Seaside will soon be added to the list of cities included in the Northwest Food Trail.

Starting next month, and continuing throughout 2020, Seaside will join Cannon Beach and Tillamook County on the award-winning North Coast Food Trail, a self-guided itinerary for travelers seeking locally sourced and sustainability-minded experiences.

From fishers and food processors to restaurants and beverage makers, the Food Trail’s mission is to highlight and promote such opportunities and to establish the North Coast region as a food-from-the-source destination. Although the program is entering its third year, this will be Seaside’s entrance as a destination on the trail and it’s looking like we’ll have seven locations representing three categories to start.

SISU Beer and Seaside Brewery will represent the beverage makers category, as both spots brew a variety of quality beers onsite in noteworthy historical structures.

Naturally, Sunset Empire Park and Recreation District’s Seaside Farmers Market, open June through September, will represent the farmers market category.

The Restaurants and Retail category in Seaside will see representation from Dough Dough Bakery, Maggie’s on the Prom, the Osprey Café, and Sea Star Gelato. Qualifying participation means, at minimum, 25 percent of menu items and products sold are locally sourced within 100 miles.

The popular North Coast Food Trail brochure is carried by all official State Welcome Centers (like the Seaside Visitors Bureau) and in tourism-heavy locations throughout the region. Participating businesses will also show up in multiple ways on the program’s website and map — northcoastfoodtrail.com — and be included in social media campaigns, as well as in any promo videos made in the next year. Moreover, they’ll benefit from the continued coverage of the North Coast Food Trail (which won a Sunset Magazine Travel Award in 2019) as it has racked up more than $2.1 million in earned media since launch, including TV features and more than one magazine cover story.

This time next year, assuming participant feedback is positive, we’ll look to expand the program to other qualifying spots in Seaside and cement our growing reputation as a fun and food destination. Astoria has shown general interest in bringing the trail up to their agricultural attractions, too, which would make the program truly representative of the North Coast and aligned well with the marketing partnership that’s existed between Astoria, Cannon Beach and Seaside for several years now.

At the end of the day, Seaside makes a perfect home base for longer-stay explorations of the North Coast’s beautiful stretch of land and sea, and those adventurers are going to be hungry.

Got a tourism-related comment or question? I’d love to hear from you. Write me at jheineman@cityofseaside.us.