Save the Date | Better Food Traders Annual Gathering 2026

Members, partners and friends of the Better Food Traders network will be meeting in South Wales for a day of connection, learning, strategising and inspiration. Join us!

Since 2021, Better Food Traders members have come together in a different part of the country every year 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 excited to head to the Penarth seafront, close to Cardiff in South Wales, to learn about the sustainable food scene in the region and beyond.

As well as welcoming members working across the UK, we’re excited to welcome key partners working across the sustainable food sector across the UK.

This summit of friends and allies will be a unique opportunity to showcase the breadth of work taking place across the region and across the Better Food Traders network, and to situate the vital work of traders in the broader movement for a better food system.

Meet and reconnect:

• Catch up with BFT members working across the UK
• Build relationships with people working across sustainable and independent food, farming and enterprise

Learn and explore

• About some of the great work being done to improve Wales' food system
• Get updates on policy, advocacy and research shaping the landscape for better food traders across the UK

Collaborate and strategise

• Share challenges from your day‑to‑day work and hear how others are tackling them
• Work together on the systemic issues facing our sector

Shape the movement

• Have your say on how BFT can best support you
• Reflect on your unique role in building a fairer, more sustainable food system

Cost
Free for members
Sliding scale up to £30 for non‑members

Food

Soft drinks, snacks and lunch provided.

Accessibility & travel

The venue

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.

In terms of phsyical acces, our meeting space is on the ground gloor 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 [email protected].

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 [email protected].

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