Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Branding
A food trail does need to be branded to enable the visitor to identify who is
a genuine food trail member and who is not. The brand, via a logo, must be
clearly visible to travellers. The food trail is the key brand in the consumer's
mind, not the name of the individual enterprise and this can cause some con-
flict in some growers' minds.
The objective is to get tourists to the region and the overall brand has to be
the 'hero'. Tom O'Toole is a conference speaker and the owner of Beechworth
Bakery (
www.beechworthbakery.com.au)
in Beechworth, a remote town
around 3 hours' drive from Melbourne in Victoria, Australia. Tom has the
most successful standalone independent bakery in the southern hemisphere.
His motto has always been 'My job is to get them to Beechworth, once I have
got them to Beechworth, I can then sell them bread.' The same thinking
should be behind food trail development.
The aim of the marketing campaign should be to encourage the culinary
tourist to the region, not to individual businesses.
What are the objectives?
Food trails need to be thought through thoroughly before development com-
mences. Consider why the trail is being developed and what are the objectives.
The Gascoyne Food Trail (
www.gascoynefood.com.au)
in Western
Australia is an extremely well organized food trail and the organizers have
developed clear objectives:
•
Maximize the opportunities for the local primary producers and to in-
crease their sales and profits;
•
Sell directly to the public and to attract more consumers to the region;
•
Stimulate added value opportunities for local produce;
•
Showcase the local producers in the region. These local producers can
include cafés, restaurants and eateries that use local food, producers,
local food events, food markets, value-adding food producers that use
local produce, regional food retailers and retailers in hospitality;
•
Ensure the food trail has a positive impact on the region;
•
Increase the awareness of, and then the consumption of, food grown in
the region;
•
Encourage positive interaction between producers and visitors; and
•
Encourage food diversity in the region.
Experience has shown that a food trail needs to be structured profession-
ally. The group involved will need a coordinator and a management com-
mittee to ensure the food trail is a success. Members should pay to join the
group and adhere to the rules of the group.
To become a member in most food trails the producer has to fit into one
of four groups:
