Austrade media release16 June 2009
London’s gourmet shoppers will be offered a unique Australian foodie experience as part of G’day UK celebrations at iconic UK retailer Selfridges, later this month.
Austrade’s Senior Trade Commissioner for the UK, Kylie Hargreaves, said the Oxford Street foodie heaven will host a number of Australian-themed G'day UK activities to help raise the profile of Australian food & wine.
Visitors to Selfridges’ Wonderbar will have the opportunity to sample premium Australian wines through the bar’s innovative enomatic machines which offer a wide range of wines by the glass. Dawn Davies, Selfridges Wine Buyer, will also be adding a touch of ‘Down Under’ to the store’s wine shop using themed displays and VIP wine tastings with well-known wine personalities.
Michelin-starred chefs Shane Osborn and Brett Graham will be creating an Australian-themed food & wine menu exclusively for the Selfridges Gallery Restaurant using produce that will be available in the Selfridges Food Hall to purchase. There will also be exclusive promotions and sampling opportunities on selected Australian produce within the Food Hall giving customers even more reason to ‘Go Australian’.
Ms Hargreaves said the great interest from Selfridges is a testament to Australia’s unique food offering.
“There is now a huge range of premium, innovative Australian products available in both gourmet stores and supermarkets in the UK and demand simply seems to keep growing,” she said.
“For example ‘free-from’ foods (eg. Free from gluten, dairy) have long been an accepted part of the Australian shopping experience, the UK is picking up this trend and the free-from market has recorded double-digit value and volume sales growth in recent years.
“Products that provide health benefits as well as convenience are also predicted to become more prevalent as consumers demand more from convenience food in the UK. By 2015, the UK takeaway and convenience food sector is predicted to experience double-digit growth to reach a value of £12.3bn.”
G’day UK is a vibrant celebration of uniquely Australian products, people, places, businesses, skills and attitude and is part of a broader strategy by Australia to continue to develop its relations across the world.
G’day UK 2009 is supported by the New South Wales, Queensland, Victorian, South Australian and Western Australian State Governments, Austrade, Qantas and Tourism Australia in conjunction with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Wine Australia, Australian Business and key private sector sponsors.
For further information please visit www.gday-uk.co.uk
ENDS
Media contactSamantha Mattila, Senior Media Adviser
Tel: (02) 9390 2388
Mob: 0434 567 673
Email: Samantha.Mattila@austrade.gov.au
For further news and information from the Australian Trade Commission (Austrade) visit www.austrade.gov.au//mediacentre.
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