OUR PROJECTS

Forth Valley Five is about making it easier for people to discover, enjoy and support the amazing food and drink produced right here in our region. The campaign encourages cafes, restaurants, shops and hospitality businesses to commit to featuring at least five locally produced items on their menus or shelves.

To mark the 900th anniversary of the Royal Burgh of Stirling, we produced four captivating short documentaries that unveiled the lesser-known stories of Stirling’s rich food and drink heritage and raised our region’s national profile.

Our interactive map highlights the region’s local food and drink businesses, free outdoor attractions and picnic areas. Encouraging locals and visitors to explore the fantastic array of local food and drink businesses in Forth Valley, from farm shops and delis to local producers and eateries offering food to go.

We team up with STEP Scotland each March to deliver Food, Drink and Tourism Business Month 2026, a month-long programme of events designed to support, connect and inspire businesses across the region’s vibrant food, drink and tourism sectors.

We’ve been hosting local food and drink festivals since 2018, showcasing our regional producers and hospitality businesses. Our 2024 festival for Stirling 900 attracted over 2,000 visitors and saw us distribute over 250 tote bags and 500 reusable cups to reduce single-use waste. This year we’re collaborating with Alloa First on their Sound Bites Festival.

We developed the UK’s first award-winning social impact auditing tool for the food and drink sector, supporting measurable change and sustainability. This pioneering tool helped Forth Valley College secure a prestigious Green Gown Award.

We’ve delivered high impact digital campaigns, such as ‘Like a Local’ which was nominated for a Scotland Loves Local Digital Community Award. Encouraging residents and visitors to discover hidden gems and independent businesses across Forth Valley. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram for the latest tips on where to go and what to eat!

Our annual programme of producer tours and meet the producer events, supported by Scotland Food and Drink, has ignited new connections between local buyers and food and drink producers.

We teamed up with national charity Coeliac UK to offer one hundred low-cost gluten free training places to local food and drink businesses. Our Gluten Free 100 project increased local knowledge of gluten free practices helping create safer eating and drinking experiences across the region for people with coeliac disease.

We launched a reusable cup pilot in a bid to tackle single-use cup waste and littering. Five rural cafés signed up to the environmentally friendly trial initiative, which saw 4,000 reusable cups distributed to customers free of charge.