Last week saw the relaunch of the Australian Regional Food Guide website. With new features including Google maps, weather forecasts, and hundreds of listings, the site is set to become the most important regional website in Australia.“We have been researching regional products and producers now for ten years,” say the people behind the site, Gordon and Sally Hammond. With a background in food and travel writing, and photography, the couple have applied their skills to produce two editions of the Australian Regional Food Guide and now the website.
“The first edition in 1999 was groundbreaking,” says Sally Hammond, recalling hours of phoning people around the country as she collated information for over 1500 producers. “There had never been anything like it. Never anything that dealt with the entire country. Looking back it was a crazy thing to do. It was just such a huge task.”
Regardless, the book proved to be immensely popular, and was followed by a revision in 2004. So, is there another book planned?
“We could see that to revise yet again was not the way to go,” says Gordon Hammond. “Data is fragile. Details change so quickly and books are out of date before they are printed, so I taught myself web design and now we have a site that can be updated instantly.”
Gordon is proud of the ‘two clicks to anywhere’ ease of the new site, designed so people planning to travel to a region can see at a glance which places might be worth visiting, when the local markets are on and what events are coming up – even how the weather looks for the week ahead.
The site is also proving a valuable resource in the industry. Chefs can locate producers of ingredients they need, producers can network with others in the same field.
The front page of the site is packed with current news items, while an effective search function can bring up words and names in the listings or archives within seconds.
“To be listed, someone must be producing or using local food,” says Sally. “It might be a B&B that serves a scrumptious breakfast with fresh local eggs, bread and cheeses. It could be a restaurant showcasing regional produce and products. Or a blueberry farm, someone raising wagyu beef, an eel producer, or a strawberry plot. The key thing is that it provides the means for people to be able to locate regional food. Sometimes they will taste it or buy it within metres of where it is grown or being made.”
“We’re not finished yet,” say the Hammonds. “This is just the beginning. We have a list of features to add, and as technology improves we will incorporate more and more of them. Meanwhile, the plan is to encourage more producers and restaurants to take out full listings, and for advertisers to be attracted to the site.”
Australia is a huge country, rich in food and wine, with innovative people working in many food-related industries. Add to that the travelling public’s growing interest in ‘culinary tourism’ and it seems that a site like this could hardly have been launched at a better time.
More details: www.australianregionalfoodguide.com.au
FAST FACTS:
• The books, and now the website, represent the most comprehensive Australia-wide directory for regional food, markets, and events.
• The information is firsthand – the Hammonds have travelled to every region in Australia and have personally contacted most of the operators listed on the site.
• Already approximately 1800 businesses are listed on a data base that is expanding rapidly.
• The site is selective. Only businesses that produce, promote or showcase regional food are included.
• Australia has 52 official regional tourism regions.
• The site is well optimised in the web search engines, and currently around 80 per cent of visitors to the site are from overseas.
• The site is self-funded – no government grants or corporate sponsorship has been received.
• Behind the scenes are Sally Hammond – well-known food and travel writer with an encyclopedic knowledge of food and cookery, and husband, Gordon, photographer and general tech-head.
======
Media Contact: Sally Hammond 02 9973 1169, shammond@iprimus.com.au; Gordon Hammond 02 9918 2997, ghammond@iprimus.com.au
Sally and Gordon Hammond are available for interview.
No comments:
Post a Comment