No wonder they “love the flavour” at award-winning Devon guest house!

A Devon guest house in Torquay has become the first accommodation business in Torbay to be approved as a member of Food & Drink Devon. The four star silver awarded Enjoy England rated guest house joins over 30 other listed FDD accommodation providers in the county who support local businesses by serving locally sourced products from Devon. Villa Marina is an environmentally friendly business run by Stephanie and Neil Thomas and aims to provide the best freshly prepared breakfast in town, which has been recognised by Enjoy England as they have also awarded Villa Marina the coveted Breakfast Award. Like the other businesses which are part of Food and Drink Devon, Villa Marina believes in putting its money where your mouth is! Stephanie says, “It has always been important to us to promote and use local produce wherever possible. We feel that this not only supports our local economy and reduces 'food miles' but, as the produce is often of a higher quality, we believe it also tastes so much better! In recognition of our commitment to using Devon produce, we are proud to have been accepted as a member of Food & Drink Devon. Where local ingredients are not available, we always try to offer organic and fair-trade alternatives.” Check out the tasty breakfast: http://www.villamarina.ws/Breakfast.html. Stephanie uses the following local suppliers who are also members of FDD: Burts Crisps, Luscombe Drinks, Occombe Farm, Churston Farm (Devon honey from Brixham) and Cranfields Foods (preserves/marmalades). Bought in 2007, Villa Marina has three luxury and two superior size double bedrooms where guests can relax and maybe plan their own food shopping trips where they can stock up on local Devon produce in time for their journey home. Other producers and local suppliers used include: Devon Vale (flapjacks), Tarka Water, J & R Foods (Exeter), Complete Meats (Exeter), Riverside Farm for free range eggs (Stokenteignhead), Clipper Teas (Honiton), pastries, scones and bread from the Grand Hotel (which has its own bakery) and Angels at Babbacombe Down for gluten free scones and cakes. The “Love the Flavour” website: www.lovetheflavour.co.uk is the online presence for Food and Drink Devon. Only businesses that support local Devon products and can prove provenance are invited to join. The association is run for the benefit of its members with surplus funds ploughed back into promoting the ‘Love the Flavour’ brand and all members under the brand umbrella. The Food & Drink Devon mission is: “To make Love the Flavour a nationally recognised brand for outstanding sustainable food and drink.” Notes to Editor: Devon County Council in partnership with Visit Devon supports Devon food and drink producers through a varied programme. This includes skills training and the promotion of local food and drink to both local and national consumers.”