We told you about our previous activities here and here. But let us give you an update on where we are now.
October and November were really busy months for the BPCC team. We've been promoting British lamb at the Warsaw Gastro showas well as engaging in the educational activities with distributors and chefs from all around the country.
AHDB (the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board), the BPCC and leading Polish meat distributor Janex took part in Warsaw Gastro Show trade event in Ptak exhibition centre in Nadarzyn in October. Janex and AHDB had a joint stand, where Janex presented fresh British lamb product range for the retail and HoReCa sectors. Visitors had an unique opportunity to taste the lamb prepared by celebrity chef Kevin Aiston and learned about product origins, health attributes and where the product is available to buy or order (have a look here at the list we have prepared). A large number of visitors were represented by students from culinary schools around the country. As the stand was right next to the media centre, Kevin Aiston had a chance to meet with various journalists and promote lamb, including on the TV channel Polsat News. This was a GREAT opportunity to share the knowledge and the passion for cooking British lamb with Polish consumers!
To reach a larger audience across the HoReCa sector, the BPCC has also sponsored an issue of Biznes Restauracje & Catering magazine. You can see a preview of the issue here.
But raising a product awareness is a long and on-going process and we're not even close to saying our final word.
The next step was organising a trade mission for Polish distributors and chefs. On behalf of AHDB, an AHDB member company – Dawn Meats, together with the BPCC have organised a study tour to UK for a group of distributors, and well-known chefs and journalists from Poland. The visit, sponsored by AHDB included a visit to Smithfield Market, Dawn Meats' facility at Cross Hands in Wales and a visit to a traditional British farm. At Dawn Meats, visitors learned about the company’s activity, heritage, product offer and production process. The visit at Cross Hands was concluded with a meat processing demonstration. During the farm visit, visitors gained knowledge about the origins and breeding of lamb. Polish guests tried British lamb served several times in various ways, especially during the official dinner at the Argon Arms Hotel in Broadway in the Cotswolds. The visitors stressed that it was a useful trip, very inspirational, especially for the distributors.
The last activity that we undertook in the last couple of months was something we're very proud of. The second episode of the TV culinary show Okrasa łamie przepisy (which can be translated both as ‘Okrasa breaks the rules’ and 'Okrasa ignores the recipes') to feature British lamb. Karol Okrasa is Poland's no. 1 celebrity chef in Poland! Watch this space for more information on the premiere of this episode and in the meantime you can watch the first one here.