New year wins for county food tourism

It said January began with a visit from BBC Radio 4’s, The Food Programme which has a listenership of over twomillion.

Lancastrian Food Programme presenter Sheila Dillon returned to her roots and visited cheesemaker Mrs Kirkham’s, explored Lancaster’s coffee quarter, with J. Atkinson and Sons, and met pioneering Lancashire chef Nigel Haworth. The Lancashire Cookbook, published in 2016 by Meze Publishing, and prefaced by Visit Lancashire, became a bestseller at fine food retailer Booths and Waterstones in the region, outselling Nigella Lawson, Yotam Ottolenghi and Jamie Oliver.

Ruth Connor, chief executive of Marketing Lancashire said: “There has been an undeniable step change in the awareness of Lancashire’s exceptional food and drink offer. We are a force to be reckoned with when we collaborate, and pivotal events like our Lancashire Day pop up lunch in London brought together some of Lancashire’s finest chefs and producers.

“It is the tremendous work of our partners and businesses, their quality and commitment to the sector that made Lancashire the highest performing county in the Top 50 Gastropub Awards”

Food and drink is worth around £756m to Lancashire’s visitor economy, accounting for 20 per cent of all tourism revenue and is a key theme of the new #WeAreLancashire campaign.”