A number of Fuchsia Members have just put up
a new flag outside their establishment which has been designed to
further promote the branding initiative in the region. Watch
out for it in Baltimore, Bantry, Clonakilty and Kinsale.
Fuchsia Products to be on sale in the new Departures
Shop in Cork Airport
Fuchsia Brands have secured shelf space with Aer Riannta in the
newly developed Cork Airport which will soon be launched. 7 local
producers will be selling a variety of their products – these
include Follain, Inner Pickle, Ummera, O’Connaill’s
Chocolate, West Cork Bakery, Beara Preserves and East of Boston.
This is an important initiative in terms of brand recognition and
to coincide with this we are producing special gift bags which will
be given out with Fuchsia products that are purchased.
One of our members, Baltimore Sherkin Ferry, has recently introduced
an innovative new service – a 10 Island Tour on board “MV
Mystic Waters”. It has already attracted a lot of interest.
For further information check out www.sherkinferry.com.
The recently published booklet "Good Food in Cork" by
Myrtle Allen & Caroline Workman, which pays tribute to artisan
food producers who have worked keeping the tradition and skills
of country handcrafts and food production alive and offering them
to the discerning public. The aims and objectives of this booklet
is to find, support and promote producers of high quality food in
Cork City & County, especially small specialist and traditional
producer, and to create awareness amongst consumers of the availability
of products, and of production methods. The publication favours
those foods of very good flavour which are not produced intensively.
Eighteen food producers and three Retail Affiliate members accredited
to the Fuchsia Brand Initiative have been listed in the booklet,
The products of these producers have now become more, not less,
in demand, and have been proven to be tasty, wholesome and unusual
and in tune with the envoirment, and unique to the West Cork area.
West Cork LEADER Co-Op. in conjunction with East Cork Area Development
and the West Cork Islands are putting together a marine tourism
brochure which will provide contact details of a variety of marine
related activities. This will include maritime museums, blue flag
beaches, spas, marinas, water activity centres, lighthouses, etc.
It is intended that it will be available before the Summer season
commences. The format of the brochure will be A5 folded, which will
open out into a map of the coastline which will be key coded to
indicate the features. Images of the three areas will also be included.
Taste of West Cork Food Festival 13th-17th of September
2006
Following on from the success of the last two years Skibbereen Business
promotions in association with West Cork Regional Branding Initiative/Fuchsia
Brands will hold The Taste of West Cork Food Festival from 13-17th
of September. The Festival will feature a wide variety of events
and is an initiative to grow further the achievements of local food
producers and tourism providers in establishing the regions reputation
for quality food and tourism.
For Further information on the food festival visit www.skibbereen.ie.
The West Cork LEADER Co-Op. in conjunction with Failte
Ireland are pleased to announce its forthcoming Tourism Training
Programme scheduled to commence in March. The programme of courses
are designed to meet the needs of tourism product providers in the
West Cork, Owenabue and Lee Valley regions and are a requirement
of becoming a member of the West Cork Regional Branding initiative,
Fuchsia Brands. The venue will depend on demand. The details are
as follows:
Sales & Marketing - 23rd, 30th March & 6th
13th 20th April - Fee €127
Adopting the Principles of Quality - 26th & 27th April - Fee
€50
Over the years many delegations from different countries have visited West Cork to learn about and experience the Fuchsia Brand as first hand. However July 22nd represented an interesting departure as we hosted a delegation of officials from the People’s Republic of China. The visit to West Cork arose from the Cork/Shanghai sister city relationship which was formally signed in May 2005. During the visit, delegates learned about the West Cork branding initiative and took time to visit two of the region’s foremost visitor attractions, the Skibbereen heritage Centre and the Mizen Vision. Delegates also had some free time to explore Schull and Clonakilty.
A new A4 brochure depicting the many charms of West Cork was launched on Tuesday , 4th April, 2006 by Jay Bourke, one of the most acclaimed and innovative voices in Irish tourism and hospitality. A renowned publican, restaurateur and Hotelier, Jay Bourke was also a Co-Presenter on the RTE Business Programme “The Mentor”. It was well received by the members of the brand who attended on the night.
The brochure highlights the many aspects of the area: the culture, people, landscape, food, tourism, craft and heritage. It has already been distributed at a number of trade fairs this year; Holiday World Dublin, Holiday World Limerick, Irish Outdoor Show, as well as overseas events in France, Holland and Italy.
Awards for Two Retail Affliate Stores
Launched in 2003 the Retail Affiliate Scheme is the first of it's kind in Ireland. The aim of this Initiative is to enhance the consumer's experience of the range and quality of local foods that are available to people in the retail stores of the region.
In recent weeks two of the Retail Affiliate Stores, Scally's Supervalu Clonakilty and Martin Carey's Bandon, have received national recognition for their efforts in supporting and producing of local fresh, quality produce.
Scally's Supervalu, has emerged as one of the winners in the Checkout Magazine ' Best of Fresh' awards. Concentrating on fresh local produce is reaping the rewards for this supermarket. Since joining the Retail Affiliate Scheme, Scally's Supermarket has shown outstanding support for local food producers and in particular for those in the early stages of production and development.
Martin Carey, Master Butcher in Bandon has been awarded the Supreme National Champion and Gold Medal Winner for the Sausage and Pudding category by the Associated Craft Butchers of Ireland, This competition is judged on excellence of flavour, appearance and texture by members of the Food Writers Guild of Ireland. The achievement of this award is the high point for Martin Carey's Butcher Shop which carries up to 15 varieties of speciality sausages, all of which are Fuchsia Brand Accredited.
The Fuchsia Brand Initiative is delighted to be associated with both shops in bringing such prestigious awards to West Cork, and will no doubt further enhance the deserved reputation of West Cork as a premium food sector.
On Tuesday 20th of June 2006 at the Ambassador Hotel Cork, The Northern Ireland Chamber of Commerce & Industry and the Cork Chamber of Commerce held a forum aimed at introducing food companies to procurement decision makers in a number of large organisations throughout the Island as part of the InterTradeIreland Network+ Getwork Sectors programme. The event aimed at suppliers to the food industry and consisted of a network of companies from across the Island who regularly supply into the food industry or companies who wish to break into the market for the first time. The buyers involved in this forum were from the retail, hospitality or catering industries representing Musgraves, The Ramanda Group, The Kylemore Group, and O' Briens Sandwich Bars.
Ian Dempsey CEO of West Cork LEADER gave a presentation on behalf of the West Cork Regional Branding Initiative of on the topic of " regional clustering and branding of food producers".
Three companies accredited to the Fuchsia Brand Initiative namely Follain Teo, Gallan Farmhouse Foods and Shellfish de la Mer attended the forum and met with the buyers from these different sectors, with very positive outcomes from their meetings.
Following on from the forum, a very positive response was given from the Norther Ireland Chamber of Commerce to the Fuchsia Brand Initiative, and work is now under way to make a presentation of a number of food producers from West Cork, to buyers from Northern Ireland & England in the Spring of 2007.
On Friday, 24th March, a Japanese delegation (journalists) arrived in West Cork, as part of a tour of Ireland. The group were here to do research for a feature in “Easy Traveller Magazine”, a Japanese publication. They were looking at a number of sectors for this feature, i.e. craft, fashion and food and they chose West Cork as the destination to do an article on food.
The group stayed in a Fuchsia Branded establishment, the Trident Hotel, in Kinsale, who contacted us to see if we could organise some food visits for them. Their first visit was to Ummera Smoked Products, Timoleague, where they were very interested to hear from Anthony Creswell on the three classifications of raw materials being used. Ian Dempsey and Jean O’Sullivan then met the delegation in Scally’s Supermarket in Clonakilty, where they were shown a variety of locally produced food, the Retail Affiliate Scheme and they also met with the store owner, Eugene Scally. They concluded their visit with a stop off at the Clonakilty Farmers Market where the editor of the magazine spoke with a few of the Fuchsia members: Susan Robins Fehily (homemade quiches), Breda Grinsell (organic herbs/salad leaves), Gubbeen Smoked Products (cheese, salami, bacon) and Gwen’s chocolates.
Many photographs were taken during the course of their visit and some of these appear in the feature, which has already been printed and circulated in Japan and a copy of same has been received by us (written in Japanese).
They were very impressed with the food culture in West Cork, particularly the support given to the smaller food producers, within the Fuchsia Brand.
The reaction to the article was such that they have decided to host a reception in the Irish Embassy in Tokyo. This reception will showcase the products that they saw and tasted while they were here (Ummera Smoked Salmon, salami and chorizo (Gubbeen) and honey).
A catalogue of the Fuchsia brand products was passed on to Otomo Trading Co. who are responsible for importing Bewley's products into Japan. This company has in its portfolio 20 stores in the Osaka region that specialise in Organic and natural food products.
Also at the event was the owner of an Irish Pub based in the city of Fukuoka who also expressed interest in importing such products.
The Fuchsia brand products all went down very well.
A friend of the editor who is the lady owner of a fashion company and a bit of a foodie really liked the Gubbeen Salami.
Also, the owner of a Tokyo based Irish Pub who had recently held their own cooking event in the Embassy with an Irish guest chef, were surprised that the salmon from Ummera was much better than what the guest chef had brought with him and they also enquired as to the possibility of being able to import.
At the recent Great Taste Awards held in Kilmainham Dublin, two producers accredited to the Fuchsia Brand Initiative received national recognition in their respective categories. Woodcock Smokery, Castletownshed received GOLD for wild smoked salmon, and GOLD for kippers, and also won Silver for their undyed haddock. East of Boston Foods Nohoval, Kinsale, who since joining the Fuchsia Brand Initiative in 2005 have really caught the imagination of the public with their range of Desert Sauces and scooped four awards, one GOLD medal for their Raspberry Rapture, Silver for Chocolate Bliss, and Bronze for Tantalising Toffee & Cassis Noir. Durrus Cheese made by Jeffa Gill since 1979, is recognised as one of the finest of the modern Irish cheese made in the artisanal manner. It has won medals and accolades throughout the world, and once again evidence of this was at the recent World Cheese Awards in London where the company took the Siliver medal.
Fuchsia Brands would like to extend their congratulations to the three companies on receiving such prestigious awards.
West Cork Garden Party &
Craft Exhibition Sunday the 6th of August Lisselan
Estate & Gardens Clonakilty
In spite of the early morning downpour the weather held off for the annual West Cork Garden Party hosted this year in the truly magnificent setting of Lisselan Estate and Gardens. Most of the attendees were visitors to the West Cork and were treated to a showcase of what makes the region so special - fine crafts like HIlary Hale's hand turned wooden bowls or Ruth O'Connell's exquisite stained glass pieces and fabulous food from the likes of Susan Robbins Fehily with her delicious quiches and homebaking to Anthony Creswell's finest Ummera somked salmon. Andreas Haubold (Baking Emporium in Dunmanway) and his sons were kept busy at the barbeque serving up tasty burgers of West Cork beef in their own artisan baked bread rolls. The Owenabue Valley Traditional Group set toes tapping and stepped out a few sets on the stately lawn of Lisselan House, whilst others chose the more tranquil setting of the Argideen river banks for a leisurely ramble through the estate.
Scallys Supervalu Clonakilty
Promotion Friday 28 & Saturday 29th of April
Up to twelve food producers will give the public
their opportunity to sample the products of
the region in a two day instore promotion in
association with the newly built Scilly's Supervalu
in Clonakilty. The two day event will feature
other events but will mainly focus on the value
the store places in the stocking of produce
from the producers accredited to the West Cork
Regional Branding Initiative-Fuchsia Brands.
The Baltimore Seafood festival
now in it's fourth year will take place on the
last week-end of May, judging from the success
of the festival over the last three years this
year once again promises everything for a great
family week-end in the picturesque West Cork
village.
The Food producers accredited to the West Cork
Regional Branding Initiative will once again
have presence at the food fair on the Sunday
the 28th, Where once again locals and visitors
alike can sample and enjoy the culinary delights
of the products from the producers of the region
with a diverse range of produce on offer to
satisfy you whatever your taste.
The West Cork Regional Branding
Initiative will be represented at the Irish
Outdoor Adventure Show in the RDS Simmonscourt,
Dublin from February 17th to 19th 2006.
For further information contact
Jean O'Sullivan at 00353 (0)23 34035 or email.
"TASTE OF WEST CORK" CULINARY GUIDE
The "Taste of West Cork"
Culinary Guide, which was launched
by Darina Allen of the internationally acclaimed
Ballymaloe Cookery School in Carrigaline on Monday
19th April 04, is now available to buy at €12
including postage and packaging. To view a sample
of the guide click
here. If you would like to buy a copy of the
guide you can contact us at 023 34035 or email
us at info@fuchsiabrands.com.
Our DVD, West Cork - A Place
Apart, An Introduction to the West Cork Regional
Branding Initiative, which was launched
by Brian Crowley, MEP, is also available to buy.
If you wish to purchase one at €25 including
postage and packaging please contact us at 023
34035 or email us at info@fuchsiabrands.com.
Following on from the exhibitions
of John Minihan's photo essays of individuals
prominent in the local food and tourism industries
in West Cork - "Impression" A West
Cork Welcome & "Expression" An
Exploration of People, Place and Produce, West
Cork LEADER have produced "Impression"
and "Expression" 2006 Calendars. John
Minihan's intimate and informal portraits explore
the theme that West Cork's acclaimed food &
tourism products reflects the personality of
the individual as well as the influences of
tradition and environment.
The Calendars are available for
€10 each including postage and packaging.
Contact the West Cork Regional Branding Initiative
on 00353 23 34035, or email info@fuchsiabrands.com.
www.greatfood.ie
is Ireland's best food and wine site. Updated
daily, it includes great recipes, cook book
reviews, news of Irish food producers, ingredients,
cookware, wine reviews and knowledge and lots
more.
Fuchsia Brands Conference
The West Cork LEADER Co-op is pleased to announce the forthcoming conference and seminar, The Fuchsia Brand: Outcomes and Impacts of Regional Branding. The event will take place in Kinsale, West Cork from May 30th to June 1st, 2006. Last year’s inaugural event, which focussed on The Principles of Regional Branding, drew a large attendance from Ireland, Europe and further afield. This year the conference theme will assess new research on the outcomes and economic impact of the brand as well as presenting participant experiences of the Fuchsia Brand since its launch in 1998.
This show, in its second year, takes place in the RDS, Dublin and it is a specific event for outdoor activities. With this in mind, Fuchsia Brands took a stand at this 3 day event (17th to 19th February), along with West Cork Sailing Centre, Aquaventures and Claybird. Having representation from the activity sector was an important success factor as it would have been unsatisfactory to just have a promotion of the West Cork area in general, particularly in view of the audience, i.e. scouts, families with children with in interest in outdoor activities, etc.
Our stand was practically one of the first ones you came across and had two open sides which worked out well. Our new brochure was distributed along with any individual brochures that we had received from Fuchsia members. We also ran a competition to attract people to the stand, with the prizes kindly donated by the following: Kinsale Outdoor Education Centre, Lodge & Spa at Inchydoney Island, Trag Retreat and the Quality Hotel. Many favourable comments were made in relation to West Cork and the questionnaire for the competition which asked “what flower/symbol do you associate with West Cork” highlighted the fact hat the Fuchsia Brand was gaining considerable recognition as most people were able to answer it correctly.
On April 6th and 7th, West Cork LEADER Co-op hosted visits from craft buyers from around the country to the first ever West Cork Gift Fair. The 21 participating craft makers put on a superb exhibition to showcase the region to a very high standard. A highlight of the show were the Show Recommendations – five special commendations awarded by the panel of three independent judges – Lilibeth Horne, Aer Rianta Cork, Francis Keane, Keane on Ceramics and Fiona Turley, Gallery Crafts. Focusing on design, innovation, marketability and quality the judges selected gift items from Robert Lee, Jim Turner, Hilary Hale, Lyre Ceramics and Rory Connner.
Launched in April, Hands On is a small network of artists and craft workers that are working in collaboration with West Cork LEADER Co-op to provide classes and courses for enthusiasts, holidaymakers and those looking for an unusual and fulfilling activity break. The group offer a broad spread of disciplines including ceramics, woodcarving, sculpture, painting, chairmaking, mosaics, photography, stained glass, glass fusing and printmaking. For a guide or further detail visit www.handsonwestcork.com or contact Ivan at West Cork LEADER Co-op (ivan@westcorkleader.ie)
On Tuesday the 21st of March in the Munster Arms Hotel, Bandon, over 400 people came to view and taste a variety of West Cork products/produce under the umbrella of the renowned Fuchsia Brand.
The evening was organised by the West Cork Regional Branding Initiative in conjunction with St. Brogans College Bandon. The people in attendance were treated to a wide range of products from the region, which included companies such as Shellfish de la Mer, Carrigaline Farmhouse Cheese,Gairdin Eden, Callatrim Foods, Unionhall Smoked Fish, Padraigin's Pizza, O Conaill Chocolates, Bandon co-op Butter, Irish Yogurts, Carbery Cheese, Clona Dairy Products, Gallan Cream Cheese, Waterfall Farms, Susan Robins Fehily home made breads & quiches, Representing the craft producers in the Fuchsia Brand was Hillary Hale wood turning.
West Cork has now become synonymous with the development of high quality food produce and further evidence of this was at a recent function held in Wesley Rugby Club Donnybrook Dublin 4, by The West Cork Regional Branding Initiative in conjunction with Clonakilty Rugby Club, prior to the Munster and Perpignan Heineken cup quarter final clash.
Guests from Waterford, Limerick Dublin and as far afield as Northern Ireland & France were treated to a banquet of fine foods from the producers accredited to West Cork's Fuchsia Brand Initiative, and prepared and sumptuously presented by Andreas Habould and his staff of the Baking Emporium Dunmanway. Roy Maguire club P.R.O.in his speech said "The Immense pride we all felt at the West Cork Fuchsia Brands display was extremely gratifying and how proud they were to be associated with West Cork LEADER and the Fuchsia Brand" all present were hugely complimentary of the variety of produce, professionalism,colour and excellence of the display.
The 2005 Foire de Rennes Food, Drink & Tourism Expo, Rennes biggest calendar event took place from 18th-27th of March, This event has become the most exciting exhibition in the region for promoting products across the food, drink & tourism industry.
The West Cork Regional Branding Initiative in conjunction with Kay Harte of The Farmgate Restaurant, and Isobel Sheridan of On The Pig's Back Retail Outlet in the Old English Market,Grand Parade Cork were flying the flag for artisan/speciality food products of the West Cork Region. The group were the only exhibitors from the Republic of Ireland in what is Rennes largest exhibition with over 900 participants and 150,000 visitors.
The produce from the West Cork Region that is pure in taste,certainly caught the imaganation of thr French Public with a wide range of products for them to sample and buy ranging from Wild Smoked Salmon, Pickles, Preserves, Handmade Chocolates, and a wide variety of West Cork's renowned Farmhouse Cheeses.
A total of 20 food producers who are accredited to the Fuchsia Brand Initiative were represented at the nine day food extravaganza.
The West Cork Regional Branding Initiative in conjunction
with St Brogans College invites you to attend the West Cork Food
& Wine Evening in the Munster Arms Hotel on Tuesday 21st March
2006 at 8pm. Tickets are €10 and are available from Jackie
O'Callaghan, 086 1200113 and from the Munster Arms Hotel, 023 41562.
For further information contact Kevin Santry, 086 2672288, kevin@westcorkleader.ie.
Ten People participated in the West Cork LEADER/NFC HACCP Module in February 06.
The programme is aimed at small food manufacturing operations in the West Cork area and particulary relevant to producers interested in the Taste of West Cork brand who are committed to the attainment of international standards in food quality assurance.
West Cork LEADER has within it's area several artisan/speciality food producers who in order to meet legal & customer requirments require a HACCP based system of food safety managment. West Cork LEADER as in the past requested Mary Clancy from The National Food Centre to provide training/consultancy service to such companiesin the West Cork Region in order to meet these requirments.
On the completion of the training programme each participant will have documented and implemented a Food safety managment system based on industry best practice guides, legal requirments and HACCP principles which:
Meets legal and best practice required within the sector
Meets customer requirments
Meets a certified standard in HACCP princples i.e. FETAC certificate on completion of an examanation at the end of the training.
Based on completion of an audit by the trainers, prepares the company for the future regulatory and customer HACCP/Hygiene audits.
Bernie Tobin, Bantry - Information Point & Holistic Treatment
Centre
Castle Hotel & Leisure Centre, Macroom
Comara Restaurant, Castletownbere
Courtmacsherry Angling
Crosshaven Canoeing & Rowing
Lisselan Golf Club, Gardens & Fishing, Clonakilty
Marie O'Shea, Adrigole - Self-Catering
Trag Retreat, Skibbereen - Self-Catering
New Food Members:
Gairdin Eden, Dunmanway - Salad leaves, herbs
East of Boston Foods, Nohoval - Luxury dessert sauces
O'Keeffe's of Clonakilty - Gourmet prepared meals
Inner Pickle, Lisavaird - Caribbean style oil pickles
Fuchsia welcomes new Craft Members:
For the first time the regional branding initiative has been
broadened to include craft. West Cork has a wealth of creative
talent and is home to many of Ireland's finest craftspeople.
More than one hundred professional craft workers live, work
and find inspiration in rural West Cork. The 18 producers
who have been sanctioned to use the Fuchsia logo have all
achieved excellence in their chosen crafts and have committed
to co-operation within the network to further develop their
business and craft sector locally.
This insert will be used as a joint initiative between the West
Cork LEADER Co-Op. and other LEADER groups from Scotland, Italy
and Arigna in Ireland. Its function is to promote rural tourism
at BIT, Milan, Italy which is a Trade and Consumer Show (18th to
21st February). Further activities of this inter-territorial project
will include research, further marketing and training. Click here
to download insert in pdf format.
The West Cork LEADER Co-op in conjunction with Failte
Ireland are pleased to announce its forthcoming Tourism Training
Programme scheduled to commence in March. The programme of courses
are designed to meet the needs of tourism product providers in the
West Cork, Owenabue and Lee Valley regions and are a requirement
of becoming a member of the West Cork Regional Branding initiative,
Fuchsia Brands. The venue will depend on demand. The details are
as follows:
Sales & Marketing - 23rd, 30th March & 6th
13th 20th April - Fee €127
Adopting the Principles of Quality - 26th & 27th April - Fee
€50