Professional public relations and advertising is the most effective way of communicating the merits of British food to both consumers and children.
Alexia Robinson, founder and organiser of British Food Fortnight (BFF), which she established in 2002 in response to the Foot and Mouth crisis, believes opportunities are still being missed in a climate ripe for positive messages. “We need to undertake a major campaign in educating children, who are the next generation of consumers, on how to cook,” she told delegates at The Oxford Farming Conference. “Otherwise our children will be incapable of cooking the very excellent vegetables and fruit you grow.”
BFF is the biggest event of its type specifically organised to celebrate and promote British food. Despite limited financial backing and a modest annual budget of £150,000, it has achieved an impressive audience reach in excess of 300 million people. Robinson wants to see more support. “I would very much like to see a major, national advertising campaign undertaken based on the theme of: Think quality, think British food,” she said, estimating that around £750,000 would be required to implement an effective national British food television campaign. However, this was disputed by a member of the audience.
“I believe much more needs to be achieved for the successful integration of food, farming and cooking in to national school curriculum,” said Robinson. She added that BFF has distributed 35,000 education packs to schools, and learnt that the number of organisations trying to get in on this form of promotion necessitates a well thought out approach.
And to underline the extent of her ambition, Robinson answered another delegate’s question about her vision for BFF in 20 years with the hope of a parallel with Red Nose Day.
