Taste of Moray Speyside

Taste of Moray Speyside was one of the 22 projects across Scotland that was successful in the 2023/24 Regional Food Fund.

Taste Of Moray Speyside is Visit Moray Speyside’s food and drink brand. It was launched in June 2023 alongside a brand-new website and 180-mile circular driving route. The brand aims to highlight Moray Speyside as a fantastic food and drink destination. There are 77 businesses currently part of Taste Of Moray Speyside.

We caught up with Euan Armstrong, Tourism Project Coordinator at Visit Moray Speyside, on how the Regional Food Fund has helped with recent projects. 

Question One

What did the project aim to achieve? 

"There were four main aims of the project:

  • Promotion of local food and drink businesses
  • Celebrate and champion the use of locally sourced ingredients
  • Promoting education and emphasising sustainability in the food and drink industry
  • Enhance Moray’s appeal as a food and drink destination."
Question Two

How did the Regional Food Fund help?

"Four projects were fully funded, including Moray Speyside’s first-ever Cocktail Week and Farm To Fork Week, a new promotional video, and the creation of 5,000 flyers."

Find out more about each of the four projects below.

Taste of Moray Speyside's Four Projects

"Cocktail Week, the first project, took place in February 2024 and involved fourteen businesses. For one-week, businesses came together under the Taste Of Moray Speyside brand and offered exciting cocktail discounts, new masterclasses, and other cocktail themed events.  Social media influencers and local newspapers were utilised to promote the event and a brand-new Cocktail Week webpage was added to the Taste Of Moray Speyside website. The event was very successful with numerous businesses hoping there would be a rerun."

"Farm To Fork followed the exact same template as Cocktail Week, but instead of Cocktails, adorable farm animals and sustainability became the theme. Taking place in late March 2024, the event involved five different farms and agritourism businesses. Farm tours and farmers' markets were held throughout the week, with most events selling out and even causing some traffic congestion due to the high demand for the markets. Influencers and local newspapers were utilised to promote the event, with a special two-page cover appearing in The Northern Scot."

"Our third project was the creation of a brand-new Taste Of Moray Speyside promotional video. The video was launched at the beginning of April 2024 and features just under 30 different food and drink businesses. It is fast-paced and exciting, grabbing people’s attention with Scottish-themed music and placing Moray Speyside as a top destination for food and drink. The video was launched on social media, and a small investment was made into Facebook adverts, leading to a large injection of new followers."

"The final project was the creation and printing of new Taste Of Moray Speyside flyers. These small A5-sized leaflets promote all the wonderful food and drink businesses along Taste Of Moray Speyside and help build the physical presence of the brand. 5,000 flyers have been printed, with thousands already distributed to all member businesses."

Question Three

What has the Regional Food Fund helped you achieve?

"The Regional Food Fund has contributed to Taste Of Moray Speyside’s overall brand presence by assisting in the development of various events and promotional activities. This has also helped our member businesses recognise the value of being part of Taste Of Moray Speyside. The feedback from businesses participating in Cocktail Week and Farm To Fork Week has been overwhelmingly positive.

The introduction of the promotional video, along with additional Facebook advertisements, has been particularly effective in increasing Taste Of Moray Speyside’s presence. Within the first seven days after the video was released, the follower count on the Taste Of Moray Speyside Facebook page increased from 860 to over 1,100, representing a 22% increase."

Quote

The introduction of the promotional video, along with additional Facebook advertisements, has been particularly effective in increasing Taste Of Moray Speyside’s presence. Within the first seven days after the video was released, our Facebook followers increased by 22%.

— Euan Armstrong , Tourism Project Coordinator

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