WILTSHIRE’S finest food producers came out in force last week for a fair that set out to unite local producers with wholesale suppliers.

The event took place last Thursday at Cleeve House in Seend, and saw 30 different producers come together to showcase their best food and drink.

It was organised by the Wiltshire branch of Business in the Community, which works to develop local firms.

North Wiltshire business connector Geraldine McKibbin, who organised the event on secondment from Lloyds Bank, said: “We were very pleased with the event overall.

“It was quite crowded and there were over 100 buyers from different companies, so there was a real buzz on the day.

“We do believe there is a further demand for it – Bradford on Avon would like us to do something similar there as well, and there is possibly some scope for doing something in the south of the county too.”

Ceri Cryer, of the Brinkworth Dairy, was at the show exhibiting her cheeses.

She said: “It was a very positive event for me; it was just at the right time, as I do want to go into more pubs and restaurants.

“It was fantastic for people to be able to meet so many potential wholesale buyers, and for them to be able to taste the product and give out my price lists and contact details.

“We also had a very good motivational talk by a guy who used to be a buyer at Harrod’s and a talk about social media, which is certainly an area I could do with working on.”

Matthew Short, director of Corsham-based chocolatier Like the Spoon, said: “It was free to attend, which is very good if you are a small business.

“It was well-organised, and hopefully we will pick up a few farm shops, as we had been looking for someone locally who could deliver.

“It was probably more useful than the one we did in London, which we paid a lot of money for.”