This month we will focus on Yorkshire Society corporate member Kay Atkinson and her business Yorkshire Appetite Food Tours.
Kay along with two other Yorkshire Food “Ambassadors” run food tours in both their home town of Harrogate as well as in the centre of York. Their aim is to take visitors on a journey around key historical and cultural sites, incorporating the independent food and drink scene in both locations.
The Yorkshire Society asked Kay what made her set up the business and she explained “Whilst taking a food tour in Chicago a number of years ago, I was amazed by the experience – wandering around a new destination, soaking up the smells and sounds, finding out about the history and trying local food and drink. On my return to Harrogate I realised the town was crying out for a similar experience”.
Kay set up Yorkshire Appetite Food Tours in 2017 to share all the great things she knew about Harrogate’s great food & drink heritage in the form of a walking tour involving lots of opportunities to sample local produce, meet local suppliers and take in the town.
The business has now expanded to offer 3 main tours – a Harrogate Food Tour, A York Food Tour and also a Vegan Tour of Harrogate. They have also built up a number of local partners in both Harrogate and York, from independent cafés, micro-breweries, delis, tea rooms, bakeries and sweet shops.
The pandemic has meant that tours have been cancelled and numbers restricted over the last year, but with lockdown easing – bookings from visitors and Food Tour gift vouchers have been moving in the right direction.
However lockdown was not all doom and gloom for the team at Yorkshire Appetite Tours. Using their knowledge of local produce and contacts in the trade, they launched the “Yorkshire Goodie Box” This allowed people to sample the unique taste of Yorkshire delivered straight to their door – with a choice of two Goodie Boxes – one sweet and one savoury.
Sales of these increased dramatically over the last year during lockdown and the business offers 3, 6 and 12 month subscription boxes to give people unable to visit a taste of Yorkshire each month.
Kay is obviously a great advocate of the Yorkshire Food scene and believes that her Food Tours offer a great culinary and cultural adventure around two of Yorkshire’s most beautiful, interesting locations. The tours run on afternoons and stop at 5 great local eateries.
To find out more visit – https://www.yorkshireappetite.com