Success for St David’s Day 2023 #CaruCymruCaruBlas #LoveWalesLoveTaste campaign

During the past month the Welsh Government’s St David’s Day 2023 #CaruCymruCaruBlas / #LoveWalesLoveTaste campaign has achieved record numbers, with a greater number of impactful impressions, stronger links with the retail and hospitality sectors, and increased consumer awareness.

Established in 2020 by the Welsh Government’s Food and Drink Wales Trade Development Programme, working in collaboration with the industry, the campaign aims to encourage consumers to celebrate and show their love for Welsh food and drink.

Impressions from this year’s campaign have reached a record 17,853,654, with brand awareness at 44%* amongst Welsh consumers. These results are testament to the campaign’s strength and focused collaboration between the industry and the Welsh Government.

Commenting on the success, Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd, Lesley Griffiths, said,

“These figures show what a positive impact the #CaruCymruCaruBlas #LoveWalesLoveTaste has had on our food and drink industry, and highlights the wonderful food and drink we have in Wales.

“St. David’s Day presents us with a fantastic opportunity to celebrate our people, our heritage, our culture and, of course, our high-quality food and drink producers, which is what this campaign reinforces.”

The campaign has been positively received by the trade for promoting a cohesive sales and marketing strategy that supports both Welsh and GB listings whilst embedding core marketing principles and skills within the industry, and raising the overall capability of Welsh food and drink businesses to support the development and expansion of product listings.

Overall, the campaign has been instrumental in driving growth and promoting the Welsh food and drink industry.

Key highlights of the campaign include:

· #CaruCymruCaruBlas #LoveWalesLoveTaste digital marketing toolkit used by 114 food and drink companies.

· 10 food and drink companies collaborating in a social media food and drink campaign and hamper giveaway competition.

· ITV Wales and S4C aired a two week ‘hero’ campaign – five separate 30 second TV adverts produced with #CaruCymruCaruBlas #LoveWalesLoveTaste messaging.

· Competition – Companies provided with opportunity to apply to take part in an outdoor advertising campaign for those with multiple retail listings or a mobile advertising campaign for companies with independent retail listings and/or online shop.

· Outdoors advertising throughout Wales outside retailers and high impact outdoors in key ‘gateway’ sites to Wales in 5 major cities.

· Mobile advertising on high impact websites showcasing 15 different food and drink producers with links to their website shops.

· 12,000 daffodils created into a heart shape with #CaruCymruCaruBlas/#LoveWalesLoveTaste branding in the grounds of Cardiff Castle – picked up by several newspapers and ITV’s ‘Good Morning Britain’ and ‘Lorraine’ shows.

For further information on Food and Drink Wales visit www.gov.wales/foodanddrinkwales

*Sources

*On-line survey using VYPR – prompted brand awareness with 190 Welsh consumers