Eat Drink Hebrides, part of Outer Hebrides Tourism, was established in 2016 to support food and drink businesses across the Outer Hebrides from Barra to the Butt of Lewis. The Outer Hebrides, with a strong history of traditional crofting and fishing, has an abundance of local produce. Visitors can follow the Eat Drink Hebrides Trail and design their own, self-guided food and drink journey through the islands. There are currently about 50 members featuring as part of the trail, and an interactive website developed in response to the pandemic as a window to showcase producers.
There are plans to further build on this activity to support businesses and strengthen the link to food and drink from the Outer Hebrides.
The food group offers a range of support to food and drink businesses across the islands showcasing their local produce, promoting and championing food tourism and experiences, whilst helping to shape sustainable offerings and businesses that work for their local communities.
Member benefits include the following:
Eat Drink Hebrides provides added value for members, spotlighting their businesses and increasing footfall (both physical and online). The campaign ‘Food with a View’ was inspired by the post-pandemic opportunity focussing on food and the natural environment. It showcased the development of ‘street food’ Hebridean style where pop up roadside honesty boxes selling eggs, jam and cakes can be found as you drive through the islands. Visitors were encouraged to join in the social media campaign, sharing their photos of Hebridean food and posting with the hashtag #foodwithaview @visitouterhebrides.
This scheme will develop to include showcasing local recipes/food producers and viewpoints on food and drink.