Mulled Cywain

Mistletoe and Cywain

With Christmas round the corner, what will you be looking for to fill the stockings this year? Will you be looking for something special to add to the dinner table? Or maybe a new tipple for the festive celebrations? It’s the stuff of cold sweats and sleepless nights.

But help is on hand. Wales has always been referred to as the Land of Song, with its rolling hills, quaint villages and passionate, warm and welcoming population. Another offering that this small but mighty land has is its produce, and what better way to celebrate this year than to explore and support local Welsh food and drink producers?

A great first stop to discovering new Welsh produce is without doubt Cywain, with it’s stable of artisan producers, listed on an easy to navigate map of Wales on their website www. menterabusnes.cymru/cywain/ en/our-producers. With everything from seafood to confectionary, gifts and exquisite tipples to baked goods you’re bound to find plenty of options for your Christmas shopping list. But Cywain’s role in Wales’ food and drink community goes a lot deeper than just providing a handy list of amazing artisan producers. Cywain is a Welsh Government-funded food and drink project which has worked tirelessly over the last decade to truly advocate for Welsh producers and their craft. Offering business support in all areas from marketing, branding, collaboration via the clusters, test trading opportunities at local and international events and so much more.

Indeed, in the past four years alone, Cywain have offered their support to over 1,000 Welsh food and drink producers from all corners of the country and so from Welsh preserves, craft ales and wines, to fresh Welsh seafood and honey, there is something for everyone on Cywain’s map and directory of local producers. Just pop over to the website to find out more!

As well as supporting food and drink producers from all across Wales, Cywain is also championing a series of research commissioned by the Welsh Government, to better understand how you as consumers feel about Welsh produce. Named “The Value of Welshness”, the aim of this research is to explore our behaviours and feelings when shopping, and what the overarching feeling is in terms of seeing Welsh produce on the shelves, be it as locals but also as guests to Wales and the UK as a whole.

Having that consistent representation and exposure for their clients in the Welsh Food and Drink sector is something Cywain feels very strongly about, which is why this research is seen as vital for the future of the industry in Wales. As part of Cywain’s work with its clients, it is seen as imperative that they are made aware of anything concerning this research. Sharing findings and insights from the research ensures that all producers will continue to thrive and grow with a deeper understanding of consumer behaviour.

Despite the unprecedented challenges faced by us all across the nation, it has recently been reported that the food and drink manufacturing sector in Wales has continued to grow, with turnover increasing by 10.2% from £4.9bn to £5.4bn in 2021.

It should come as no surprise then, that Cywain’s support in the sector over the past 4 years has signifi cantly contributed to this success, with recent statistics showing that over the past 4 years Cywain has contributed to 243 additional people being added to the Welsh Food and Drink Producer workforce, with 83 of these being Welsh speakers.

Every small to medium businesses regard entering new markets and gaining new customers as a consistent business goal, and Cywain notes these as one of the project’s key objectives. From an initial 2018 target of reaching 500 new markets by 2022, Cywain have successfully surpassed this, with a total of 590 businesses having noted new markets as outputs. Trends show e-commerce as being a tour de force of these, with 130 businesses listing their produce on their own or other websites. Th e hospitality sector is also showing high numbers (hotels, bars, cafes and restaurants) with 95 businesses noting these places as new markets for them.

Every business, whether starting-up or scaling-up, has so much to learn, with marketing channels and the economic landscape constantly evolving at a fast pace. With this in mind, Cywain develops workshops and webinars throughout the year, inviting guest speakers to consult with and share insights with clients on various topics such as strategy and planning, marketing, preparing for awards and more. A target was set for Cywain to provide 300 workshops by 2022, though looking at fi gures today, the project has reached their target threefold, and have seen clients attend over 900 workshops to better their business.

Wales is a proud nation, and as we approach a new year, Cywain is proud to be continuing to support the Welsh food and drink industry to reach new highs. We can almost draw a parallel and say that, similar to Wales’ football team heading to the World Cup, collaboration is key, and we will always be #StrongerTogether.

Fantastic beers

from the heart of MonMouthshire outhshire

Brewery Shop OPEN Monday - Friday 10am - 5pm Saturday 10am - 3pm

Unit 6, Little Castle Business Park, Raglan, NP15 2BX

Take the Clytha exit at the Raglan roundabout on the A40, then take the next right signposted Llantilio Crossenny.

Most of our beers are suitable for VEGANS

Untapped Brewing Co is Raglan’s multi award winning brewery,

providing a wide range of craft beers for the trade and public, available in bottle, 5 L keg, 36 pint and 72 pint cask. You can collect from the brewery or we can deliver locally and nationally.

Call 01291 690074 or email enquiries@untappedbrew.co.uk enquiries@untappedbrew.co.uk Check out www.untappedbrew.com for the full range

The Untapped Brewing Company @untappedbrew