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A feast of support for county’s food sector!

THE county’s flourishing food and drink sector has just received another boost after the announcement of a new pot of money to help support manufacturers in the county.

It comes with the news that The Mallows Company, based in Bozeat near Wellingborough, has been chosen to provide lead support for the FEAST (Food Enterprise Advisory Support Team) project, which was awarded to the Food and Drink Forum and which is part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund.

The two-year funded project will enable eligible food and drink manufacturers in the county to access such free support as signposting to grants, technical expertise, sector events, apprenticeships and mentoring while it also extends into Aylesbury, Bedford, Cherwell, Luton and Milton Keynes within the wider SEMLEP (South East Midlands Local Enterprise Partnership) area.

The Mallows Company, which already operates the successful Carlsberg UK Northamptonshire Food and Drink Awards and the county’s networking group for producers, local food stockists and eateries, Made In Northamptonshire (MIN), will be supported by Moulton College, Central Bedfordshire Council and the University of Northampton.

Among those set to benefit from FEAST is John Evans from Towcester Mill Brewery who believes the additional support they will receive will be a big fillip to their relatively new business: “Our involvement with the awards and MIN in the last two and half years since we started has been invaluable, both in terms of raising our profile and helping us to find new stockists,” said John.

“So news of this project is a really exciting step which will only strengthen the local food and drink scene and I’m looking forward to taking full advantage of all the extra free help that’s now on offer to us.”

Meanwhile, FEAST director, Rachel Mallows MBE, says the project presents a massive opportunity to help businesses overcome some of the barriers they may face: “Having got to know so many passionate food and drink producers over recent years, I feel privileged that this funding will enable us to further extend our support.

“Whether it’s providing targeted guidance from one of our expert mentors, or simply signposting them to the right grant funding, I’m confident that we can make a big difference in helping those companies to develop and grow.”

FEAST, which is worth £7.1 million in total, will receive £3.5 million funding from the European Regional Development Fund as part of the European Structural and Investment Funds Growth Programme 2014-2020.

For more details of FEAST, or to register your business for the free project, please contact Amanda Askew at The Mallows Company on 01933 664437 or email

Companies mentioned in this article

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