Blas y Tir at the Royal Welsh Show 2016
The start of the school holidays saw the return of The Royal Welsh Show, one of the largest and most famous agricultural shows in the UK, and our chance to showcase our Pembrokeshire Earlies to the 236,758 people in attendance.
This year was our 5th year in the Royal Welsh Show Food Hall, and one of the hottest we have ever experienced. Temperatures soared to 31°C on Tuesday 19th July, both inside and outside, with people seeking refuge in ice-creams from the many Welsh ice-cream producers in the Foodhall, and water from Welsh water producers. Needless to say, cooking potatoes at 31°C seemed ridiculous, but Blas y Tir supporters were happy to take samples of simply boiled Pembrokeshire Earlies served with Welsh butter and fresh mint, enjoying the creamy texture and nutty flavour despite the heat.
Our television advert starring Cery’s Matthews as the voice over also went down a storm on the stand, with lots of great comments from passers-by.
During the week we also had the chance to sample on the Tesco and Co-op stands, as well as take part in cooking demonstrations on the M&S stand, supplying about 19,000 delicious samples throughout the week!
We were also pleased to take part in a food demonstration and talk hosted by Jason Mohammad from BBC Wales on the Hybu Cig Cymru stand to do with protected food names. Our Pembrokeshire Early Potatoes took centre stage as Caroline from Blas y Tir explained why Pembrokeshire Earlies had been awarded PGI (Protected Geographical Indicator) status in 2013, and what that means in the future for Blas y Tir.
We were also interviewed by S4C about how PGI status can help promote our delicious Pembrokeshire Earlies and other Protected Food Name products in Wales!
During the week we were pleased to receive a visit from the Scarlets Rugby team, who were on the hunt for Welsh supporters around the showground. The boys popped by our stand for a photo and to find out more about our Pembrokeshire Earlies!
Overall a very busy, but great 4 days at The Royal Welsh Show 2016 promoting quality Welsh produce – until next year!