'Savour the Flavours' launches new survey to inform business restart planning

Dumfries & Galloway’s food and drink brand, Savour the Flavours, is asking people across the region to take part in a major survey to help inform business restart planning. The survey organisers hope that people in every community of Dumfries & Galloway will take part by answering a range of questions about buying intentions and covid-related safety measures. 

The findings will be used to help businesses plan for reopening in the way that best suits their community, for example, whether to extend beer gardens or invest in app-based ordering systems.  

Liz Ramsay of Savour the Flavours said:

“It’s really important that local businesses understand what their local communities want so they can make the best possible decisions.  So we urgently need feedback from local people to help inform this – the last thing any small businesses should be doing is spending thousands investing in fancy new digital systems that people won’t use.  Businesses need to understand how people are likely to shop over the next few months, and what products and services they want to buy. 

“We are all customers of our local businesses, so we are asking everyone across Dumfries & Galloway to take 15 minutes to fill in this survey. The more we can inform local businesses with valuable data like this, the better. Every business in our region is important and by working together, and sharing our thoughts, we can give every one of them the best possible chance of survival.”

The survey will be availble until June 19th. It can be found at: www.savourtheflavours.co.uk/survey.

Lorna Young of Savour the Flavours said that finding local and community based solutions will be the best way for the region’s economy to survive the lockdown crisis, she commented:

“We know that Dumfries & Galloway’s economy was already fragile before this crisis hit, which makes it all the more important that we pull together as a region to find local solutions. We know that what’s right for cities won’t be right for rural communities, so finding our own solutions and our own path out of this crisis needs to be the priority.

“Harnessing the collective knowledge of the people of Dumfries & Galloway seems like a good place to start. So we are urging as many people as possible to fill this survey in. Tell us what you want done and our local businesses will make it happen.”

Savour the Flavours is hosting weekly online meetings for local food, drink and hospitality businesses to discuss emerging issues and share knowledge within the industry.  The brand has been relaunched on a voluntary basis by the people who delivered the previous Savour the Flavours project, which ran from 2009-13 across Dumfries & Galloway.  Industry feedback is being shared with other organisations and agencies on a regular basis to help inform restart planning.

For more information, or to register to take part in one of the industry meetings, visit www.savourtheflavours.co.uk.