As a branding exercise, this is quite a sweet one. A Derbyshire village is developing its own range of food, including jams, meat and dairy products, in a bid to revive the community and bring a bit of cash and tourism to the area.
Tideswell has been awarded more than £400,000 from the Big Lottery fund for the purpose, and is planning to build a community kitchen and garden, which will also be used for training and cookery classes. The food produced will carry the “Taste Tideswell” label.This is a lovely example of a community pulling together, using its history of producing fine food to raise its profile and make money.
E-procurement firm Coupa, while not necessarily having the same background in quality comestibles, had a similar idea at the Institute for Supply Management conference last month in San Diego. In a bid to raise its profile – and, presumably, popularity – the company was inviting delegates to “procurement paradise” at the “Coupa Cabana”, giving out its very own brand of cocktail, the Cloudy Coupa. Ingredients: Malibu, Frangelico, blue Curacao and coconut milk… garnished with marshmallows.
It sounds revolting, but the company is confident that “the Cloudy Coupa will soon replace the Pina Colada as the must-have drink of summer”, it said in its newsletter. HT might stick with the Pimm’s.