From Thursday 10th August – Friday 11th August, the Food Hall at Fenwick, Newcastle will be transformed into a Local Heroes Pop-up Market to showcase exciting food and drink brands from regional food entrepreneurs and producers.
The event will kick off with a special launch event on the afternoon and evening of Thursday 10th August and will feature live music, short films and a lively market atmosphere where customers can learn about the incredible food stories behind the food and drink products, as well as sampling and purchasing items.
Many of the businesses who are showcasing their products at the Local Heroes Pop-up Market are graduates of the Beyond The Kitchen Table programme – a specialised training programme that is aimed at small-scale food and drink producers looking to expand their business and become retail-ready.
The programme, delivered by Food and Drink North East (FADNE) in collaboration with NewcastleGateshead Initiative (NGI) and NBSL as part of a Hospitality, Innovation, Tourism and Supply (HITS) initiative, was funded by the North of Tyne Combined Authority and covered learning modules on topics such as accreditation, packaging, retail space and foodservice requirements, to help small, local food and drink businesses become confident in taking the next steps to grow their business.
The Local Heroes Pop-Up Market will be the first time that many of these brands have been seen and stocked in a retail environment, and is a fantastic opportunity for food and drink aficionados to discover the amazing products available within the region. From artisan vegan cheese and low-calorie cocktails, to handmade doughnuts and fragrant loose-leaf tea, the two-day event at Fenwick Food Hall will be bursting with an array of innovative and delicious products for customers to discover.
Speaking about the event, Ian Thomas, Destination Director at NGI said, ““It is great to see the fruition of the ‘Beyond the Kitchen Table’ programme in this interactive event. As part of our wider HITS activity, the graduates have been given the skills they need to pitch to retailers and market their products.
“It is going to be very exciting for these businesses to now see their hard work and efforts appear on the shelves at such a renowned store and we are very grateful to the team at Fenwick for the opportunity. The event will act as a showcase for all the wonderful food and drink products our region has to offer and as shop window to the talent and enterprise found here”.
Chris Jewitt, founder of Food and Drink North East, said “At FADNE, we are passionate about enabling ambitious local entrepreneurs, incubating their concepts, and helping accelerate their growth. Beyond The Kitchen Table is a digital learning, mentoring, and pitching programme that allows us to provide all of the tools required to ensure that our North East businesses are shelf ready and robust enough for the retail environment.
Working with esteemed partners such as Fenwick is not only a unique opportunity to showcase but also presents our entrepreneurs with a clear target of where they need to be in order to stand out alongside some national competitors.”
Kieran McBride, store director of Fenwick says, “We are incredibly proud to be working with FADNE, inviting businesses from all over the North East to showcase their artisanal products at Fenwick. These producers are incredibly important for the region and we are delighted to welcome them to our Food Hall to showcase their product, and know our customers will enjoy discovering and sampling this high quality produce.”