We just keep getting bigger #Blog
Stephen Wundke
19th July 2018
First half figures for Taste Cheshire, the definitive website for Food and Drink in Cheshire have shown another dramatic growth with users up 62% and page views up a staggering 71% on the previous six months.
Stephen Wundke presenting the Outstanding Achievement Award to the Hollies
CEO Stephen Wundke was delighted with the performance of the business. “We now represent over 200 independent, individual, Restaurants, pubs, food producers, cafes and farm shops across Cheshire and the North Wales border and we are seeing more and more people want to know just how to get a unique Cheshire experience.
When I started the business some 6 years ago the intention was to combine the Restaurant Association of Cheshire and Made in Cheshire under one umbrella. An umbrella that would provide a route to market and a marketing platform that would help the independent business person. A person who was so busy running their own business with all the associated demands, that maybe they needed a little help on the marketing side and to enjoy some of the economies of scale that larger businesses achieve. I am delighted that we are now delivering that for our members with our analytics showing that members are achieving an average of greater than 10-1 return on their annual membership fee, with a number, who work with us achieving more than 25-1 ROI, something of which we are very proud.
Every week we are talking to over 50,000 people through social media, 17,500 with our members email and many more through the many events we stage. Those people are interacting with us 3 and 4 times a week, doing business with our members and in most cases this is a bigger audience than local radio stations and satellite channels, with the one big difference; every person we talk to is a foodie and therefore a potential customer for our members.”
Taste Cheshire also runs the largest public voted for Food and Drink Awards in the UK with over 40,000 people voting in the 2018 awards. Taste Cheshire are also responsible for the Chester Food and Drink Festival staged every Easter at the Chester Racecourse, with 25-30,000 visiting, making it the largest event of its type staged anywhere in the UK at Easter. They also run the Taste Cheshire Farmers Market every 3rd Saturday on Town Hall Square Chester and the regular quarterly Food Fiestas at the Grosvenor Shopping Centre. It is a year long diary of events that continues to grow as demand for local produce just gets greater every year.
Briony Wilson (left) and Emma Shawcross at the Royal Cheshire Show
General Manager, Briony Wilson believes the time is right as people now want to know all about the provenance of their goods and the supply chain and that is where Taste Cheshire excels, as she explains. “We recently told the Farm to fork story at the Royal Cheshire Show to explain to people how the food gets to your table and how, by using the Red Tractor brand, you can ensure you get a better product. It was obvious that people really want Cheshire made products. We are being asked to attend more and more events and every time we visit somewhere like BBC Stoke or talk to ITV Granada about a food issue more and more people become aware of Taste Cheshire. We stage young chef competitions to encourage people to join our industry, we run free kids cooking classes at our Festivals and have had over 10,000 children cook at our events from 3-10 years of age. We recently appointed Emma Shawcross as our Development Chef who provides fortnightly recipes for readers and runs the kitchens at all of the big Cheshire Festivals, we run food reviews every week and spotlight chefs across our network so that people can get to know the people in the kitchens of their favourite eating places. It’s a huge food agenda and its happening so quickly.
Three years ago, when I started with the company, not that many knew who we were but now everywhere I go people know about Taste Cheshire, what we are and who we support. It is a very satisfying business to work with and it is great to know that sitting behind our brand is real people selling real products and helping our county. We have come a long way in short space of time and we really are, The County of Food and Drink and Taste Cheshire is proud to be the one who started the ball rolling.”
To find out more about Taste Cheshire simply visit tastecheshire.com or call Briony Wilson on 01244 956 414,