in the town itself.
The flood of visitors into Wellington for the day meant public car parks were much busier than usual, and many other businesses in the town centre also benefited from the extra footfall, with some extending their opening hours to cope with the additional volume of customers.
Now, the food town steering group is turning its thoughts to a series of events in 2007, culminating in a planned two-day food festival in the early autumn.
Wellington Food Town steering group chairman John Cottrell said: “The response for our launch event was simply breathtaking.
“By anybody’s reckoning we have made an excellent start with the initiative and we are all delighted with the incredible turnout of visitors.
“We have achieved everything we set out to do initially, which is to put Wellington’s food firmly on the map by drawing people into the town from a wide area to see and sample the top quality range of produce available in the catchment zone, while at the same time creating an opportunity for all the other businesses in the town to benefit from extra trade.
“The launch will have a long-lasting effect because many of the producers have generated inquiries from people who will come back to buy from them again and again.
“We were also pleased to see so many visitors being encouraged to look around the town while they were here and I know some of the shops were so busy that they could not close when they normally would.
“This was just a ‘taster’ for the Food Town brand and we plan to build on this success with more events throughout the coming year.
“I would like to praise everybody who took part and helped in the launch and also to invite them all to attend a ‘thank you’ reception which we will hold toward the end of January, when we will start to talk in more detail about the 2007 series of events.”
The Wellington Food Town catchment area takes in much of Somerset and a large chunk of Devon, an containing eight Rick Stein Food Heroes and dozens of other award-winning producers.
Wellington Food Town is organised by Wellington Economic Partnership in conjunction with Taunton Deane Borough Council and Wellington Town Council, and is supported by Wellington Chamber of Commerce and Trade, Wellington Farmers’ Market, and Somerset Food Links.
More information is available from Nicky Saunter at Somerset Food Links on 01458 241401 or email nickys@foodlinks.org.uk or by logging on to www.wellingtonfoodtown.blogspot.com.

• Our photographs show (left) Wellington Economic Partmership chairman John Pragnell with a Wellington Food Town reuseable shopping bag, and (right) French chefs Denis Guillemin and Patrick Robert giving a cookery demonstration under the watchful eye of compere Peter Rowell, from ITV West.

TV presenter hosts Food Town launch event


There will be an international flavour to the launch of Wellington Food Town on Saturday, December 2, with Turkish, French, and Indian chefs joining their English counterparts to give free expert cookery demonstrations.
There is also an opportunity for visitors to meet ITV West presenter Peter Rowell, who is compering the launch event’s cookery theatre throughout the day from 10 am to 4 pm.
This is all in addition to up to 40 local producers putting on displays of their foods and drinks which will be available for the public to sample for free or to purchase for Christmas.
The cookery theatre features a full-scale mobile kitchen complete with large overhead television screens for a seated audience of more than 100 to watch and take part in demonstrations and workshops.
One of the demonstrations is by French chef Denis Guillemin, well-known around Wellington for using his culinary skills for private parties in people’s homes. He has been working in England for the past 10 years, mostly in the Westcountry and the Cotswolds in prestigious hotel-restaurants with three and four AA rosettes and Michelin stars.
Another Frenchman is Patrick Robert, from Britanny, who used to own Café Noir, in Wellington, and who now cooks at Hestercombe House. He also runs furniture business Touchwood and Little Rascals for babies and children, in Wellington’s Fore Street.
Mignon Johnson will be cooking up an Indian breakfast with her Saffron Kitchen, which is well-known on the farmers market circuit and for catering for special events.
Turkish chef Hanife Ahmed will prepare one of her country’s traditional dishes but will use ingredients which she has sourced from local producers.
The English contingent includes Mike Davis, the award-winning chef at Bindon Country House, Langford Budville, and formerly of the Castle Hotel, Taunton, where he trained with celebrity television chef Phil Vickery, with whom he still occasionally works.
Also taking part is the present owner of Café Noir, Dennis Turner, who is passionate about sourcing his produce locally and who will be cooking a local dish for visitors to try.
Some of the principal characters from Wellington Pantomime Group’s production of Cinderella will also be at the Food Town launch to meet visitors and tell them about their forthcoming show, which starts at the Wellesley Theatre on January 23.
The Food Town launch has become a community event with local scouts, dairy milkmen, town councillors, members of Wellington Camera Club, and local musicians the Thunderbridge Bluegrass Boys and Skintight Samba Band all pitching in to take part on the day or to help with leafleting and posters.
The launch event, being held in a marquee off Wellington town centre, will kick-start a five-year project to turn Wellington into the ‘Food Town’ of Somerset, in the same way as Ludlow is recognised as the Food Town of the Midlands.
Wellington Food Town steering group chairman John Cottrell said: “We want as many people as possible to come along to this completely free event and try out the fabulous variety of local produce which will be on show.
“Then, we hope they will come back again and again as we put on more events during 2007, all of which will help to benefit everybody who is in business in the area and thereby help to create more jobs for local people.”
Wellington Food Town is being organised by Wellington Economic Partnership and Somerset Food Links in conjunction with Taunton Deane Borough Council and Wellington Town Council, which are giving financial support, and it is also being supported by Wellington Chamber of Commerce and Trade, and the Wellington Farmers’ Market.
More information is available from Nicky Saunter at Somerset Food Links on 01458 241401 or email nickys@foodlinks.org.uk or by logging on to www.wellingtonfoodtown.blogspot.com.

• Our photograph shows French chef Denis Guillemin at work preparing food for a party in a private house.