The Shropshire Taste Quest
Welcome to Shropshire Taste Quest, a competition for food and drink producers, entrepreneurs and aspiring business people.
With a similar format to the BBC’s Dragon’s Den, hopeful candidates are invited to pitch their ideas for setting up a high-quality food and drink retail outlet in conjunction with the Wellington Market Company PLC – with the chance of winning support worth up to £50,000 to make their ideas a reality.
If you have a great business idea based on locally-produced food and/or drink, you will need to submit a short video telling all about your idea and why you would make the ideal partner for the retail units in Market Street, Wellington.
The whole process will focus on locally-sourced food and drink – primarily from Shropshire - where there’s a plethora of award-winning producers and an international reputation for excellence.
The ideal outlet would showcase high-quality products that would be retailed onsite, hopefully with the opportunity for customers to ‘try before they buy’.
Initially, rather than making a pitch to a panel of judges, prospective candidates will need to submit a short video telling the market company all about their idea and why they would make the ideal partner. No more than two minutes in length, each video will be put onto a website and the public would be able to vote for their favourite.
The people with the best business proposals will then be invited to meet with a judging panel that comprises of Karen Davies MBE, chief executive of Heart of England Fine Foods; Ralph Early, director of West Midlands Regional Food Academy; Victor Brownlees, chief executive of Telford and Wrekin Council and Malcolm Ball, chief executive of Wellington Market Company.
If successful, candidates will be given a generous helping-hand in setting up their enterprise in newly-refurbished retail units located in Market Street– with an entrance both from the street and the indoor market hall.
Timescales
You must ensure that you have submitted your entry by midnight on the 3st July 2010. Entries received after this time may not be included.
All of the videos submitted will be collected together and will appear on this website for the public vote on 9th Aug 2010.
This voting period finishes at midnight on the 1st Oct 2010 and successful, shortlisted applicants will be contacted shortly afterwards to meet with the judging panel.
Guidelines
We have prepared the following guidelines that will help you plan, film and submit your video
Video Length
Please keep the video short and to the point. It must be no more than 2 minutes long. If you can get your point across in 30 seconds, don’t feel you have to make it two minutes long!.
Video Quality
Remember, we’re not looking for broadcast-quality HD footage. What is important is your idea – so we don’t mind if you record using use a mobile phone or a professional video camera. It’s all about getting your points across.
Plan Ahead
You’ve come up with the idea, so you need to think about what to say. By preparing a basic script, making sure you include all of your key points, you can ensure that you get your message across. We are not auditioning for TV presenters – we want to hear your business ideas, so don’t worry about trying to sound like the next Jeremy Paxman.
Keep It Clean
Please make sure that your presentation is suitable for all ages, so please refrain from using any colourful language!
Video Format
We accept video files in the following formats: QuickTime .MOV, Windows .AVI, or .MPG. YouTube offers a whole host of information and tutorials on how to prepare your video http://www.youtube.com/t/howto_makevideo
Not Got A Camera?
If you have not got a means of recording your video, we can help. Simply email info(at)shropshiretastequest.co.uk and ask to arrange an appointment with our marketing team. We will film your presentation for you and upload it to our website.