'We need to empower and support local food supply chains'
The newly relaunched 'Taste of the West' CIC has been outlining its vision to help the South West's food sector grow
Last updated 16th Sep 2026
Food campaigners say the biggest shake-up of school meals in a decade is also an opportunity to use AI to reduce food miles.
Charles Baughan (pictured) is chair of the 'Taste of the West' Community Interest Company, which promotes local food across Somerset, Devon, Cornwall, Dorset, Wiltshire, Gloucestershire, Bristol and the Channel Islands.
He said: "With public sector procurement so prisons, healthcare and schools I think there are huge opportunities to develop and scale the supply of local food.
"Diesel prices are escalating and certainly we're being charged fuel surcharges on bringing goods into the West Country.
"Surely what we could look at is shorter and more responsive supply chains and also making use of seasonal opportunities and products which might otherwise not be going to market."
Mr Baughan says he also wants to reduce food wastage, explaining: "You might go into the far West of Cornwall and you might see broccoli in the field - perfectly good broccoli going to waste. There are opportunities for people like FareShare to develop those and ensure those broccoli don't go to waste.
"This is also another area where AI might be able to help," he added.
"We could use dynamic sourcing to ensure that opportunities to supply are correctly matched to markets but in a real-time method - which frankly is just too difficult for humans to do."
The CIC is also campaigning for big supermarkets to stop always importing from abroad, with Mr Baughan adding: "I do think that retail will change as more and more of the products are sourced online and people never visit those stores - they will then look for theatre in their stores.
"We know two companies both building regional distribution centres in the Bristol area and both planning extension of stores in the South West - wouldn't it be really nice if they had a specific isle of fresh, frozen and ambient products that were only sourced from the West Country?"
Taste of the West was relaunched as a Community Interest Company a year ago with its founding directors now presenting their vision for the future of the food group, alongside a much-extended range of member benefits for food and drink businesses across the South West.
Mr Baughan, owner of Westaway Sausages who is also the sustainability lead, added: "The South West food and drink sector is a multi-billion-pound industry, significant job creator and cornerstone of the local economy, so it’s of benefit to everyone across the region to help it thrive.
"Taste of the West CIC is now run by industry experts who are volunteers and who thrive on ambition and innovation, rather than government funding, meaning we have the local expertise and knowledge to make sure support reaches the right people, increases productivity and creates more well paid jobs.
"Having spent a year developing membership benefits for a new kind of food group, we believe Taste of the West can deliver real economic and cultural impact across the region.”
There's more about the new vision here