Visitors to the Rewind Festival at Scone Palace in 2010 got a real taste of Perthshire as local chefs, farmers and producers served up tasty treats to festival-goers using high quality, home-grown, local produce.
Jim Fairlie at Logiealmond, Jamesfield Organic Centre and Thomas Thomson (Blairgowrie) Ltd were among the top food producers who came together as ‘Perthshire Farmers and Producers’ to serve up the best of Perthshire to the crowd of 15,000 festival-goers.
Perthshire Farmers and Producers’ was set up by Jim Fairlie and his wife Anne McGhee in 2009 to tap into the market for high quality, Perthshire produce at events taking place across the area.
Jim says:
“Having attended a number of events in the area over recent years, Anne and I noticed that there was a real gap in the market for catering which offered fresh, local produce to visitors. All too often, the food on offer was of poor quality and based on produce brought in from outside Perthshire.
"We were frankly astonished that so many event organisers were not making the most of the rich larder available right here on our doorstep.
“Anne and I therefore set up Perthshire Farmers and Producers with the aim of getting Perthshire food to be the number one choice for event organisers either resident or coming into the area. We bring in other businesses with the same ethos as ourselves to ensure that our customers go away delighted with what they've had in terms of quality and service.
“It’s a ‘win win’ situation, really. Visitors to events go away more satisfied and at the same time we’re able to provide a platform for local farmers and producers to showcase their products to a much wider audience.”
Jim and Anne have already achieved significant success in the events market, attending T in the Park, ETAPE Caledonia in Highland Perthshire, and the Rally of Scotland at Scone Palace.
In preparation for Rewind, Jim and Anne worked with local chef Graeme Pallister to develop an innovative menu for visitors to the three day festival.
Dishes on offer included ‘Farmer Fairlie Pies’ using beef and mutton reared on Jim’s own farm at Logiealmond on Mansfield Estates, plus home-made burgers and shepherd’s pie with minted peas – all using produce from Perthshire farms.
Elspeth Bruce, Administrator at Scone Palace said:
“Research has shown that for many visitors, culinary tourism is an integral part of their travel experience and that there is increasing demand from visitors to sample distinctive local food and to taste traditional cooking.
"We are therefore really delighted that Perthshire produce was showcased in such a great way at Rewind and that produce grown and reared on our own estate featured so prominently on the menu.”