Aberdeen’s Cfine announced as charity partner for food and drink festival Taste of Grampian

Cfine will be welcomes back to the north-east festival charity partner for the second consecutive year

By Karla Sinclair

April 27 2023, 5:00 pm

Fiona Rae, chief executive of Cfine. Image: Kami Thomson/DC Thomson

Local charity and social enterprise Community Food Initiatives North East (Cfine) has been revealed as the charity partner for Taste of Grampian 2023.

Scotland’s largest one-day food and drink festival is returning to Aberdeen’s P&J Live on Saturday June 3 with an impressive exhibitor line-up of more than 100 businesses.

Cfine was also announced as the charity partner at last year’s Taste of Grampian. Image: Kenny Elrick/DC Thomson

For the second consecutive year, Cfine will be working alongside organisers to put food waste and accessible food at the forefront of the event.

While the charity’s main base is in Aberdeen, its services reach across the north of Scotland from Laurencekirk to Shetland.

Cfine at Taste of Grampian

This year, Cfine – who partnered with The Press and Journal for The Big Christmas Food Appeal in December – will have a stand at the festival.

The volunteers will be selling a variety of fruits and vegetables and all money raised will go back into supporting its services, which are facing a daily increase in demand.

Festivalgoers can learn all about what services the charity offers to ensure they are aware of the support available to them.

Taste of Grampian is once again taking place at Aberdeen’s P&J Live. Image: Kenny Elrick/DC Thomson

Fiona Rae, chief executive of the not-for-profit, said: “Cfine are delighted, once again, to be chosen as the charity partner of Taste of Grampian this year.

“This fantastic recognition is hugely appreciated by the team of staff and volunteers at Cfine who work tirelessly to ensure we can continue to make a positive impact on the lives of families and individuals across Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire.”

Supplying top UK chefs

Cfine will also be supplying this year’s celebrity chefs with fresh fruit and vegetables to use during their cooking demos.

This includes James Martin and self titled ‘queen of potatoes’ and TikTok sensation Poppy O’Toole.

Poppy O’Toole refers to herself as the queen of potatoes. Image: Supplied by Jessica Raphael

James is best-known for being one of the UK’s top chefs and presenting the ITV cookery show, James Martin’s Saturday Morning.

Poppy is a Michelin trained chef who rose to fame on TikTok after losing her job during the pandemic. She has built up a following of 4.1million on the one social media app alone.

This will be her first time cooking to Aberdeen audiences.

Fiona is delighted about Taste of Grampian pledging its support for the charity. Image: Kami Thomson/DC Thomson

Fiona added: “Cfine’s range of support services and projects will be showcased at the event and we look forward to engaging with the festivalgoers and raising awareness of the work we do across the local communities.”

The Press and Journal is proud to once again be supporting the local cause and is encouraging those attending to stop by the Cfine stall.

Tickets for the festival are priced at £15 each plus booking fee and children under 12 go free. There is a booking fee of £1 and a £1 service charge on Ticketmaster.