Niech Cię Zakole (Take a turn in our pantry)

"Niech Cię Zakole" is a slogan – it will surprise, captivate delight – the landscape, the culture, the traditions and the culinary offer of the Valley of the Vistula at the point where the river turns. It is a tourism and culinary product elaborated for four separate and unified territories along the Vistula: the Lower Vistula Valley, Ziemia Dobrzyńska, Zakole Dolnej Wisły and Kociewie in the Kuyavia and Pomerania Region.

The project has resulted in the creation of a networked product based solely on the potential of the rural areas along the Vistula and was divided into three stages:

• 1. a query of the area along the Vistula and preliminary identification of the potential, information meetings, identification and recruitment of the beneficiaries;
• 2. four thematic workshops titled ‘Four Seasons in the Vistula Valley’ in order to identify potential, services and needs of the participants and select the services and products to be included in the tourism and culinary package deals;
• 3. summary phase and product promotion through: organisation of two study tours for representatives of the tourism industry, journalists and bloggers in order to check and verify the offers that have been elaborated and organisation of an open-air event - the „Niech Cię Zakole” picnic - where the tourism package offers and the local products were presented.

The region along the Vistula has received an outstanding tourism label: Niech Cię Zakole. The product brings together the tourism and culinary potential discovered over the course of the project, the delightful byroads, the tourism and agri-tourism places providing for rest, tourism services as well as local produce and foodstuffs.

It benefits farmers, breeders, agri-tourism operators, restaurants and food processors, historic sites manager by local governments and the Vistula Landscape Park with Mennonite Houses of 14 local governments that lie along the Vistula.

The project results are:

• a) the direct commercial involvement of twelve entities – Culinary Promoters, Promoters of Rural Tourism and Promoters of the „Niech Cię Zakole” Local Product, and the indirect involvement of a further ten entities providing complementary services (tourist sites, historic reconstruction groups, folk groups, horse riding stables),
• b) the creation of short supply chains based on the local potential of lamb and goose products. The supply chain is made up of breeders of lambs from the bend of the Lower Vistula, the Kołuda Wielka Animal Husbandry Institute (a breeder of geese and of lamb), the slaughter house, and the promoters of the label (restaurants and agri-tourism entities along the route), as well as shops selling the labelled products,
• c) the elaboration and marketing of the tourism product in packages that include the aforementioned entities.

The partners of the region have gained an outstanding identity to distinguish them from commercial mediocrity.