Chop for ethnic group, which failed to curry funding favour

The death knell has finally rung for the Yorkshire-based Ethnic Food Action Group, which lost financial backing from its main funder last month.

As Food Manufacture​ went to press, the group was "hanging on by the skin of its teeth" as funding from the Yorkshire Forward development agency ceased, said the group's project manager, Stephen Noblett.

Although a board meeting was planned for the end of March, Noblett doubted whether alternative cash could be found for the group, which supported ethnic food producers in the North East.

"It's looking like we will have to shut down after Easter as self-sustainability is simply not viable and we have been unable to secure funding elsewhere."

The group, which has received £430,000 over four years from Yorkshire Forward, had its annual grant axed after it refused to merge with the larger Yorkshire and Humber food group. It maintained that ethnic food producers needed specialist support and that joining forces with another cluster, Deliciously Yorkshire, was not in their best interests, either.

Producers in the North East were dismayed at the outcome. Peter Barraclough, business manager at ethnic food manufacturer Mumtaz, said: "We are very sad that they've gone. They have brought us together with other retailers and restaurants in the area to share knowledge. They've helped us promote our company, including at the world food event last year, for which there was a bit of funding, and they've kept us aware that it's a global, not a local market. Overall, they've offered great support and been a useful tool and point of reference."

Vipin Joshi of Bradford's Sector Foods said he believed the effect of the closure would be "phenomenal" as the action group was the first port of call for anybody coming to Yorkshire looking for ethnic foods.

Yorkshire Forward said the group had no-one to blame but itself for the loss of funds. Head of enterprise Alex McWhirter said: "Yorkshire Forward funding is used to intervene where the market fails, with a view to financial self-sufficiency after a limited period of time.

Research group Mintel valued the UK Indian food market at £490M in 2005, with other emerging ethnic foods at £156M in 2004, nearly double their 2000 level. It said growth in 2005 should take these to £173M.