3. What action will the Minister take to further promote Welsh food and drink produce in 2019? OAQ53434

Thank you. A significant amount of work is undertaken to promote Welsh food and drink. One example is the biannual Taste Wales event, which is taking place again next month at the Celtic Manor resort. There will be over 100 Welsh food producers who will meet over 150 buyers, a third of whom are international. 

Thank you very much for that answer, Minister. A YouGov survey of consumers carried out for NFU Cymru found that Brexit could help drive sales in Welsh produce once the UK leaves the European Union. A quarter of respondents said that buying Welsh produce will be more important to them post Brexit, while an additional 31 per cent said that buying Welsh produce is important to them now and will remain so. Minister, what discussion have you had with regard to food labelling to ensure that Welsh farmers and producers can take full advantage of the potential benefits indicated in this consumer survey?  

I think that food labelling is very important, and it's part of ongoing discussions, particularly post Brexit. I think that people are far more interested in where their food and drink comes from than they were probably just a couple of decades ago. I think that having the dragon on our food, showing that it was made in Wales, is very important, and people really recognise that. If I can just say: just yesterday, another food—actually, the first fruit—gained protected food name status from Europe, and that was the Vale of Clwyd Denbigh plum. It was great to welcome them into an ever-growing family. I think that's 16 food and drink products and, as I say, it's the first fruit.

The food and drink industry in Wales issued a report last summer saying that UK consumers wanted to see more Welsh produce. That was at the same time as, of course, Welsh produce was rebranded as British produce at the Royal Welsh Show last year. Can the Minister update us on what the Government has been doing since then to try to stop this rebranding of Wales by the British state?  

So, the Member is referring to a commercial decision that was taken by the Royal Welsh Show to allow the UK Government to sponsor the outside of the food hall. That will not be happening again this year; I can assure you of that. Those discussions are ongoing about Welsh produce being labelled in that way. Certainly, I think that the majority of companies that I work with do feel it's a massive advantage. They feel it's very easy to sell Welsh food and drink with that branding on it.