More than £3,000 of local Newtown and Montgomeryshire produce was sold at a food fair in France organised by the local twinning group.
Over 30 people headed out to Newtown’s twin town of Les Herbiers for the international “Jum Regal” food fair to promote a taste of Montgomeryshire as part of the visit organised by Newtown Twinning Association.
The group included some local food and drink producers and members of the band Frolic Street.
Locally produced food and drink, including Welsh beers, sparkling cider and speciality teas lead the mission to charm Gallic gastronomes.
In all, 14 local businesses from Montgomeryshire were represented on the sales stand.
In addition to their French hosts, the Welsh contingent also faced competition from towns in Germany and and Spain.
A particularly successful element of the two-day event was a chalet serving Welsh tea and cakes during both afternoons of the festival, with real fears at one point that all the cakes and bara brith would sell out well before the end of the Fair, according to organisers.
"We have really done Montgomeryshire proud and raised the profile of mid-Wales as an interesting place to visit, " said the Chair of Newtown Twinning , Catharyn Edwards.
"We had a big display of local tourist brochures and information in French and Welsh about the speciality food and drink from our area.
“Our counterparts from Les Herbiers are now making plans to visit Newtown in early September for our own local Food Festival and there is also talk of a group of walkers coming over to stay with families here and enjoy a weekend of walking in North Powys."
"Although people paid their own fare on the coach and ferry, we were very grateful for the wonderful hospitality we received from those who opened their homes to us in Les Herbiers, and for grants we have received from Newtown Town Council and Cywain," added Catharyn.
Montgomeryshire entrepreneur Geoff Morgan said: "I would like to thank the Twinning Committee for their hard work in organising the twinning trip to Les Herbiers.
“It gave Morgansbrew Tea the chance to show the people of that area our selection of teas.
“The two day event was a great success as we had good trading and some leads to follow up now we are home.”
Musician Esta Beilby from the band Frolic Street said: " We were delighted to be asked to provide a musical background of Celtic folk music for the event, and to put a smile on the faces of the exhibitors and visitors, and a skip in the step of those who wandered past as we were playing.'
