It is estimated that more than 100 of Ireland’s top food and drink companies will be presented with a major opportunity to market their produce to 250 national and international buyers at Bord Bia’s Bloom festival this morning.
Now in its fourth consecutive year, the Bord Bia trade event has already helped secure multiple new routes to market for exhibiting food and drink companies. Attending buyers will include UK retailers such as Dean and Deluca, Selfridges, Buckley and Beale, Costwold Fayre and Ocado, alongside Irish-based companies like Aldi, Lidl, Tesco Ireland, Dunnes Stores, SuperValu, Insomnia, Pallas Foods, Compass Group Ireland, Topaz and Applegreen.
The buyers, from ROI, NI and UK retail, foodservice and independent stores, who together have a combined buying power of more than €10 billion, will be introduced to the Irish producers at an early-morning meet-and-greet trade event organised by Bord Bia.
The breakfast briefing and product showcase will present the food and drink companies - all of whom are exhibiting their products over the course of the five-day festival - with a highly-valuable networking opportunity, as well as allowing them to display their product ranges to some of the industry’s most prestigious and successful buyers on both sides of the water.
Among the 110 food and drink exhibitors at Bloom 2017 are 33 food and drink exhibitors who are new to the Food Village at Bloom. Exhibitors frequently use the opportunity as a platform to launch new products to sample with the visiting public.
Speaking ahead of the event, Chief Executive at Bord Bia, Tara McCarthy said, "While visitors to Bloom spend in excess of €7 million at the event and our records show that up to €30 million is spent directly with exhibitors after the show our annual trade breakfast has become an important commercial date in the Irish food and drink calendar."
She added, "Irish producers large and small get the potential to secure significant new contracts with some of the UK and Ireland’s leading companies. For visiting retailers and food service buyers, it provides a unique platform to engage directly with suppliers and identify new trends, new products and opportunities to bring to market."
Source: www.businessworld.ie
