Members, partners and friends of the Better Food Traders network will be meeting in South Wales for a day of connection, exchanging learning and collective strategy. Our focus this year will be the inspiring food sector in Wales and how new routes to market and short supply chains are helping change the food system.Â
Better Food Traders Annual Gathering
Wednesday 10th June 2026
Penarth, near Cardiff, South Wales
Why are we gathering?
Every year, Better Food Traders members and sector partners from across the UK come together to connect with like-minded traders, exchange learning and spark new ideas for their enterprises. Here’s what last year looked like.
This year, we’re gathering on the beautiful Penarth seafront to explore how we can keep building a more resilient, interconnected food system, with independent traders, sustainable food producers and citizens at the heart.
We’ll learn from the inspiring food sector in Wales and how new routes to market and short supply chains are helping change the food system.
This year we’ll be facilitated by traders and food system activists Dawn Dublin (Black Butterfly) and Gareth Roberts (Regather).
Throughout the day, we’ll hold both the pressures and the possibilities facing our food and farming system, from supply chain shocks to local food resilience, recognising the vital role independent traders play within it. We’ll also learn from the Welsh food system, hear from people doing this work across the UK, and look towards the future we want to build.Â
You’ll hear from traders such as Cultivate, Cardiff Farmers Market, The Vale Grocer, FIKA Bakery, Good Small Farms, Tamar Grow Local and more, plus partners working to shift the food system at a policy and civil society level, like Food Sense Wales, Sustain and local food partnerships.Â
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What will we be doing?
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Why should I attend?
This will be an incredible chance to connect with other traders, producers and food systems changemakers.
Everyone will bring something and leave with something. This means sharing your expertise and leaving with more knowledge, ideas and connections than when you arrived. From back-to-basics trading operations to thinking about the bigger picture, together we’ll co‑create a day rooted in meaning, reciprocity and mutual exchange for traders and sector partners.
You can expect to:
- Help shape the day in advance – we’ll make sure you have the conversations you want to have
- Connect with fellow attendees before the event and build relationships throughout the day
- Exchange knowledge with traders working across the UK and people driving policy and nationally relevant work
- Leave feeling nourished and with a clearer sense of your place in a wider, interconnected movementThis will be an incredible chance to connect with other traders, producers and food systems changemakers.
When
Wednesday 10th June, 10am – 5pm (plus optional post-event drinks at a nearby bar)
Arrivals from 9.45am for a prompt 10.30am start.
Agenda
View the agenda (latest update 6 May 2025).
Cost
Free for BFT members with access code.Â
Sliding scale up to ÂŁ30 for sector partners.Â
A limited number of travel subsidies are available for members and people with access needs. Please email us to request travel cost support. This is available first come first served, no questions asked.
Food
Soft drinks, snacks and lunch will be provided
Access
We are committed to making our events as accessible as possible. This includes considerations around neurodiversity, language, chronic illness, gender, class, race and other ways people experience the world. If you have any concerns about access, please get in touch so we can work with you to make sure you can participate.
The venue
In terms of physical access, our meeting space is on the ground floor and accessible via a ramp. Optional drinks (4–6pm) will take place on the second floor, accessible by lift. Accessible toilets are on the ground floor. Baby‑changing facilities are available.
Travel – public transport
Trains from Cardiff Central to Penarth take around 12 minutes. From Penarth Station, it’s a 10‑minute walk through a park to the Pavilion. Please note this involves a moderate downhill slope and steps on the way to the venue, and the same uphill on the return.
Taxis will be available to/from the station on request for people with access needs. Please request this in advance by emailing membership@betterfoodtraders.org.
Travel – parking
Free all‑day parking is available a 10‑minute walk from the venue. Please note a similar moderate hill applies.
There are 6 disability parking bays directly outside the Pavilion, plus additional street parking that Blue Badge holders can use all day without charge.
Taxis will be available to/from the car park on request for people with access needs. Please request this in advance by emailing membership@betterfoodtraders.org.
Spaces are limited, so please register early to avoid disappointment! Â