New taste of wales scheme turns sour

By Angela Jameson

Hoteliers and restaurateurs in Wales are threatening to withdraw their support from a new scheme designed to promote Welsh cooking and improve standards.

Members of the hospitality industry are incensed that proposals for the revamped Taste of Wales scheme have ignored their requests for an independent body, run by TV cook and food writer Gilli Davies.

Proposals for the new scheme were drawn up by the Wales Tourist Board (WTB) and the Welsh Food Promotions (WFP) quango.

Mrs Davies worked with WFP for a year as manager of the previous Taste of Wales programme until she resigned last summer over policy differences. According to many in the industry, she had succeeded in raising the scheme's profile and winning back disillusioned members.

Chris Chown, chef patron at Plas Bodegroes and one of just two Michelin-starred chefs in the principality, said: "Mrs Davies is really the only person with the credibility to run the scheme. As these proposals stand, the scheme has public money but it is run without a mandate."

Under the current proposals, both the WTB and WFP will appoint two people to the board. The remaining four places will be taken up by two food industry representatives and two scheme members. The initiative is due to be launched on 1 March.

Mary Ann Gilchrist of Carlton House restaurant in Llanwrtyd Wells, Powys, said she would not rejoin the scheme if it was run on these lines. "The scheme will be run by a board who have nothing to do with cooking and hospitality," she claimed.

Mrs Davies, who has drafted her own proposals for an independent scheme, agreed. "It needs to be led by caterers. They don't want to be involved with producers forcing food choices on chefs," she said.

However, John French, chief executive of the WTB, has assured the hospitality industry that the scheme will be independent.

"It's a partnership. We are putting in a significant amount of money and we wouldn't unless we were absolutely confident," he said. He also raised the possibility of some sort of role for Mrs Davies.

Don Thomas, director of WFP, told Caterer that his organisation had "no desire to bully caterers into anything". "We won't dictate where they source products from," he said.