Food & Drink Wales – Stand no: N150, P150 & P160 in Hall 6
A large number of Welsh food and drink companies are preparing to attend the UK’s largest and most well respected food and drink trade exhibition. Over 1200 exhibitors will be present at Food & Drink Expo in Birmingham next month (18-20 April 2016), all looking to find new buyers and distributors.
Supported by the Welsh Government, the Food and Drink Wales stand, will this year feature 35 companies all looking to showcase their mouth-watering products and cement Wales’s place firmly on the food map.
Rebecca Evans, Deputy Minister for Farming and Food, believes that it is important for Welsh food and drink to be seen at this event,
“The Welsh Government’s support allows producers to attend events such as Food & Drink Expo and it provides them with an excellent opportunity to interact directly with buyers and distributors and showcase the very best of Wales.”
“The Welsh food and drink sector plays a significant role within the Welsh economy and we have ambitious targets of growing sales in the industry by 30% to £7billion by the year 2020.”
Welsh producers exhibiting will include Patchwork Pâté, Halen Môn, Snowdonia Cheese, Clark’s UK, Cradoc’s Savoury Biscuits and Princes Gate Spring Water. In addition a number of producers will be exhibiting as part of the Food and Drink Wales Showcase, including the winner of the Great Taste Golden Fork Award 2015, Apple County Cider.
Commenting on being part of the Food & Drink Wales Showcase, owner Stephanie Culpin from Monmouthshire based Apple County Cider said,
“Exhibiting in major events such as Food & Drink Expo gives us the opportunity to talk directly to buyers and we hope it will be a springboard for us as we aim to take the business forward.
“Gaining the Golden Fork Award at last year’s Great Taste Awards was a fantastic achievement for us and it has most definitely spurred us on. We want to continue to highlight the fantastic quality of our products as well as promote the excellence of food and drink that is available from Wales.”
Apple County Cider will be introducing a number of new products at Food & Drink Expo including two new fruit flavour ciders – Real Cider with Raspberry and Real Cider with Chuckleberry. As well as a Mulled Apple Cider (medium sweet) and a Yarlington Mill, sparkling medium sweet cider.
Other new product launches as part of the Food and Drink Wales Showcase includes a new range of cakes and biscuits including sugar free from the Pudding Compartment; new Chocolate Hazelnut Rounds and Tropical Meringues from Ooomeringues; new snack sized packs by Cnwc Crackers. Matt and Ben’s Fudge will be launching 3 new product lines – Christmas Pudding, Orange with Cranberry and Port and a Welsh Whisky fudge, all packaged in their new Matt and Ben’s packaging for Christmas 2016.
Chepstow based The Preservation Society will be launching a new Bangin BBQ Sauce; Blissfully Blackcurrant Jam; Figgy Mostardo (an Italian inspired fig & mustard relish) and Lord Lambourne’s Scrumpy Butter with Calvados (a seasonal special).
Food & Drink Expo is a biennial event, taking place this year from the 18-20 April 2016 at Birmingham’s NEC, bringing together buyers and decision makers across the whole industry, from grocery, food service, wholesale, manufacturing and speciality retail markets, offering both UK and overseas suppliers an excellent route to market.
Food & Drink Expo will run alongside three complimentary shows – Farm Shop & Deli Show, Foodex and the National Convenience Show.
Visit the Food and Drink Wales stand at Food & Drink Expo – N150, P150 and P160 in Hall 6.