From barbecue sauce to sweet Georgia moonshine jelly, the flavors of the South are as varied and distinctive as the south is "deep". With SUSTA's help, these southern pleasures are making their way into the hearts and homes of the Brits.

In the summer of 2004, SUSTA introduced 25 companies to Villandry, the London-based gourmet food store and restaurant. Villandry's buying strategy is to source distinctive products made from high quality ingredients. Towards the end of 2004, Villandry bought products from 6 U.S. suppliers and spent the most it ever has on U.S. products. As a further compliment to our region, all but one of the companies that Villandry selected is from the southern U.S.

Villandry purchased a year's supply of products from The Home Place (WV), El Paso Chile Company (TX), Fischer & Wieser (TX), Head Country Foods (OK), and Hillside Orchard Farms (GA).

Products from these five companies were featured in a special southern promotion that Villandry ran in their food store from the 20th to the 26th of November 2004. To celebrate Thanksgiving "southern-style," Villandry also offered a special southern menu in its 100-seat restaurant. Villandry head chef Sara Berg, who participated in SUSTA's southern cuisine training program for high-profile foreign chefs last year, created a gourmet menu that includes not only the traditional turkey but also a range of heart-warming favorites such as étouffée and Mississippi mud pie.

The opportunity with Villandry came about as a result of the E.U. Regional Foods initiative, SUSTA's multi-year program to promote southern regional foods in the United Kingdom and other top European markets.

To learn how you can participate in upcoming E.U. Regional Foods activities, please visit the Generic pages of SUSTA's website at: www.susta.org/services/gip_euregionalfoods.html. For additional details about this program, contact Generic Director Dinorah Cobos (dinorah@susta.org).