Food Town Initiative

STONEHAVEN BUSINESS ASSOCIATION   STONEHAVEN FOOD TOWN INITIATIVE   REPORT – S.B.A. AGM 7 APRIL 2008   One of the main objects of Stonehaven Business Association has always been to support local businesses in Stonehaven and over the years we have done so in many different ways.  When I visited Castle Douglas near Dumfries over a year ago, I noted that it was designated as ‘Castle Douglas Food Town’ with the aim of attracting more visitors and shoppers to the town.  Castle Douglas is smaller than Stonehaven and almost all the food shops and businesses were located along the main street through the town.  It did not have the range of food businesses and quality cafes and restaurants that we have in Stonehaven.    Over the past year, I have looked into how many food businesses we have in Stonehaven and came to the conclusion that the most obvious way to support food businesses was to designate Stonehaven as The North East Food Town.  Interestingly there was a Council organised seminar for town centres held in Huntly last December and one of the speakers was from Dumfries & Galloway Council on theme towns including the Castle Douglas Food Town.  The committee of S.B.A. therefore agreed last December that we would designate Stonehaven as the Food Town and look to make progress with this with a view to launching it during 2008.   The aim of the new initiative will be to show that Stonehaven can offer quality food, either the best fresh food from our superb range of shops or top quality cuisine in our many fine hotels, cafes, restaurants and take-aways.  We want more people, both local and visitors, to appreciate just what Stonehaven has to offer.  The Food Town will therefore provide a showcase for quality food shops from award winning butchers, top class bakers and confectioners, delicatessens, fresh fish merchants and grocery shops and supermarkets.    Stonehaven has many advantages, a market town with a coastal and a rural community on the coast with access to the freshest fish, close to the rich farmlands of the Mearns and within reach of Royal Deeside.  For 200 years the tree lined Market Square has been the centre of the town where formerly local farmers and producers came to sell their products and now a monthly Farmers Market brings a wide range of fresh foods to Stonehaven.  Around the Square and surrounding streets a range of traditional foods shops compete and vie for attention including. I am sure that all can compete with the best in our cities and are mainly local independent businesses.   The picturesque harbour and beach front attract many visitors who can also appreciate the fine food in a wide range of quality cafes, tea rooms, bars, hotels and restaurants offering everything from a sandwich to top quality cuisine.  Stonehaven has hotels and restaurants which are amongst the best in Scotland and the newest edition of Scotland The Best Guide includes The Marine Hotel, The Tolbooth, The Carron Restaurant and Sandy’s and The Bay Chip Shop.    Discussions have taken place with several local food businesses and we have compiled a list of over 50 businesses in and around Stonehaven.  A Food Town Group has been set up and we are planning to launch the Food Town in June this year with a visiting TV celebrity connected with the fishing industry.  We are setting up a new website, there will be leaflets to publicise the Food Town and we will work with the Tourism Group to ensure that the Food Town initiative ties in with other tourism plans for the town.  In the town itself, you will see window stickers and hopefully in due course, banners and signs.  S.B.A. are putting up initial finance and have applied for funding from Aberdeenshire Council.  Food businesses joining the scheme will also be asked to make a small contribution.  In due course, we hope to see further promotions for the Food Town including specialist food events and other ideas.   We feel that Stonehaven folk should be more proud of their town and what it has to offer and rather than travelling to out of town supermarkets, to find that Stonehaven can provide all their food shopping and at the very best quality with the continuing threat of a supermarket on the edge of Stonehaven, I would hope that we can show that food businesses can offer the best.  We would like to see Stonehaven become more widely recognised as a market town, offering excellent food and drink and to be seen as a strong, vibrant town with a quality range of retail food businesses which will attract people from Aberdeen and all over the North East of Scotland as well as visiting tourists from further afield.  This is one of the most exciting ventures in Stonehaven for some years and I look forward to receiving your support.   Report by Gordon Ritchie 7th April 2008