Wales' "people's kitchen" marks six months and 1,000 meals
Cegin Llanelli, the weekly community cookalong run by food education charity Cegin y Bobl, has served over 1,040 free or pay-what-you-can meals since launching in February, cooked from scratch by volunteers using seasonal veg, locally-sourced meat and rescued surplus. The project marked the milestone with a celebratory lunch on 17 August, and has saved more than 100kg of food from waste since June alone.
Source: businessnewswales.com
New marketplace lets small food producers sell direct to their neighbours
FarmCo, a Gower-based venture eight years in the making, has launched a marketplace platform designed to let farmers, bakers, cheesemakers and other independent food makers sell directly to local customers on a weekly cycle, without handing control to a middleman retailer. Founder Jack Joseph is now inviting producers across the UK to join, following trials with founding growers in South Wales.
Source: farmersguide.co.uk
Independent brewers sound the alarm over looming deposit scheme
The Society of Independent Brewers and Associates (SIBA), which represents around 700 small UK breweries, has called for the Deposit Return Scheme to be delayed by at least a year, warning that a lack of detail — particularly in Wales — leaves small producers without enough time to prepare. It comes as separate figures show UK brewery closures have slowed sharply this year, though profitability and access to pubs remain serious concerns.
Source: siba.co.uk
Steakhouse group swaps the city for a working farm near Bristol
Bristol and Birmingham steakhouse brand Cow & Sow is opening The Field Farmshop & Kitchen this autumn on a near-derelict pub site in Flax Bourton, opposite its own Kitchen Farm. The shop will sell home-grown produce delivered daily alongside fresh bread, dairy and butchery from British suppliers, with a 70-seat café and, eventually, a cookery school planned for phase two.
Source: restaurantonline.co.uk