British Food Fortnight 2023

British Food Fortnight – a look back at what happened in 2023

A tremendous variety of organisations, charities, businesses and individuals took part: hundreds of schools, farm shops, volunteer groups, villages, towns, NHS Trusts, care homes, colleges and universities all took part with special menus highlighting British produce; and many running promotional activity alongside.

Brakes, ISS Food Services, Sodexo, Premier Foods, Chartwells, Educaterers, Harrison Catering, Minor, Weir and Wills, Essential Cuisine, Master Chefs of GB, Hereford Beef, British Poultry Council and New Covent Garden Market all took part as Official Partners. And the event was warmly embraced by leading industry bodies TUCO, LACA, NACC, HCA branches, Wales NHS Confederation and NHS hospitals in N.Ireland. 

Particular highlights:

• The annual community competition that this year celebrated individuals and organisations that make good food available for all in their communities. Led by Liz Earle MBE and judged by Love British Food ambassadors Emily Ashworth from Farmers Guardian, Jenny Jefferies author of For the Love of the Land and Claire Mackenzie, film producer. The winner was Farm Fresh Revolution, a small charity delivering fresh food to 200 families a week in low socio-economic areas of Staffordshire. Runners-up were Somerset NHS and South Brockwells Farm. Highly-commended were Tilton Green Fair near Leicester and The Cheshire Harvest. The competition was illuminating in showcasing the work done by inspiring, kind individuals and also the complexities of the challenges we face in our food system.
• British Food Fortnight consolidating its position as the leading promotion of British food in the food service sector.
• Brakes’ Great British Brunch event with NHS Chef of the Year, Nedko Rusev (Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospital), and School Chef of the Year, Raheem Morgan (Chartwells schools), demonstrating and sharing knowledge in front of gathering of leading food service caterers. Brakes also ran product promotions and a super online portal.
• ISS Food Services which ran Love British Food promotions across their business with roadshows in their healthcare business; promotions in schools; inspirational promotional films showcasing their British suppliers, seasonal menus and support for high animal welfare standards and sustainable foods; celebrations of great British roast dinner ingredients; and whose Linda Cregan, co-chairs the Love British Food Education Working Group.
• The warm response that Premier Foods received from the wonderful British Food Fortnight pack they sent out to the pub sector for the event.
• Sodexo’s A-Z of British food film.
• Chartwells leading their 110 independent schools to take part. 
• Blackpool Catering Services 130 schools taking part.
• Farm visit for NHS caterers from Oxford and London HCA branches at FarmEd, the leading farming education centre. This was the 5^th farm visit that Love British Food has organised for the NHS.
• Duncan O’Neil’s menu at Stockport NHS Trust where you could hover over each course and see where it was sourced from.
• Anna Warman’s patient menu, provenance maps, British breakfast, British apple tasting competition, food quiz, have lunch together initiative and many activities with local suppliers at Somerset NHS Foundation Trust.
• Educaterers menu promotions in 187 schools.
• Launch of the new online platform: British Food Fortnight Live based on a virtual town with contributions from many of the members of Love British Food’s Education Working Group who have helped launch this new knowledge sharing platform: Tony Mulgrew talking to suppliers; Derek Wright and Linda Cregan in conversation; Jacquie Blake sharing her wisdom in a podcast; TUCO and New Covent Garden Market suppliers; and many super recipes, resources and case studies. Resources will be added throughout the year. 
• NHS Wales taking part for the first time.
• New Covent Garden Market leading promotions in the capital.
• National Trust properties organising fun activities at their properties.
• Minor, Weir and Wills using British Food Fortnight to flag up the seasonal fruit and veg they supply to 7,800 schools.
• Communities taking part in many wonderful ways following the event’s theme this year of good food available for all: community centre distributing food from allotments; volunteers putting together fresh food boxes to families in need; farm shop teaching children how to cook; school chefs going above and beyond their role to educate the young about good food; and harvest celebrations bringing local food into the heart of the city. 
• And even Newquay Zoo took part proving that British Food Fortnight truly reaches all parts of the country!

2024’s British Food Fortnight takes place 20^th September to 6^th October. Note the event starts on a Friday for the first time. By popular request. So a fortnight plus a day!

“As always British Food Fortnight was extremely popular with our customers with our Love of Local menu proving a hit at the 192 sites where we ran the promotion. Supporting farmers and other local producers in Britain sits at the heart of our responsible sourcing strategy which is a key lever to reaching net zero by 2040. We are committed to supporting local communities, and buying British is just one way we can achieve this. For all these reasons and more, we are proud to partner with Love British Food, not just for British Food Fortnight, but all year round.”

Charles Abraham, Food Platform Director, Sodexo

“I must say the efforts over the past fortnight in raising the bar on British Food Fortnight has been sensational. The social media campaign has been extraordinary and we are all incredibly proud to be part of something so special.”

Philip Shelley, Head Net Zero, NHS England

“Love British Food is an incredible organisation that is gaining momentum and respect.”

Caroline Morgan, Chief Executive, Local Food Links 

“We find positive benefits to our business by partnering with the Love British campaign thorough out the whole year as well as the Fortnight itself. Our Great British Brunch event for British Food Fortnight had enormous traction across all social media channels not just from us but from all the stakeholders that attended. It drove traffic to our web site where we sited a BFF area which many customers clicked through too and drove sales. We will be carrying on our partnership in 2024.” 

Cathy Amos, Head of Customer Marketing, Brakes

“We wanted to help inspire chefs to create dishes that showcase the diverse and delicious food that Britain produces. We’ve had some fantastic feedback from our Love British Food Guide, which was full of tips and menu ideas to help operators maximise the big opportunity brought by this national celebration.” 

Sarah Robb, foodservice marketing manager, Premier Foods Foodservice 

“Students from over 160 Educaterers partner schools in the Midlands, savoured a week of wholesome and delectable delights. From succulent British pork sausages to comforting homemade cheesy pasta and mouth-watering British roast chicken, their taste buds were treated to the best of British cuisine. The feast extended to Quorn dippers, Harry Ramsdens salmon and sweet potato fish cakes, and an array of homemade sweet treats, including apple and blackberry crumble, strawberry slice, chocolate and orange brownie, and more. This culinary journey left a lasting impression, showcasing the joy of delicious, nutritious, and quintessentially British food.”

Sandra Shakespeare, Educaterers

“Harrison Catering Services is proud to be a long-term supporter of Love British Food and an official partner of the annual British Food Fortnight. During this campaign, many sites across our business celebrated this by offering customers special menus that showcased the best foods from around the country. 

 While the fortnight highlights the incredible ingredients and traditional dishes found throughout Britain, Harrison believes supporting British food is important all year round. We are committed to offering seasonal dishes from local ingredients throughout the year, and all our fresh ingredients are of the highest quality and British-sourced wherever possible. 

 Our suppliers understand our commitment to fresh, responsibly sourced food and share our standards to ensure we can deliver our clients and customers fantastic-tasting meals.”

Chris Medlock, Communications Manager at Harrison Catering

“The wholesalers at New Covent Garden Market threw their weight behind British Food Fortnight this year, to highlight the London market's 12-month supply of sumptuous homegrown fruit and vegetables and the brilliant relationship traders have with growers across the country.

NCGM sells plenty of imported fresh produce, of course, but there's nothing to match the buzz created by new-season British product and we literally put out the bunting and celebrated our role in sourcing and providing premium fresh fruit and veg for the retail, catering and hospitality sectors in London and the South East.

British Food Fortnight is a fabulous opportunity to put British food in the spotlight at a key time in the calendar. It provides inspiration and impetus for the supply chain to consider how to keep itself at the forefront of the nation's conscience throughout the year. NCGM backs British fresh produce year-round, every year. Our customers wouldn't have it any other way!”

Tommy Leighton, Covent Garden Market Authority

“We sent British Food Fortnight posters to 110 independent schools and encouraged them to run activity locally. General enthusiasm from our business was good.” 

Stephanie Hall, Head of Nutrition – Technical and Compliance, Chartwells 

“In an era where food is ever present and simply comes from a supermarket shelf, the British Food Fortnight does a fantastic job at reconnecting the public with the wonderful produce we have in this country and building an understanding of how it is produced with our world leading standards."

Charles Goadby, dairy and arable farmer Nuneaton, Warwickshire 

"Wow, Alexia Robinson, what an achievement for you and the Love British Food team. This is an absolutely brilliant resource ! Super well done."

Linda Cregan, Head of Food Sustainability & Education Catering ISS UK, on British Food Fortnight Live