In the interest of promoting and marketing the products in the National Park Certified Product System, Minister of Agriculture Dr. Sándor Fazekas will visit all 10 Hungarian national parks in 2017-2018. The second stop on this route was Aggtelek National Park on May 23.
The National Park Certified Product Route event was jointly organised by the Ministry of Agriculture and the Természetes Ízeket Előállítók Közössége (TÍZÉK) on the terrace of the recently renovated Tengerszem Hotel in Jósvafő. Several ANPI certified producers and potential producers were in attendance, along with media, ANP, Bükk and Hortobágy national park staff, and people from the ministry.
ANP Director Balázs Veress opened the event, emphasising the programme’s importance in improving the poor economic situation in the Borsod and Zemplén regions. The programme could be a sallying point for local producers and tourist services. After two tenders in the last 5 years, ANP is proud that it has certified 14 local producers and places of accommodation, and approximately 110 of their products. A new tender announcement round is planned for this year.
The event was also used as an opportunity by the Ministry of Agriculture and Hungarian Tourist Board to announce a new tender, “Eco-tourism Project of the Year 2017.” Deputy Secretary for the Environment at the Ministry of Agriculture Dr. András Rácz said that the aim of the competition is to help ecotourism establishments and their operators to measure their services and facilities based on their visitor- and family-friendliness. Dr. Péter Princzinger, Deputy Director of the Hungarian Tourism Agency, emphasised the importance of cooperation and previous successful applications. Link: http://www.kormany.hu
Júlia Nagy, project manager at the successful Miskolc Tourism Marketing Nonprofit Public Benefit Ltd. (MIDMAR), and Krisztián Blaskó, secretary of the Miskolc and Miskolc Area Tourism Association, shared their experiences in Miskolc regarding their combined information point-coffee house-local product shop.
Gábor Koltay, co-owner with his wife Krisztina Zsoldos of Royal Treats in Aggtelek told the tale of the unusual process that led to the abandonment of their Budapest existence and the creation of their delicious cordials, jams and dried mushrooms from ingredients gathered around Aggtelek. The couple recently won the national cordial competition with their wild plum cordial.
Last but not least, Miskolc’s Dűlő Restaurant manager Renáta Vécsey spoke about the practical conditions under which different locally sourced products may be sourced and used in the restaurant sector.
The event was closed with a tasting of locally certified products including jams from Royal Treats and Gyorgy Vajda (Kéked), as well as strawberries from the Szintai family (Szendrő). Blackberry cordial and several jams were available to accompany the scones and donuts provided by the newly re-opened Tengerszem Restaurant. Lace tablecloths and doilies from the Gömör Népföiskola (Putnok) adorned all the tables, jams and palnikas from Fruktárium (Trizs) and the horsehair jewellery of Kata Fodor (Gömörszőlős) was also on display.
Also in attendance were certified producer Vilmos Vécsei who makes pickled saffron milkcap mushrooms (Martonyi), Béla Berecz and Judit Isteni who operate the “Kisház” guesthouse (Jósvafő), Jeroen van Drunen who co-operates the Irota EcoLodge, and the Gonda Family who make goat and sheep cheese in Erdőbénye.
