Caithness CWS - Regeneration Caithness and North Sutherland - 2007 - Prince charles Mey Selections

22 August 07
North Highlands Produce Showcased At Ackergill
A bountiful selection of the best of the North Highlands food and drink produce, brought together by HIE Caithness and Sutherland, was visited by HRH Prince Charles recently.

Producers from throughout Caithness and Sutherland gathered together at Ackergill Tower near Wick to welcome national and local buyers.

In 2005 His Royal Highness launched the North Highland Initiative to improve the economy and sustainability of the area by developing a new brand to sell the region's produce - Mey Selections.

Opening The Taste of Caithness and Sutherland event, William Roe, chair of Highlands And Islands Enterprise (HIE), said that for far too long the bounty of the countiesï¿½ produce had been too much of a well-kept secret.

"This is the first event that brings together all that is good about North Highlands produce. Agriculture remains one of the main economic drivers in the region and Taste of Caithness and Sutherland shows that what is being produced is of the highest quality,"

The event provided a platform for 25 local producers to exhibit a range of premium local produce ranging from meat to organic eggs, fish to oysters, honey to chocolate, cheese to Highland oatcakes. Visitors, including national supermarket and foodservice operators, and local buyers.

Danny Miller, chairman of North Highland Products, who manages the Mey Selections brand, welcomed the HIE initiative.

"Our company was a direct result of the foresight of the North Highland Initiative and it is wonderful to see 11 of Mey Selections suppliers represented, and the farmers from North Highland Products.

Note
The North Highland Initiative
North Highland Initiative was established to boost the economy of the North Highlands of Scotland by promoting its produce, tourism and the built environment. Prince Charles launched the Mey Selections brand in August 2005. North Highland Products Ltd was supported by an award of ï¿½71,000 from the Scottish Executive under its Marketing Development Scheme with some additional support from Caithness Enterprise and the Nuclear Decommissioning Agency. North Highland Products is also funded by a small amount of money put in by an initial group of farmers and from an ongoing levy on producers to assist with administration and marketing costs. For its Mey Selections brand, North Highland Products selects and sources only the highest quality farm and food products from within a hundred miles radius of the Castle of Mey. The brand was set up to focus initially on the prime beef, lamb and mutton reared in the area, although it was anticipated from the outset that other quality foods from the region, such as fish, honey, jam, cheese and pork would be added to the range once the business was established.
The second phase of the NHI was the launch of a tourism marketing strategy which focuses on the idea of ï¿½Pleasure in the Extremeï¿½, rooted in the physical and environmental extremes that exist in the North Highlands. The Built Environment is phase three of the North Highland Initiative and was launched by Prince Charles in July 2007.

Mey Selections

Pleasure in the Extreme