WAs recipes for success
Celebrity chefs at the Margaret River Gourmet Escape last weekend needed no convincing that WA had some of the best produce in the world.
"We at the (Fat) Duck, we bought more truffles from Western Australia this year than we did from Perigord in France," Heston Blumenthal said. "They were better and more consistent."
Manjimup truffles. Broome corn. Albany oysters. Shark Bay prawns. WA's food industry is worth $20 billion annually in retail and exports, which are set to get a boost from last week's China-Australia Free Trade Agreement that will abolish tariffs on a range of Australian goods, including dairy, beef, lamb and seafood, over the next four years.
Locally, producers are in the box seat as our appetite for artisanal foods has never been stronger, driven by the Department of Agriculture and Food's Buy West Eat Best program that makes it easy to identify home grown. It makes sense because people increasingly want to know where their food comes from.
Buy West Eat Best was launched to consumers in 2008 in response to a petition to _The West Australian _in 2005 which saw more than 50,000 people demand more accurate food labelling. Products must meet strict criteria and are readily identifiable by a green logo on packaging.
"Fresh foods and the main ingredients in processed foods must have been grown, farmed or fished in Western Australia," Stuart Clarke, the department's director of food, trade and agri-business development, said. "They must also be processed in our State.
"Certainly, all things local are capturing the consumer imagination like never before and Buy West Eat Best's success has been validated by the endorsement from key influential industry players."
So far, 114 food producers, manufacturers, retailers and restaurants have signed up, led by major retailers Coles, Woolworths and IGA coming on board to promote the logo, which has been approved for more than 1500 food products.
Big names include Crown Perth through its restaurants Bistro Guillaume, Nobu, Silks and Modo Mio, which have just joined, and there are more than 500 associated members, such as the Southern Forests Food Council.
"Our guests can be confident that their dishes in each of our restaurants showcase the finest and freshest local ingredients, not to mention the tastiest," Crown Perth's general manager of food and beverage Chris Harris said. "It is also incredibly important that we support the local WA industry, so our restaurants have strong, ongoing relationships with local suppliers and small businesses. We can confirm that at least one item on each menu will feature only Western Australian produce in its entirety."
Sport fans will also get a taste of the Buy West Eat Best experience at Patersons Stadium during the 2015 season as the WA Football Commission joins forces with hospitality giant Delaware North to upgrade catering and promote local flavours through supplier agreements with Buy West Eat Best members and companies across a range of categories, including eggs, poultry, seafood, meat, baked goods, coffee and confectionary.
'All things
local are capturing imaginations.'" *Stuart Clarke *
