The Diputación de Castellón has consolidated the province as a top international gastronomic destination through Castelló Ruta de Sabor. The Provincial Government has formalized this morning the incorporation of 60 new companies and, with this, there are now 281 producers, restaurateurs, hoteliers, municipalities and collaborators of the province that make up the gastronomic tourism product and agrotourism ‘Castelló Ruta de Sabor’. After this great reception shown by all the agents related to gastronomic tourism in the province, from agri-food production to accommodation, the Provincial Government has consolidated this initiative that brings together a provincial gastronomic network to diversify the supply and distribute tourist flows for the entire province.

After the informative commission that has ratified the adhesion of the companies, the president of the Provincial Council, Javier Moliner, has given them the certifications that authorize the use of the brand by the companies. “We are working to consolidate this land as a gastronomic destination of first international level and help you to give the professional sato you deserve. It is difficult for each producer to get to rub shoulders on the shelves with the big brands, to be on the best tables or to be protagonists in the big fairs. But together, under the umbrella of this launching brand, we have achieved it, despite being a young brand only four years old”.

And it must be taken into account that Castelló Ruta de Sabor is already one of the most powerful gastronomic brands in Spain, with 119 producers and 162 tourism product companies, “about 300 reasons to come to enjoy this iterra, fall in love through taste and emotions and return. The ability to add new opportunities to the territory is enormous, as this gastronomic route generates the attraction for people to come to visit us, consume the products and generate a whole series of wealth around these production centers, our stores and establishments,” said Moliner, who has also ensured that “Castelló Ruta de Sabor has established itself as our great platform to add new opportunities to this land, with more international promotion, training, resources for innovation, tourist routes and guarantees that the quality at the table remains our flagship”.

Castelló Ruta de Sabor and Repoblem

Among the attributes of Castelló Ruta de Sabor most valued by the provincial president has highlighted its ability to generate new opportunities for the future in rural areas of the province very depopulated.

“That economic opportunities and employment are generated anywhere is positive, but that through this project is achieved in very unpopulated places of our interior has a triple value. And we are seeing how gastronomy, like the enhancement of all the heritage we have around the production of so many products, is a way of adding value to the territory and adding new opportunities for the future”.

Among the producers and establishments adhered to the brand today, the high presence of rural companies in municipalities such as Morella, Benassal, Sant Mateu, Castellnovo, La Jana, Altura or Almedíjar, among others, stands out.

Castelló Ruta de Sabor and the evolution of adhered producers

In 2014, the Castellón Provincial Council launched the Castelló Ruta de Sabor brand, with the collaboration of the Official Association of Agricultural Engineers of the Valencian Community, with the aim of promoting the consumption of local products among the people of Castellón and generating new opportunities for small gastronomic producers.

14 were the first agri-food companies to join this ambitious project promoted by the provincial government. After successive accessions, there are currently 119 producers certified to make use of this brand as a differentiating element of the highest quality of local products, and between them they total nearly 300 products.

Olive oils, mineral waters, meats and sausages, craft beers, fruits, vegetables and nuts, liqueurs, jams, bakery and confectionery products, fish and seafood, cheeses and dairy products, nougat, wines, truffles and mushrooms, coffees, eggs… and even organic products, are part of the Castelló Ruta de Sabor brand.

Launching of tourism product and evolution of member companies

In October 2018, the Provincial Council presented the first 115 companies in the province of Castellón as ambassadors of the Castelló Ruta de Sabor product brand.

The launch of the Castelló Ruta de Sabor tourism product involved, for the first time in the province, the coordinated packaging of a network of tourism experiences linked to gastronomy. At the same time, the first gastromap of the province of Castellón was presented, a new tourism promotion tool for the towns through the brand of local gastronomic products and their location in the province, which suggests to the visitor a set of tourist experiences ranging from visiting vineyards, tasting tasty dishes in restaurants, learning about the production process of cheeses or oils or recognizing this gastronomic tradition in the historical heritage of the municipalities.

Agencies, accommodations, gastrobars, restaurants, stores, markets, interpretation centers, tourist offices, visitable agri-food industries, visitable fish markets, tourist fishing and agricultural and livestock producers are part of this aspect of the project that, after the new accessions carried out on May 14, 2019, will add a total of 162 companies in the province that are committed to the products produced in this one.