Tesco has announced it will continue its multi-million pound investment in the growth of the British Aberdeen Angus herd, with 1,600 farmers in the UK set to benefit from new 12 month contracts which will guarantee a price above the standard market rate for beef.

The Aberdeen Angus farmers are located across the UK and supply Tesco with all its Finest beef steaks, mince and joints. Aberdeen Angus beef is recognised for its quality, and all the cuts included in Tesco's range are aged for 28 days, providing customers with the best possible quality and flavour.

To coincide with the introduction of the new contracts, Tesco is re-launching its Tesco Sustainable Farming Group for Beef. The Group becomes the 10th Tesco Sustainable Farming Group following the setting up of groups in areas including dairy, pork, lamb, poultry, eggs, potatoes and brassicas.

The groups provide a forum to discuss sustainable production, customer needs, Tesco's quality standards and how Tesco and its supply base can work more closely together. They also play an important role in terms of securing supply, increasing efficiency and improving animal welfare.

Tesco's Commercial Director for Fresh Food, George Wright said:

“We're committed to building long-term, transparent partnerships with our suppliers, growers and farmers. These new contracts and the reformation of our Sustainable Farming Group for beef strengthens the partnerships we have with our farmers and means they can build their businesses and invest for the future, while providing our customers with the best quality British beef.”

David Knox, Sales Account Manager at Foyle Group, one of Tesco's Aberdeen Angus beef processors, said:

"We are delighted with Tesco's ongoing commitment and investments in their Finest range. The new contract will help secure long term sustainability for the beef sector. We are also excited about Tesco's restructuring their Sustainable Farming Group for Beef as it will act as a great platform in allowing suppliers to bring forward innovative ideas to deliver positive influence for the Industry."

Animals are reared to Red Tractor welfare standards and Tesco's Beef Livestock Codes of Practice.

City of Wolverhampton’s Festival of Food and Drink at the weekend saw record attendance over the two days – up by almost 7,000 on last’s year inaugural event.

More than 25,000 people enjoyed the festival in the heart of the city centre on Saturday and Sunday after snapping up free tickets.

All tickets for Saturday were secured by Friday evening – and it is estimated the economic benefit to the city over the weekend is around £420,000.

Families revelled in the sunshine off Wulfruna Street, with a wide range of food and drink available, artisan stalls, live music, an open-air cinema, and traditional fairground games across both days.

Visitors on Saturday were treated to a flypast by a C47 Dakota from the RAF Battle of Britain Memorial Flight (BBMF) team.

And shortly after thousands were on cloud nine as they watched England’s glorious World Cup quarter-final win over Sweden on the big screen.

Organiser William Power of Street Banquet and Director of E11EVEN GROUP, said: “A massive thank you to everyone that attended and supported this year’s Wolverhampton Festival of Food & Drink. We were blessed with great weather and a World Cup victory to add to what was an amazing weekend for our team and hopefully the 25,000-plus people in attendance.

“Special thanks go out to all the traders that went above and beyond in what is a challenging weekend’s work for them. All of which were fantastic! Without them there is no foundation for this event so thank you from everyone involved. We do our best to bring new traders and tastes to the city and hope to do so more regularly moving forward.

“The festival provides a great offering and family day out in the city. This was only the second year for us and we are still looking for ways to improve your experience. We take on board all the feedback and plan to come back with an even better festival for you next year.”

Visitor comments on social media included ‘Amazing day! Fun times for my hen do with friends and family and an England win to compliment the food and drink!, ‘What an event! I still can’t get over we was in middle of Wolverhampton and had spent not a penny to get in! Everyone involved in this event should be so proud what a day!, ‘Second year in a row this event was a brilliant day out as expected. Huge range of food and drinks vendors to choose from’.

Councillor John Reynolds, Cabinet Member for City Economy, said: “I am delighted the flagship event of our Enjoy Wolverhampton visitor programme hit new heights this year.

“It is another example of Wolverhampton putting itself on the map and showcases exactly what the city has to offer to residents and visitors.”

In addition to strong advanced ticket numbers, almost 500 visitors chose to pay on the gate at the festival, which resulted in £488 going to the chosen charities of Mayor of Wolverhampton, Councillor Phil Page, and the other half to event costs.

Entirely plastic free and crafted from the humble rice husk, Huskup's reusable coffee cups have now become a canvas, inspiring designers to help the nation's coffee lovers to say no to single use. An instant bestseller for Huskup, the 'Thumbs Up' design caught the mood of the moment and has set the tone for a range of other patterns inspired by nature.

Frome-based designer, Donna Sarah is the creative behind these concepts, and a full range of her designs is now available from Huskup. Representing fundamental features of the natural world, from the coastline to the woodlands to the mountains, each design also leaves space for the natural material of the rice husk to shine through. These new designs, named Pebbles, Sticks and Triangles, take a simple, geometric approach, appealing to an eco-audience who want a unique product to reuse time and again.

Richard Milton, founder of Huskup, explains: “To create a truly green product, all the pieces of the eco-jigsaw have to fit together, so choosing to work with local designers who share our environmental principles was a no brainer. Donna's designs have naturally struck a chord with reusable cup shoppers across the country, and with more design collaborations on the way, we plan to keep Huskup a desirable product that makes it easy and appealing to tackle disposable culture.”

Donna Sarah, designer of the mono Huskup range, adds: “I was very impressed by the way that Huskup uses a by-product to resolve a pressing modern-day problem and it has been a great opportunity to be one of the first designers to work with the rice husk material. The thumbs up design is a little message to represent the good that the cup is doing for the earth, while with the other designs I took the planet itself as my starting point. Each one is based on an element of nature, the ground beneath us, the water and the trees, all things we must look to protect from now on.”

The math has been done and the financial rewards of using a reusable cup are compelling.

The individual saving is not insignificant. The average Brit, enjoying two cups of coffee every day,* could save up to £365 a year by refilling a reusable when opting for the biggest discount currently available – Pret's 50p incentive.

It's worth it. Especially considering that a reusable cup will pay for itself within as little as nine days in the case of a two-coffee-a-day consumer.

However, when considered collectively, the numbers are even more persuasive.

Recent figures show that the British public spent £6.3 billion on takeaway coffee in just a year* – that equates to around 2.8 billion cups of coffee,* with the preference being for milk-based coffees such as lattes and cappuccinos.

Based on these figures and the top discount of 50p, if every coffee purchased was served in a reusable cup, coffee drinking Brits could collectively save an astonishing £1.4 billion a year.

It's clear we're all mad for the stuff, but our coffee cravings mean we're responsible for 2.5 billion single-use plastic cups going to landfill every year. That's over 6.8 million every single day.

So, it's great news - for both the environment and for our wallets - that more coffee shops than ever are now offering incentives for customers using reusable cups.

And if coffee consumers were to make just one of their daily coffees at home, decanting into a reusable cup for their morning commute rather than buying en route, they could save a further £574.20 a year.*

Ecoffee Cup founder David McLagan says: “It's great news that so many high-street coffee shops are now offering incentives for customers using reusable cups. The potential saving of £1.4 billion a year makes it an obvious investment and allows coffee drinkers to be part of the solution to single-use plastic waste whilst also saving up to £365 each a year.

“Switching to a reusable cup is a small change that could make a big difference, and at Ecoffee Cup we offer a wide range of designs that are not only functional but stylish too – from iconic William Morris patterns to bold colours, there's an Ecoffee Cup to suit everyone.”

“Doing your bit for the oceans has never been so easy (and stylish)” says Ecoffee Cup customer, Priya. “Plus you often get money off your coffee when using a reusable cup. Just do it.”

Gosta Green in Birmingham has just launched a brand new menu and there's something for everyone - especially vegans!

New on-trend dishes include a Vegan Burger - a spicy bean burger topped with mixed leaves, vegan mayonnaise, a vegan cheese slice and BBQ pulled jackfruit, served in a toasted bagel.

Described as 'pulled pork for vegetarians', jackfruit is being hailed as the next big food trend. A large, green spiky fruit originating from India, South America and South-east Asia, with a meaty texture and appearance, jackfruit is particularly popular with vegetarians and vegans.

Jackfruit features in other new dishes on the menu, including Jackfruit Bao Buns - a lotus style steamed bun filled with pulled BBQ jackfruit.

Other vegan-friendly dishes include Macaroni Grilled Cheese Sandwich, Chilli and Salad (Black Bean and Butternut Squash Quinoa Chilli with Spicy Rice finished with vegan cheese and vegan mayonnaise), Falafel Salad, Mac and Cheese, Nachos, Chilli Fries, Avocado Fries and Halloumi Fries.

If you're a meat eater, don't worry there's plenty on offer for you too! Check out our Chicken Curry Burger, Maple Bacon Burger and Double Decker Burger as well as 'Burger of the Month'.

Other meaty treats include Buttermilk Ribs (buttermilk dusted pork ribs, crispy fried and drizzled with BBQ sauce), Chicken & Waffles (crispy fried buttermilk chicken breast and zingy house slaw sandwiched between toasted waffles and drizzled with maple syrup), and Chicken Waffle Goujons.

Desserts don't disappoint either! Choose from gooey Chocolate Fritters (crispy fried Mars Bar or a Snickers bar coated in Doughnut Batter served with vanilla ice cream), scrumptious Cookie Dough, tempting Smores Biscuit (Digestive biscuits filled with Hazlenut chocolate spread and toasted mini marshmallows, drizzled with chocolate flavoured sauce) or our mouth-watering Smores Doughnut!

Plus we have a wide range of craft beers and wines and new 'Martinny' cocktails (cocktails in a can) on the autumn menu. For the more health-conscious, check out the new Avocado Go-Go, Breakfast Smoothie and protein-based smoothies: Fruitasia and The Veggie-Nator.

Alongside the new dishes and drinks, several great deals have been introduced. Customers can double their loyalty points on Mondays by receiving 20 points for every £1 spent on food or drinks, Tuesdays become 'Pancake Tuesday' with pancakes priced at 25p all day, whilst Wednesdays are 'Wing Wednesday' with chicken wings on offer for just 25p a wing all day.

General manager Stefan Sroczynski, says: "We're really excited about the new menu! We have lots of demand for vegan and vegetarian dishes, so we wanted to ensure we had plenty of options to choose from. The jackfruit dishes are really amazing, even meat eaters will love the flavour and texture as it really does taste like pulled pork! We think we've got something for everyone on offer this autumn, so come on down and try our new dishes for yourself!"

Visitors to the first day of City of Wolverhampton’s Food & Drink Festival on Saturday, July 7 can also enjoy the spectacular sights and sounds of a commemorative Royal Air Force flypast.

A C47 Dakota from the RAF Battle of Britain Memorial Flight (BBMF) team will makes three passes above the city centre event at around 2.20pm.

The festival will take place on Wulfruna Street, the Civic Centre Ceremonial car park, St Peter’s car park and the pedestrian area outside the University of Wolverhampton’s Ambika Paul building.

More than 15,000 free tickets have already been snapped up for the weekend festival on Saturday, July 7 and Sunday 8 (12pm to 8pm on both days).

It is the flagship event of this year’s packed ‘Enjoy Wolverhampton’ visitor programme and tickets for both days can be booked online in advance at www.wolvesfoodfest.co.uk.

Fittingly, the C47 Dakota is a transport aircraft that moved food supplies regularly during wartime.

City of Wolverhampton Council Cabinet Member for City Economy, Councillor John Reynolds, said: “The RAF celebrates its 100th anniversary this year and we are delighted the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight team have chosen to honour one of our most popular city events with a flypast.

“As a city and a council we are signed up to the Armed Forces Covenant and fully support them in any way we can.

“It will be great to see thousands of people at the Food & Drink Festival get to enjoy this spectacular sight – it adds even more to what is a fantastic family event and shows how it is already growing in only its second year.”

More than 18,500 people attended the inaugural festival and this year’s offer is even bigger and better, with around 80 different food and drink outlets.

Partnerships and collaborations with the likes of Digbeth Dining Club will see award winning street food and drink traders making their City of Wolverhampton debuts.

There will be a wider range of food and drink traders, artisan stalls, and exhibitors, alongside live music, an open-air cinema, Prosecco bar, guest appearances, family area and traditional fairground games.

The BBMF operates from RAF Conningsby, a Typhoon and fighter base, in Lincolnshire.

The mission of the BBMF is to maintain the priceless artefacts of our national heritage in airworthy condition to commemorate those who have fallen in the service of this country, to promote the modern-day Air Force and to inspire future generations.

Flown by regular serving RAF aircrew, the flight operates six Spitfires, two Hurricane Mk 2Cs, and a Lancaster, as well as a C47 Dakota and two Chipmunk aircraft.