Gastronomy as a value chain

One of the virtues of Basque Gastronomy has been to take care of the quality of its raw ingredients and knowing the value chain between producers and restaurateurs first-hand. The first chefs to revolutionise the art of our cuisine were aware of this and, whilst seeking the involvement of other agents in the sector, laid the foundations to culminate in what has been referred to as the New Basque Cuisine.

Thanks to the work and perseverance of those visionaries, today we can affirm that Basque Cuisine has created a solid structure amongst all those sectors involved in this process and has developed a value chain in which producers, farmers and fishermen participate as well as food, tourist, research, innovation, university and even cultural sectors.

Gastronomy is a field of opportunities given its contribution to creating employment, to economic growth and to the development of a knowledge-based economy. To this end, the Basque Government has committed itself to food as a strategic sector underpinned by the “Strategic Food and Gastronomy Plan of 2020 (PDF)”.

The objective of this plan is to reinforce the 4 principles of food and Basque gastronomy, i.e. ensuring that it is Safe, Healthy, Unique and Sustainable. Given its multidisciplinary nature, different areas of the Basque Government and Provincial Councils of Álava, Bizkaia and Gipuzkoa are involved.