A record eight of the largest food service organisations took part (ARAMARK, Brakes, Compass, Sodexo, BaxterStorey, NCB Foodservice, One Complete Solution, Anchor Trust Residential Care & Nursing Homes).

Thousands of employees in some of Britain's biggest organisations such as the BBC, Aegon, Boots, Northern Rock, Nationwide, JP Morgan, the Royal National Lifeboat Institute and the Ministry of Defence enjoyed British food courtesy of ARAMARK which ran special British Food Fortnight menus at over 400 of its sites. Leading sponsor of the event for the fourth year, they also sent 50 of their chefs into schools to teach children about food and how to cook it.

1,200 Sodexo sites, including schools, universities, hospitals, offices and military facilities, ran special British Food Fortnight menus (an increase of 500 sites from last year!). They also ran a competition to discover what their customers' favourite British dish is; the winner? Sunday Roast. For further information please contact Mandy Van Hagen, Sodexo Tel: 01438 341400).

1,100 workplaces catered for by Compass featured Best of British menus during the Fortnight; as did 400 BaxterStorey restaurants and many more.

150 YHA Youth Hostels took part in British Food Fortnight with special menus celebrating the best of British produce. For further information [see the YHA website].

Anchor Homes, the largest not-for-profit provider of residential and nursing care in the UK, took part for the second year. All 97 Anchor Homes served seasonal British produce during the event. For further information contact: Simon Peyton at Anchor Tel: 0207 759 9134

Six of the biggest pub groups (Enterprise Inns, Everards, Marston's Pub Company, Punch Taverns, Scottish and Newcastle and Young’s) advised thousands of their pubs to put British on the menu for the Fortnight led by Young’s which ran special British Food Fortnight menus for 200,000 customers in their London pubs, [see the Youngs website].

John Lewis stores around the country ran a competition for their chefs throughout the summer to design a special menu to run throughout British Food Fortnight in association with their suppliers, Brakes. The winning ‘Let's Go British’ menu of Line-caught Cornish Mackerel with Horseradish Creme Fraiche and Frangipane Bramley Apple Gateau was featured on menus in all John Lewis stores during the Fortnight.

22 Great Inns of Britain supported British Food Fortnight with a seasonal celebration of the best of local, seasonal game and regional produce across Britain. See Great Inns sponsors activity

Wembley Stadium served a ‘Mash of the Day’ menu to celebrate British Food Fortnight.

St Paul's Cathedral ran a ground-breaking ‘Harvest Swap Shop’ inviting people to fill a shoe-box with homegrown vegetables, head to London’s famous landmark Cathedral and enjoy a complimentary Sunday roast in the Cathedral’s restaurant. Produce was then used in the restaurant’s kitchen with outstanding offerings highlighted on the following week’s menu.

And Grey Gables Hotel in Radio Four’s The Archers is held ‘Meet the farmer, cook the Dish’ sessions.

The public sector supported the event en masse: the BBC's canteen staff donned ‘Love British Food’ t-shirts; major hospitals and school catering services ran special menus; Oxford's Waste Partnership hosted a series of live cookery demonstrations for the event to encourage people to use up their leftovers and even the Cabinet Office participated!

Here are some comments from people in the public sector who took part:

“The number of children eating school meals in Shropshire Primary Schools increased by 20% as a result of the British Food Fortnight menu we ran.” Bill Campbell, Operations Manager, Shropshire School Meal Service

“350 schools in Kent took part in British Food Fortngiht and we'll definitely be doing so again next year - I would love to see the whole of Kent getting involved, pubs, hotels and hospitals!” Mark Sleep, Client Services Manager, Kent County Council

“Why are we doing this? Simple. British Food Fortnight increases the enjoyment of tasting different foods and increases the income in the staff restaurant by 12%.” Mike Duckett, Catering Services Manager, The Royal Brompton Hospital, London