Ken Hom OBE joins forces with AHDB 

Celebrity chef and author Ken Hom joined forces with the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) for this year’s Oxford Farming Conference.

The famous TV personality created four recipes incorporating beef, lamb and pork from Britain, which were presented on-stage by his protégé Ken Wang on the final day of the event.

Mr Hom, who was awarded an OBE in 2009 for ‘services to culinary arts’, recorded a video message for the 650 delegates.

The reception is a new fixture at the Oxford Farming Conference and provided an opportunity for delegates to learn more about what the UK exports, key and emerging markets as well as sampling products that are being exported around the world.

During the film, Mr Hom spoke about the importance of flying the flag for UK food and praised the high-quality and welfare of our meat – which makes it favoured around the world.

He said: “I am delighted to have joined forces with AHDB at this year’s Oxford Farming Conference. It provided a great opportunity to highlight the ongoing success of our food exports, explore how we can diversify to maximise opportunities overseas and to allow delegates to taste some of the delicious products that we currently export to countries like China.

“As an Ambassador for the Great British Food campaign, I have seen the value of championing our produce on a global platform. And in the UK we have a lot to boast about. Our unique blend of tradition, innovation, extensive grass-based production and high welfare makes our food highly sought after around the world.”

The four new recipes included Twice Cooked Pork, Beef Noodle Soup, Braised Lamb Shoulder Stew and a less traditional dish of Red Cooked Pig Trotters.

The celebration lunch was a major part of AHDB’s presence at this year’s conference, which also included a Fringe session where AHDB spoke about global opportunities as we approach Brexit, understanding international consumers and the impact of marketing our products.

AHDB’s Chief Communications and Market Development Officer Christine Watts added: “We are thrilled to have had the support of Ken Hom at this important event and it was wonderful to sample his delicious new recipes, cooked by the very talented Ken Wang.

“This year’s Oxford Farming Conference had the very inspiring theme of ‘World of Opportunities’ which provided us with an excellent platform to highlight the ongoing work of AHDB to explore new and emerging markets.

“We were also able to showcase the vital research being undertaken to help us better understand the needs of consumers overseas and deliver the right products across the globe, which will enable our farmers and growers to capitalise on all future opportunities.”

The World of Opportunity lunch was sponsored by AHDB