Blas Cymru / Taste Wales is a Favourite Among Buyers

I’ve spent most of my career on the buying side of the table. I started as a buyer at Waitrose, then moved to Booths, where I spent around 13 years across buying, management and store management before becoming marketing director. After that I joined Westmorland as commercial director and later ran a farm shop in Yorkshire.

Having seen the pressures buyers operate under, and the realities of category management, I’ve come to appreciate what makes an event genuinely useful. That perspective is why Blas Cymru / Taste Wales stands out so clearly.

Facilitated by the Welsh Government, there isn’t another event in the UK quite like it. Buyers tell us that every year. They look forward to it, and once they’ve been, they tend to want to return. The contrast with traditional trade shows is significant. At a trade show, producers invest heavily in stands and staff for several days, hoping the right buyer might walk past at the right moment. It is, in many ways, down to luck. Blas Cymru / Taste Wales removes that uncertainty. Instead of chance encounters, buyers get scheduled, focused 20-minute meetings with producers they have chosen in advance. For buyers, whose inboxes are inundated with requests and whose time is limited, that structure is invaluable.

The online meeting diary is central to the format. Buyers can filter for exactly what they need – an organic product in a specific category, for example – and the diary manages the whole process. If a producer invites a buyer to a meeting and the buyer isn’t interested, they can simply decline without having to justify it. That respects their time and avoids unnecessary back-and-forth. Because producers receive a lot of training beforehand, the meetings themselves tend to be concise and well-prepared. We spend time helping them refine their elevator pitch, research the buyer and understand what the category requires. When this is done well, both sides benefit.

But buyers also comment on the experience beyond the formal meetings. They appreciate coming to Wales, the hospitality, the informality of the evening events and, importantly, the opportunity to taste products across the day. Walking buyers through the showcase and hearing their reactions is one of my favourite parts of the event. This year, for example, many paused when they reached a display of flavoured goat’s cheese pearls made by Philippa Galway of Flavour Moments, who was there as one of the rising stars. They hadn’t seen a product like it before, and the level of interest was obvious.

They hadn’t seen anything quite like them, and you could sense the interest. I wasn’t surprised when she won the new product award – although she certainly was.

Over the years, the quality of conversations has deepened. As the event has evolved, so has the calibre of the producers attending. Buyers repeatedly tell us that packaging quality has improved noticeably. They can often spot outliers – not because the products lack potential, but because their packaging hasn’t yet communicated the point of difference clearly enough. That feedback loops directly into the support producers receive. Behind the scenes, we match businesses with experienced designers and advisors so they can act on what the market needs.

Sustainability was a central theme this year because it is firmly at the top of buyers’ agendas. They have stringent targets and reporting responsibilities, so they look for producers who can demonstrate practical progress. The sustainability showcase allowed us to highlight the work being done across Wales, supported by Welsh Government programmes focused on production, carbon reduction and adaptation. Buyers respond well when they can see the real activity happening behind the label.

Newness is another major draw. We had 200 new products this year, and quite a few producers now time their launches to coincide with the event. For buyers, this keeps things fresh. For producers, it creates a moment to capture attention. The rising stars are always especially compelling. Many are early in their journey and still building confidence, so they need a bit more support. But buyers consistently find something special there – a business they spot early and want to keep an eye on.

For me, the most distinctive feature of Blas Cymru / Taste Wales is the collaboration. Buyers comment on it constantly. Producers support one another in a way that’s unusual in this sector. You feel it when you walk the hall. People share advice, experiences and contacts rather than guarding them. From a buyer’s perspective, that creates a very positive environment. From a producer’s perspective, it helps them step into conversations feeling prepared rather than intimidated.

Blas Cymru /Taste Wales isn’t a trade show. It’s a structured, buyer-centred event designed to remove barriers, make meetings meaningful and give producers the best chance of success. As someone who has spent years making decisions about what goes on shelves, I know how hard it is for a small business to win time with a buyer. This event changes those odds. It’s why buyers return, and why producers benefit.

Julie Mills talks about this and more in the Food and Drink podcast episode Driving Growth at Blas Cymru / Taste Wales 2025. Listen to the podcast here.