Our Story
This is a special wee place like no other. Our unique geography and diverse climate create the ideal conditions for our food and drink industry to flourish. Our produce harvested and crafted locally from both land and lough is influenced by the latest food trends worldwide.
The city of Derry~ Londonderry was built here originally because of its proximity to food and in particular food from the Foyle. The Foyle is a great natural resource featuring many streams and rivers that start in the Sperrin and Donegal mountains which flow into the Lough and out to the Atlantic Ocean. The shores of Lough Foyle provides a vast array of shellfish with the Lough Foyle Irish Flat Oyster being the jewel in the Foyles crown.
The city is the gateway to wider regional food experience – award winning artisan producers, restaurants and Slow Adventures in the Sperrins are packaged and promoted in a modern interpretation of our history and heritage, creativity and culture and reflect our active lifestyle and spirit of adventure.
There is an emergence of a cluster of street food offerings who are carving out their own niche following, with their distinctive, authentic food and vibe. This is also reflected in unique food experiences and festivals which are an integral part of the city and regions event and festival programme, both through standalone events such as the Slow Food Festival and wider events such as Halloween and Foyle Maritime Festival featuring Flavours of the Foyle.
We pride ourselves on delivering the very highest standards. Our cluster of talented craftsmen comprise producers, growers, chefs, brewers, restaurateurs. We are a team of skilful and creative people dedicated to delivering worldclass products and experiences. Together, we are really proud of the richness and variety of products our region has to offer. Our food and drink products are authentic, homegrown, fresh and of the season. Local provenance is of paramount importance.
The people of the North West are renowned for being friendly and hospitable. The network of people behind LDF are interesting and full of character bringing a genuine personality to our brand. They are ideas-led, innovative, ambitious and have an intrinsic entrepreneurial spirit.