FOOD: Llanarthne restaurateur chosen to lead Wales’ first national food strategy

The man behind one of Carmarthenshire’s best-known food destinations has been chosen to lead a new national plan for what Wales grows, sells and eats.

Simon Wright, owner of Wright’s Food Emporium in Llanarthne, will chair the expert group advising the Welsh Government on its first National Food Strategy — announced today at the Royal Welsh Show.

The strategy is meant to join up how food is handled across Wales — from farming, processing and shops through to what’s served in schools and hospitals, and how children learn about food.

The Welsh Government says the country’s food and drink supply chain is worth more than £28 billion and employs one in six Welsh workers, and that the strategy will look at what’s working, where the gaps are, and how to keep more of the value of Welsh food in Wales.

Wright has spent more than 30 years in Welsh food and hospitality. Before opening the Emporium — the deli and restaurant that has made the small village of Llanarthne a destination in its own right — he edited the AA Restaurant Guide and spent a decade as the restaurant consultant on Gordon Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares.

He was named Food Ambassador for Wales in 2010, and was appointed Professor of Practice at the University of Wales Trinity Saint David in 2021.

Last year he co-founded Cegin y Bobl, a charity teaching food skills in schools and communities alongside Welsh food historian Carwyn Graves — a cause we’ve covered previously when Halen Môn launched a seasoning in its support.

“Wales punches well above its weight in food and drink, but there’s so much more we can do,” Wright said. “This is a real opportunity to cut through and get things right for our industry and the country.

“I welcome the ambition of the new Government, and I look forward to working with producers, businesses and communities to make it happen.”

Cabinet Minister for Rural Resilience and Sustainability Llŷr Gruffydd, who made the announcement at the showground, said Welsh farmers produce “sustainable, high-quality food” and the strategy would bring the whole system together — “from our farmers and fishers to our retailers, schools and communities”.

He said Wright’s “passion for Welsh food and deep roots in the industry” made him exactly the right person for the role.

The expert group will advise only — it has no legal powers — and will make recommendations on the challenges facing Welsh food, how to measure success, and how government and industry work together long-term.

Nothing changes on the shelves yet: the strategy is one of the new government’s 100-day commitments, but the finished plan isn’t expected to reach ministers until sometime in 2027.

The announcement came a day after the Welsh Government used the same Royal Welsh platform to promise farmers more than £1bn over the Senedd term in a multi-year funding deal — with the food strategy the second half of its pitch to rural Wales this week.

For Llanarthne, it means the village’s best-known food business will have a hand in shaping what lands on plates across Wales for years to come.