The Area News had a chat with Paige Campbell, Marketing and Promotions from Griffith City Council to learn more about tourism and why Griffith is the best kept food secret in Australia.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
“We don’t have mountains and we don’t have the beach, but what we do have is our food and wine,” Ms Campbell said.
Ms Campbell notes that what we have to offer is what makes Griffith a unique destination for tourists.
“Our wine and food – they’re the one thing we can really package up.
“We've been lucky enough to feature in quite a few magazines in terms of the food and wine scene that’s happening in Griffith – we’ve been called ‘the best kept food secret in Australia’.
“And, to be known for our food and wine – it’s fantastic.”
As the food bowl of NSW, it “makes a lot of sense”, Ms Campbell said.
RELATED:
She explained that roughly 90% of Australia’s rice and 90% of Australia’s prunes come from the region.
“We’re the largest navel region, and we’re growing lots of almonds, walnuts, hazelnuts, and Murray cod farms too.”
So, it’s no wonder that we’re seeing this amazing produce and standard of food reflected in our restaurants.
“There’s so much food and so much production happening here, it makes a lot of sense for our restaurants to become known as producing these great dishes, because it’s all grown right on our doorstep.”
And, the food and wine industries have become the most exciting angle, with a number of new businesses opening.
“In the last say three years or so we’ve had some new restaurants open up, which is exciting.”
We don’t have mountains and we don’t have the beach, but what we do have is our food and wine.
- Paige Campbell
Ms Campbell notes that some of the prized restaurants of Griffith started with restaurant owners who are dedicated and committed to showcasing the best of the best, which can be replicated with Griffith’s produce.
“These restaurant owners travelled and gained experience in a lot of things, worked in lots of wineries, in lots of regions, explored new foods, and have brought them home to Griffith,” Ms Campbell said.
“They’re creating really fabulous food using our local produce, and that’s made the difference – a new approach to Italian food, or more authentic Italian food – it’s exciting.”
Ms Campbell said that, from a tourism angle, that’s the thing Griffith can do really well.
And yet, there is still so much potential for tourism, such as food trails.
“We’ve got some producers here doing some great things, like Codemo with their salamis and their small goods; Riverina Grove with their olives.
“It’s just a matter of pulling those few things together and putting it with the wineries to make a foodie trail – put an offering together to make people go, ‘Yeah, I want to go to Griffith and ride my bike around the region, taste wine and sausages.’
“More can be done, that’s for sure – I think there’s a lot of opportunity out there to do some more things in the tourism space – it’s just about putting the right people together; seeing the idea and then working through it together, with Council support to make it happen.”
In terms of tourists, The Kidman Way touring is really important for Griffith.
“The Kidman Way over the last five years has gotten busier and busier as a very important inland group to get up to Northern Territory,” she said.
“If we can hold them [tourists] here a bit longer in Griffith to stop and try the wine and food, that would be fantastic.”