Welsh food has carved itself a place at the top table, largely through the efforts of the WDA’s Wynfford James
Not all the credit should go to the WDA, however, he emphasises. The Welsh National Assembly has also played a critical role. “I don’t think that we would have achieved so much without the clear support of the National Assembly government.”
Not long ago, visitors to overseas food shows would have been hard-pressed to spot the red dragon of Wales. Submerged beneath a sea of tartan from the proactive Scots, a field of four-leaved shamrocks from the Irish and an army of cardboard beefeaters from the English food sellers, the country was struggling to find its identity.
These days, Wales arguably boasts the strongest image of the lot at international fairs and is even starting to impress worldly-wise marketing groups like Germany’s CMA and France’s Sopexa.
And much of the turnaround is down to one man - Wynfford James, agri-food director of the Welsh Development Agency and as much at home rubbing shoulders with Wal-Mart buyers in Manhattan as he is with the rustics at a food show in Aberystwyth.
Speaking to me in New York City before escorting an Assembly minister to see Welsh products in the Big Apple’s delicatessens, the 52-year-old explains how, with the help of a £10m marketing budget, the WDA has elevated the nation’s image in the four years since it was established. He also reveals the love for all things Welsh that has driven him since his early days as a Welsh language activist.
That James has always been a political animal will surprise no one on the global food promotional scene. That he holds his convictions so deeply that he went to jail - more than once - might. But that is what happened. Gaining an honours degree in sociology and politics at the University College of Wales in Cardiff in 1976, he also became a prominent Welsh language activist and his campaigning - “entirely non violent” - brought him four short jail terms for offences ranging from conspiracy to contempt of court.
These days, he says, he has ditched the militancy for a subtler - but no less passionately felt - approach. And it has clearly paid off at the WDA.
The directorate team faced an uphill task in its early days in 1999. The key designer of the devolution process in Wales and former secretary of state, Ron Davies, recognised the need to focus the WDA’s efforts on the food and drink sector and backed partnership between the public and private sectors - although not everyone was singing from the same hymn sheet.
James recalls: “There was a great deal of cynicism from the farming unions, for example. They did not think that we would deliver an increased awareness of the Welsh food and drink sector, and even a stronger presence at international exhibitions.”
Starting with a “blank piece of paper” James saw the way forward in the newly vaunted approach of “co-operation across the food chain” as preached in other parts of the UK. He says: “I knew we needed to get all the Welsh regional bodies, like enterprise agencies, local authorities and farming unions around the table to share an agenda with local food producers.”
James has clocked up many car miles travelling around Wales preaching the gospel to local producers - about 30,000 miles a year, he reckons. But he thinks the effort has been worth it. “For example, the development of the Cheese from Wales co-operative has been a commercial mechanism that has allowed us to adopt an innovative approach in the industry.”
One of the side-effects of success has been a perception among overseas competitors that the Welsh have a “megabucks budget” for food and drink. James smiles at this notion and has a ready answer: “Yes, the promotional and development budget for agri-food is larger than in the past, but it is under £10m. And the investment in processing and marketing between now and 2008 will be about £100m. It’s a question of using the budget effectively.”
What counts is the ability to pull the sectors together to create credibility and new opportunities. “Remember, we began from a very low plateau.”
James is quick to dismiss the argument by some international food show players that the emergence of a strong Welsh food and drink body since devolution has reduced the need for Food from Britain to serve the Welsh cause.
“Food from Britain obviously has to come to terms with devolution, in both Wales and Scotland, and they have perhaps found the process difficult,” he says. “But there is a key role for FFB to work with us in Wales, and in Scotland and with the regional development agencies in England.
“There are opportunities for FFB to open markets for us and the relationship between ourselves and FFB has not yet settled since devolution. But we are working very closely with their international offices and that is tremendously valuable to us.”
Close associates say James, who is married to Menna Elfyn, Wales’ best known Welsh language poet, has successfully harnessed his passion for the principality to become a consummate politician and highly efficient international marketeer.
Looking back, he says: “It was clear that the image of Welsh food and drink was often indefinable. But where there was a potentially definable idea of Wales in a consumer’s mind it was about green grass, clear skies, and traditional farming producing a good product. We then had to develop a brand position for that which was credible in consumers’ thoughts. Now, in effect, we are the caretakers for the industry to develop that brand. And we have made it clear to the politicians that it is a task that will take five to 10 years.”
If they are anywhere near as productive as the last four years, England, Scotland and Ireland had better watch out.
Critical role
Not all the credit should go to the WDA, however, he emphasises. The Welsh National Assembly has also played a critical role. “I don’t think that we would have achieved so much without the clear support of the National Assembly government.”
Not long ago, visitors to overseas food shows would have been hard-pressed to spot the red dragon of Wales. Submerged beneath a sea of tartan from the proactive Scots, a field of four-leaved shamrocks from the Irish and an army of cardboard beefeaters from the English food sellers, the country was struggling to find its identity.
These days, Wales arguably boasts the strongest image of the lot at international fairs and is even starting to impress worldly-wise marketing groups like Germany’s CMA and France’s Sopexa.
And much of the turnaround is down to one man - Wynfford James, agri-food director of the Welsh Development Agency and as much at home rubbing shoulders with Wal-Mart buyers in Manhattan as he is with the rustics at a food show in Aberystwyth.
Speaking to me in New York City before escorting an Assembly minister to see Welsh products in the Big Apple’s delicatessens, the 52-year-old explains how, with the help of a £10m marketing budget, the WDA has elevated the nation’s image in the four years since it was established. He also reveals the love for all things Welsh that has driven him since his early days as a Welsh language activist.
That James has always been a political animal will surprise no one on the global food promotional scene. That he holds his convictions so deeply that he went to jail - more than once - might. But that is what happened. Gaining an honours degree in sociology and politics at the University College of Wales in Cardiff in 1976, he also became a prominent Welsh language activist and his campaigning - “entirely non violent” - brought him four short jail terms for offences ranging from conspiracy to contempt of court.
These days, he says, he has ditched the militancy for a subtler - but no less passionately felt - approach. And it has clearly paid off at the WDA.
The directorate team faced an uphill task in its early days in 1999. The key designer of the devolution process in Wales and former secretary of state, Ron Davies, recognised the need to focus the WDA’s efforts on the food and drink sector and backed partnership between the public and private sectors - although not everyone was singing from the same hymn sheet.
James recalls: “There was a great deal of cynicism from the farming unions, for example. They did not think that we would deliver an increased awareness of the Welsh food and drink sector, and even a stronger presence at international exhibitions.”
Starting with a “blank piece of paper” James saw the way forward in the newly vaunted approach of “co-operation across the food chain” as preached in other parts of the UK. He says: “I knew we needed to get all the Welsh regional bodies, like enterprise agencies, local authorities and farming unions around the table to share an agenda with local food producers.”
James has clocked up many car miles travelling around Wales preaching the gospel to local producers - about 30,000 miles a year, he reckons. But he thinks the effort has been worth it. “For example, the development of the Cheese from Wales co-operative has been a commercial mechanism that has allowed us to adopt an innovative approach in the industry.”
One of the side-effects of success has been a perception among overseas competitors that the Welsh have a “megabucks budget” for food and drink. James smiles at this notion and has a ready answer: “Yes, the promotional and development budget for agri-food is larger than in the past, but it is under £10m. And the investment in processing and marketing between now and 2008 will be about £100m. It’s a question of using the budget effectively.”
What counts is the ability to pull the sectors together to create credibility and new opportunities. “Remember, we began from a very low plateau.”
James is quick to dismiss the argument by some international food show players that the emergence of a strong Welsh food and drink body since devolution has reduced the need for Food from Britain to serve the Welsh cause.
“Food from Britain obviously has to come to terms with devolution, in both Wales and Scotland, and they have perhaps found the process difficult,” he says. “But there is a key role for FFB to work with us in Wales, and in Scotland and with the regional development agencies in England.
“There are opportunities for FFB to open markets for us and the relationship between ourselves and FFB has not yet settled since devolution. But we are working very closely with their international offices and that is tremendously valuable to us.”
Close associates say James, who is married to Menna Elfyn, Wales’ best known Welsh language poet, has successfully harnessed his passion for the principality to become a consummate politician and highly efficient international marketeer.
Looking back, he says: “It was clear that the image of Welsh food and drink was often indefinable. But where there was a potentially definable idea of Wales in a consumer’s mind it was about green grass, clear skies, and traditional farming producing a good product. We then had to develop a brand position for that which was credible in consumers’ thoughts. Now, in effect, we are the caretakers for the industry to develop that brand. And we have made it clear to the politicians that it is a task that will take five to 10 years.”
If they are anywhere near as productive as the last four years, England, Scotland and Ireland had better watch out.
Critical role
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