Press Release – 21.02.23
Visit Exmoor is excited to announce they will be in attendance, along with a number of Exmoor’s exceptional food and drink producers, at a very special Taste of Exmoor event, which takes place on Wednesday 22nd February at the House of Commons.
Exmoor is the home of rolling hills, rich history, and dramatic coastal scenery. As a visitor destination, there is truly something for everyone; wildlife spotting and walking in the National Park, exhilarating activities, and visiting our many towns and villages bustling with specialist retailers, cafés and restaurants who are proud to supply and serve local produce.
The Taste of Exmoor event, hosted and supported by the MPs for Bridgwater and West Somerset, Ian Liddell-Grainger and North Devon, Selaine Saxby, has been put together to promote and celebrate the very best of Exmoor’s many artisan suppliers, producers and craftspeople.
MP for North Devon Selaine Saxby commented, “Exmoor has it all, and I am delighted to be able to help bring some of the fantastic food and drink produced and sourced here, to Westminster. Exmoor’s finest produce is locally sourced and produced in an environmentally and economically sustainable way. I know many of my parliamentary colleagues are looking forward to being at this event and tasting the best of Exmoor.”
Bridgwater and West Somerset MP Ian Liddell-Grainger said, “Nearly 40 years ago the unique character of Exmoor’s food was celebrated with the publication of a cookbook devoted entirely to it and since then the diversity of local produce has increased tremendously.
An influx of young and enthusiastic specialist producers has extended enormously the range of Exmoor-based foods that are available to local people and tourists alike – all reflected in the menus of pubs and restaurants in the national park and the surrounding areas.
Exmoor always was famous for its beef and lamb, notably from the two local breeds, the Ruby Red Devon and the Exmoor Horn sheep. But to that we can now add sea and freshwater fish, meat products, preserves, cheeses and, of course, venison from the largest herd of wild red deer in southern England.
There are so many foodie delights now to be found on Exmoor and I can only encourage visitors from elsewhere in the country and indeed abroad to come and discover them.”
CEO for Visit Exmoor Emma Thomasson said, “We are so excited to be bringing Exmoor to Westminster and showcasing our unique landscape, amazing produce, local businesses, and warm welcome. Exmoor is proud to sit across Somerset and Devon and we really appreciate Selaine and Ian working together across two constituencies to make this happen and bring focus to some of our key challenges and opportunities.”
She continued, “This event also highlights just how easy it is to get from London to Exmoor via rail and motivate new visitors to the area – in just a few hours you can be enjoying everything we have to offer!”
The event is also the opportunity for Visit Exmoor to highlight some of the key challenges the area is currently experiencing, with businesses being hampered by ongoing recruitment issues, particularly in hospitality, threatening the visitor offering. Visit Exmoor will also be drawing attention to social mobility issues in the area as well as rural and logistical issues, housing, and transportation, which require creative solutions.
Being showcased at the Taste of Exmoor event are the following Exmoor producers: Grown Up Marshmallows, Cocoa’s Handmade Chocolates, Exmoor Fudge Kitchen, Exmoor Ales, Exmoor Distillery Ltd, Wicked Wolf Gin, Wellhayes Vineyard, Exmoor Tea Co., Higher Hall Farm, British Alpaca Fashion, Croft and Cottage, Exmoor Feasting Company, West Country Blacksmiths, Miles Tea & Coffee, Cracking Nuts, West Ilkerton Farm, A May’s Farm and Exmoor Hill Farming.
Visit Exmoor extends a sincere thank you to GWR for supporting the event, we are very grateful to the generosity shown, enabling so many Exmoor producers to attend the event.
This is a closed event and not open to the public.
-ENDS-
About Visit Exmoor
Visit Exmoor is the leading industry body supporting and promoting tourism across the Greater Exmoor area. The area covered includes Exmoor National Park, West Somerset, the Quantock Hills, and North Devon.
Every year Exmoor National Park welcomes over 2 million visitors, attracted by the wide-ranging special qualities of natural beauty, wildlife, cultural heritage, and the varied recreational opportunities. Tourism accounts for approx. 60% of all employment within Exmoor National Park and 54% of the area’s GVA (Gross value added). The annual value of tourism to Exmoor’s rural economy is approx. £128m, supporting over 2,200 full-time equivalent jobs. The value for “Greater Exmoor” (inc. a10 mile radius around the National Park) is estimated to be £404m. (Exmoor STEAM survey (2018) and Rural Enterprise Exmoor research (2020)).
For media enquiries, please contact Visit Exmoor on website@visit-exmoor.co.uk
