A new website is helping consumers uncover venues serving up the best food and drink that South Australia has to offer.
Food South Australia recently launched a new EatDrink Local SA website to make it easier for patrons to find venues that support and celebrate locally produced food and beverages, and to help SA businesses showcase their world-class products.
So far nearly 200 venues across metropolitan and regional SA – including restaurants, cafes, pubs and food tourism experiences – have signed up to the free program.
These businesses can also connect to a database of customers, currently at 25,000 and growing.
To be eligible for the EatDrink Local SA program, the business must feature South Australian produce, food and beverages on its menu.
A core local ingredient must be used it at least one main dish, entrée or platter, naming the local producer or regional origin. An online registry of SA food and beverage suppliers will also be available to source local stock.
EatDrink Local SA ambassador Mandy Hall, who appeared on the 2019 season of MasterChef, said the program played a vital role in promoting local food and beverage producers.
“By celebrating and highlighting the use of local producers in hospitality, EatDrink Local SA not only supports industry but also showcases the rich and diverse range of products that our state has to offer,” Ms Hall said.
“As a state of exceptional growers, farmers, manufacturers and producers, there's so much to celebrate.”
The revitalised EatDrink Local SA platform is run by Food South Australia with support from the re-established Brand SA.
It forms part of $200,000 in funding for 2022-23, in a joint industry and State Government partnership managed through the Department for Trade and Investment to fast-track industry growth.
South Australia’s food and beverage sector accounts for almost a quarter of total manufacturing industry employment, and exports of finished SA food totalled $1.9 billion in 2020-21, which is about 13 per cent of the state’s total export value.
A valuable and renowned part of the state's food offering, the seafood industry is also set to be strengthened through a new industry-wide peak body which will give representation across different seafood sectors.
The State Government is providing $300,000 to establish Seafood Industry South Australia Incorporated, which will be a voice that represents the common interests of all seafood sectors, including wild catch, aquaculture, fish processors and retailers.
The new peak body will be industry-led and independent, and will work with government and stakeholders to represent the needs and interests of South Australia’s seafood industry.
Barossa Fine Foods and Angelakis Brothers owner Franz Knoll said the peak body would “enhance the provide of the industry and the state".
“The newly formed South Australian seafood peak body, Seafood Industry South Australia (SISA) is looking forward to a collaborative relationship with the South Australian Government to champion the growth of our state’s seafood sector,” Mr Knoll said.
The South Australian seafood industry directly employs 6700 people and contributes $814.5 million to the gross state product.
