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Over 20 food and drink producers and approximately 80 buyers attended the Local Food Buying and Supplying event in Huddersfield on Monday.

Barrington Douglas, chef at Discovery Bay; the Mayor of Kirklees; and Tim Bilton, chef at The Butchers Arms.

The producers included Andrew Jones, Bolling Coffee, Coddy’s Farm, Covent Garden and Yummy Yorkshire who impressed local and national buyers with the quality and variety of their produce at the event held at the Galpharm Stadium on November 2.

Approximately 80 buyers from catering companies, cafes, hotel chains, restaurants and a major supermarket came to sample the produce, talk to the producers and strike up business deals. They were joined by specialist business support organisations including Delicouslyorkshire: Yorkshire Food Group, Yorkshire Forward Rural Development Fund and Design Futures, the Sheffield Hallam University’s specialist food packaging design centre.

The Mayor of Kirklees, Cllr Julie Stewart-Turner said: “There was a real buzz about the event and it was fantastic to see businesses relationships forming and new leads being generated. I am very proud of the produce we have on offer and I hope that the event generates a lot of new business for our local producers.”

Local chefs Tim Bilton, Yorkshire Professional Chef of the Year and chef at the Butchers Arms at Hepworth; and Barrington Douglas, chef at Discovery Bay Caribbean restaurant in Huddersfield showed their support by demonstrating how local produce makes spectacular tasting food.

Barrington Douglas said: “Kirklees is a great place to be a chef. We have amazing produce on our doorstep and people who love good food. I was really pleased that the Mayor asked me to support this initiative and I hope that we can get more chefs and food businesses to start using local produce.”

The event was also an opportunity for the Mayor of Kirklees to launch her Local Food Awards which will celebrate the work and recognise the effort that businesses, schools, community groups and individuals put in to supporting and promoting local produce. The deadline for nominations is February 12 next year with the awards ceremony taking place on March 22. Further information about the awards is available at http://www.kirklees.gov.uk/localfood.

Local producers included:

Andrew Jones (Pies) Ltd, A Piece of Cake, Catherine’s Choice, Coddy’s Farm, Bolling Coffee Ltd, Covent Garden Ltd, Bradley Villa Farm, Fresh and Green Food, Holmfirth Tea, Curry Cuisine Ltd, Hostingley Farm Free Range, I D Caterers, Little Valley Brewery, Propermaid, Longley Farm, Plus Foods, The Good Soup Company, Yorkshire Outdoor Pork, The Chilli Jam Man, Yummy Yorkshire Ice cream, Ryedale Vineyards, The Handmade Bakery and W.S. Bentley Growers Ltd