BRAND FOCUSING ON FOOD AND HOSPITALITY IS SAVED

BRAND FOCUSING ON FOOD AND HOSPITALITY IS SAVED

- BY WILLIAM TELFORD

THE renowned Taste of the West food and hospitality brand has been resurrected with plans in place to restart its famous awards scheme. A new consortium of hospitality and food businesses has bought the Taste of the West brand and intellectual property after companies running the organisation collapsed into administration.

The new community interest company (CIC) is already planning on staging an awards event to coincide with The Source Trade Show, for food and hospitality businesses, at Westpoint in Exeter in February next year. Charles Baughan, owner of Newton Abbot ‘s Westaway Sausages, is one of the team behind the Taste of the West rescue and said: “The mission is clear: to restore and elevate Taste of the West as a beacon of quality, sustainability, and regional pride”

Taste of the West was set up in 1991 and had King Charles as a patron. But this summer, two companies behind the Devon-headquartered organisation collapsed into administration with debts of £440,000, most of which is likely to remain unpaid.

Taste of the West had 1,000 member businesses at its peak, and at the time it fell into difficulties still had between 600 and 700. And Mr Baughan said many of those businesses thought it was too important an organisation to lose.