Celebrating Welsh food and drink

specialityfoodmagazine.com 7 heritage. Sheep and beef farming is embedded inWales’ culture and is a backbone across rural communities. Farming practices have been passed down generation to generation, establishingWales’ reputation for creating high quality lamb and beef. Welsh Lamb andWelsh Beef also enjoy European and UK protected geographical indications (PGIs) acknowledging their distinct and unique qualities. Wales’ landscape is fundamental to Welsh Lamb andWelsh Beef’s reputation and production. Most of Wales’ beautiful yet challenging landscape is only suitable for growing grass and rearing sheep and cattle. Welsh farmers pay great attention to nurturing andmanaging the land and pastures since it is themain ingredient in producing high quality PGI Welsh Lamb and PGI Welsh Beef. Wales retains a strong heritage and legacy of sheep and beef farming. Wales ismade up of the network of family farms which are typically handed down generation to generationwithmany families farming the same land for hundreds of years. Welsh Lamb andWelsh Beef are well known inWales and the UK but Welsh Lamb, in particular, enjoys a global reputation also. Welsh Lamb is exported to discerning customers around the world including France, Italy, Germany, the UAE, Japan and America. In 2024 the total volume of sheepmeat exported fromWales was estimated at almost 29,000 tonnes (this includes fresh, frozen & offal products). The estimated value of these exports stood at £201.6 million [Source: HCC estimates based on HMRC data]. WELSH FARMERS PAY GREAT ATTENTION TO NURTURING AND MANAGING THE LAND AND PASTURES SINCE IT IS THE MAIN INGREDIENT IN PRODUCING HIGH QUALITY PGI WELSH LAMB AND PGI WELSH BEEF Welsh redmeat levy body Hybu Cig Cymru –Meat PromotionWales (HCC) works on behalf of the industry to promote Welsh Lamb andWelsh Beef and support retailers with business development and promotion. HCC is funded directly through farmers and industry and are available to support with supply chains as well as sales andmarketing. Gwen Davies, ValeVineyard Quite often we’remet with huge surprise that we can produce wine inWales, but our range of still and sparkling wines is popular withinWales and elsewhere in the UK. Having high demand and a limited supply means we can sell themat a higher price point. We have to get out and tell the story, and we welcome a lot of visitors on our tours over the summer which is very popular – it’s lovely to surprise themon the quality of the wine. Our aim is to be as sustainable as possible. We bring some of the sheep down from the other farmover the winter and they graze between the vines and tidy up all the grass before we start pruning. We’re not disrupting the soil at all, so we’re not releasing carbon – everything is contained and recycled. We have also been experimenting with disease resistant PIWI varieties of vines which require a lot less spraying than conventional grape varietals; so long as we keep their nutrients in check over the summer, they prettymuch look after themselves. The support of local people as well the wider Welsh community for what we’re doing always astounds us. There’s been a lot of research into the value of Welsh food and drink and people are really passionate about supporting local businesses – they like to see Welsh branding on their food and drink, which is heartening. THE SUPPORT OF LOCAL PEOPLE AS WELL THE WIDER WELSH COMMUNITY FOR WHAT WE’RE DOING ALWAYS ASTOUNDS US