The funding for deliciouslyorkshire has been cut by government via Yorkshire Forward.

Funds for the Regional Food Group for Yorkshire and Humber will cease at the end of this financial year 2010/ 2011.

deliciouslyorkshire supports, develops and promotes SME businesses in the food and drink sector within the Yorkshire and Humber region.

Jonathan Knight, chief executive of deliciouslyorkshire said the ending of Yorkshire Forward funding was “unfortunate” but the organisation would look to other revenue schemes to continue to build the brand.

He said: “deliciouslyorkshire has put Yorkshire food and drink on the map by capitalising on the Yorkshire brand’s reputation for honesty and integrity and made it capable of competing on a national and international level.

“However, we have also worked hard over the last couple of years to develop self sufficient revenue streams, which we will be looking to maximise over the coming months and years. Indeed half of our revenue now comes from commercial activities. We are also actively investigating other options for maintaining current levels of support to the sector - we are putting together bids to the Regional Growth Fund, as well as being in discussions with the Local Enterprise Partnerships and Yorkshire Enterprise Partnership.”

Thea Stein, ceo of Yorkshire Forward, said: “This decision is part of the wider savings we’ve been asked to make by the government and is no reflection on the work of deliciouslyorkshire, which has had great success promoting the Yorkshire and Humber food industry.”

Knight concludes” “We are confident of continuing to support those involved in the region’s food and drink economy and will continue to advocate on a local, national and international level the importance of our region’s food and drink, helping small companies become commercially viable.”