Ethnic opportunities: the emergence of new supply chains that stimulate and respond to the need for 'new' ingredients

This chapter considers the approach of innovative and entrepreneurial organizations that have responded to changing circumstances (eg socio-ethnic, market demand, even climatic) to develop new products for new markets. We discuss the agents for change against a background of evolving national and regional gastronomy. From this example, we address innovation and change in food developed in various regions of the UK. Producers from two distinct regions have very different food histories and socio-economic characteristics: the South West and the West Midlands. In the South West, producers draw on a rich food heritage to adapt products to meet the demands of ethnically diversifying UK consumers; in the West Midlands (one of the already most ethnically diverse areas of the UK), rural fresh produce growers are striving to meet the challenge of change in response to the major conurbation on their doorstep. The chapter concludes with the recognition that evolving markets and regional and national gastronomies create the impetus for product innovation, but both producer and market can be hampered by channel and cultural disconnection. Actors in the processes and channels of production and supply must understand one another and unite in the service of new and emerging markets to best meet the burgeoning needs of ethically diverse customers.