This year, from the 16th to the 30th September, Foods and Wines from Spain ran their annual Eat Spain Drink Spain campaign. A roaring success as ever, the campaign saw a grand total of 47 on-trade and off-trade partners across the UK providing exclusive events and promotions for Spanish food and drink lovers.
Eat Spain Drink Spain is an annual campaign which aims to raise global awareness and excitement for Spanish cuisine, maintaining Spain’s category leading presence in the international food and beverage market. It showcases both traditional and contemporary Spanish gastronomy, particularly within the hospitality industry. The campaign’s offerings included curated menus, expertly paired wine lists, in-store samplings, tastings, exclusive discounts, and promotional merchandising.
On-trade highlights consisted of a whole range of offers and activities, bringing Spain to keen diners across the nation. Esteemed wine bar 28°-50° Marylebone offered a special promotion which included a Spanish tapas platter or charcuterie board, carefully paired with specially selected Spanish wines. Meanwhile, at Bar Kroketa, customers were offered a ‘Taste of Bilbao’, with a selection of four Bilbao-inspired dishes, perfectly paired with Spanish drinks. For something a little different, the Port of Leith Distillery in Edinburgh offered a Basque Spanish wine tasting which took consumers on a journey through a selection of 6 different Spanish wines.
Off-trade events also proved popular – this year, customers were treated to a Spanish wine extravaganza at Alexander Hadleigh Wine Merchants in Southampton. Visitors enjoyed a selection of Spanish wines, carefully paired with a selection of Spanish nibbles and cheese. Villeneuve Wines in Peebles hosted a food and wine pairing event, as well as gifting a box of Spanish ham and cheese to anyone who spent more than £30 on Spanish wine in store. Finally, Grange Wine Merchants in Edinburgh offered 10% off all Spanish wines purchased throughout the month of September, as well as hosting tasting events and open bottling sampling in store.
To amplify the campaign further among consumers, Eat Spain Drink Spain partnered with real-time online booking network, OpenTable. OpenTable developed an online Eat Spain Drink Spain hub, which explained the promotion to customers and showcased all the participating hospitality venues. In addition, the platform sent out a bespoke newsletter to their customer databases which enabled Eat Spain Drink Spain to reach an even wider and engaged audience.
In order to make a splash on social networks, Foods and Wines from Spain partnered with five food and drink focused influencers, @saltandshaikh, @birkbites, @foodruchieats, @dinewithfari, and @thatgirlfleur. Each influencer visited one of the on-trade partner venues to create content surrounding their promotion and ran a competition for consumers to win a £150 voucher for a dinner for two.
The 2024 Eat Spain Drink Spain campaign was a huge success, offering UK consumers the chance to explore Spain’s rich culinary heritage through exclusive promotions, tastings, and curated dining experiences. Through a whole range of events, tastings and exclusive offers, the campaign reinforced Spain’s culinary presence as a leader within the UK market with consumers.
See you next year!
