Tourism NI is partnering with Belfast City Council this autumn to offer an allocated stall to local food and drink producers to showcase their produce at St George’s Market Belfast, in support of the Taste the Island initiative.
Every weekend until the end of November, different producers from across Northern Ireland will have an opportunity to showcase their produce at the iconic market. This platform will enable local producers to sell and promote their product to thousands of local and international visitors in support of the all-Island food and drink initiative.
The latest research estimates visitor expenditure at £968m of which approximately one third, £350m, is spent on food and drink.
Gary Quate, Food and Drink Development Officer at Tourism NI, commented: “We have been working closely with Belfast City Council and St George’s Market, who have helped us bring new and exciting opportunities to the industry. We are delighted to offer this space to talented local producers such as Jack Morton from Jack’s Fudge and Barbara Hughes from Hughes Craft Distillery and we look forward to working with many more of our food and drink industry to support the Taste the Island campaign.”
“We are also pleased to support the Twilight Market which will take place on the 12th and 13th November through Tourism NI’s Taste the Island Events Scheme 2019. It is fantastic to see the industry fully embrace the initiative and I would encourage everyone to visit the event and get a taste of the delicious local produce on offer,” Gary added.
Councillor Deirdre Hargey, from Belfast City Council, said: “Fostering business growth in the city is a key goal in our Belfast Agenda, so we’re delighted to partner with Tourism NI as part of their Taste the Island campaign to support local producers to showcase their offers.
Food tourism continues to grow – as our Twilight Market, which started back in November 2015 shows – it just keeps getting bigger and better every year. It’s such a special way to discover local produce, in our much loved historic and atmospheric St George’s Market. I encourage everyone to get along for an evening to remember!”
