Clusters and Collaborations for Success

Welsh Government has awarded the following contracts for the delivery of the Welsh Government's Clusters and Collaborations for Success programme. The opportunity was open to suppliers on Category 2 (Filter 2.1) of the Rural Support DPS.

The contract has been divided into seven contract Lots as outlined below: Lot 1 Artisan and Fine Food Cluster (inc. Honey Cluster) Lot 2 Drink & Beverage Cluster Lot 3 Sheep Milk Cluster Lot 4 Nutri-Wales & Functional Food Cluster Lot 5 Horticulture and Growers Cluster Lot 6 Export Development Cluster Lot 7 Seafood Cluster

The successful supplier for the Fine Food Cluster will be expected to: -Provide members with an easy and accessible way to share, support, and solve problems as well as save money by joint purchasing. -The Cluster has groups established for both North and South Wales, who meet on a regular basis. Members from the groups are expected to work collaboratively on projects to generate economic growth. -Support Cluster members to access new and existing markets through group activities.

Facilitate attendance of Cluster members at non-Welsh Government attended events. Members must make a fair contribution to attend as outlined above.

Host separate meetings for Honey producers as an enhanced Specialist Interest Group, at least quarterly, with specialist site visits as appropriate. -To raise the profile and production of 100% Welsh honey, for example by using collaborative marketing to promote the benefits of pure Welsh honey. -Facilitate attendance of Cluster members at non-Welsh Government attended events. Members must make a fair contribution to attend as outlined above.

The successful supplier for the Drinks and Beverage Cluster will be expected to: To facilitate and increase membership of the five Specialist Interest Groups: - Beer & Cider - Wine - Spirits - Water & Soft Drinks - Hot Beverages. To continue the delivery of ongoing strategies already agreed with the Special Interest Groups.

To engage with specific trade bodies such as, but not limited to, SIBA, All-Beer Parliamentary Group and Wine GB to facilitate sharing of intelligence as required. In addition to engage with bodes such as Visit Wales.

To support the delivery of Welsh Government promotional campaigns as well as undertaking targeted activity that would account for key calendar dates. To support the continued development of apprenticeships and training for the sector, and to liaise with relevant skills providers as appropriate.

To facilitate attendance of Cluster members at non-Welsh Government attended events. Members must make a fair contribution to attend.

To work in collaboration with SIBA Wales and CAMRA to deliver a Great Welsh Drink Festival in Summer 2026. Planning for this event is currently underway.

The successful supplier for the Export Development Cluster will be expected to develop and implement a credible, realistic, and innovative strategic approach to further advance the Food and Drink Export Cluster. This should include exploration and testing of mechanisms to mobilise members as active participants at Cluster events, export business case studies, mentors for new exporters, and similar.

To increase the capacity and capability of Welsh Food and Drink businesses to successfully and profitability gain export sales and markets, to improve their resilience and spread risk. To use both tried-and-tested and innovative, inclusive approaches which may but do not have to incorporate both virtual and in-person channels to facilitate networking and collaboration.

The Food and Drink Wales Seafood (Aquatic Food) Cluster serves as an industry development initiative designed to bring together aquatic food businesses (such as fishermen, fishmongers, and aquaculture businesses) across Wales with the ambition to grow, collaborate, innovate, and add value to aquatic food in Wales. The successful supplier for the Seafood Cluster will be expected to: Facilitating collaboration between Welsh seafood businesses to strengthen the sector.

Providing tailored business support to develop members’ confidence and capacity for growth, and to share the learning and outcomes from this support with all Cluster members in an innovative and engaging way. Encouraging innovation, knowledge exchange, and the development of value-added products.

Promoting the provenance, quality, and sustainability of Welsh seafood both domestically and internationally. The successful supplier for the Sheep Milk Cluster will be expected to: Recruit and provide leadership to a group of interested stakeholders that includes farmers, processors, academia, trade partners, other supply chain partners and the Welsh Government.

Work alongside Farming Connect, Coleg Glynllifon and relevant stakeholders to engage with farmers, promoting the opportunities of milking sheep and providing technical support and leadership to those entering the sector across Wales. To engage with Contract for Innovation Cymru in respect of projects relating to Sheep milk being delivered under the Agri-Food Technology Challenge Fund.

Whilst considering the work already undertaken on feasibility and market research, develop a strategy that will build a market-led Welsh Dairy Sheep Sector, with a clear strategy to attain critical mass, to establish new opportunities for sheep milk products and producers. Working with the Food and Drink Trade Development Programme, identify opportunities for product development and sector innovation, alongside producers, retail sectors and other key partners.

Establish a Dairy Sheep Wales brand to become a recognisable and trusted vehicle for the delivery of the objectives of the cluster with clear path to self-governance and funding. The successful supplier for the Nutri-Wales and Functional Food Cluster will be expected to: To work with the Welsh Government Insight Programme to identify future trends and horizon scanning and disseminate this information to cluster members.

The cluster team to work with the established Special interest Groups SIGs in other clusters where relevant. To facilitate knowledge transfer exchange (KTE) and skills improvement, to provide an environment for collaboration and viable solution creation and identify potential funding opportunities.

To foster and nurture relationships with universities, organisations and research centres to support future collaborations and opportunities, as well as those organisations delivering the Helix Programme. To support R&D activity amongst Cluster members and to identify and co-ordinate applications for suitable funding opportunities to facilitate collaboration.

To undertake interactive sessions and workshops to identify opportunities, create cutting-edge innovation ideas, develop cluster activity with new partners and relationships across industry, academia and Government, both nationally and internationally. To incorporate citizen science and consumer insight activities where feasible and relevant through quantitative research and/or focus groups.

The successful supplier for the Horticulture and Growers Cluster will be expected to: To improve the productive efficiency of Welsh horticultural businesses in resource, material and energy use. To support the sourcing and supply chains of Welsh horticultural businesses, and to reduce ‘food miles’.

To support horticultural businesses regardless of size of enterprise, i.e. small-scale horticulture and large-scale horticulture. This may require the adoption of specialist interest groups To engage with NutriWales Cluster in relation to Controlled Environment Agriculture production.

To facilitate the widespread adoption of best practise, bringing horticulture-based businesses together and to work with initiatives such as Welsh Veg in Schools and the Local Food Partnerships as appropriate. To provide an industry voice for Welsh horticultural businesses.

This will include providing a secretariat and organising meetings for the Wales Horticulture Alliance Group and the Wales Plant Health Evidence and Advisory Group. To plan for quarterly meetings for each of these groups.