A selection of Welsh food and drink companies are heading to New York to attend the Speciality Food Association’s 2023 Summer Fancy Food Show later this month.
Supported by the Welsh Government, representatives from the companies will be attending the largest speciality food trade event in America from the 25th – 27th June 2023.
This is the second year running that the Welsh Government have taken a delegation to the event, which is one of the leading showcases of industry innovation, bringing speciality food’s top manufacturers, buyers and industry professionals together under one roof.
Flying the flag for Wales at this year’s event is The Billington Group, Tŷ Nant, Welsh Lady Preserves, Morning Foods and Hilltop Honey.
The Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd, Lesley Griffiths said: “We all know the quality of Welsh food and drink is up there with the best in the world and we need to ensure it is rightly recognised.
“We are proud to support our food and drink producers at this important global event, reaffirming our commitment to raising our international profile and supporting our businesses. We see the United States as one of our key export markets and are working hard to raise the profile of our producers and grow the industry.”
Welsh Lady Preserves is hoping to develop existing links with the US market and will be showcasing a new product line. Commenting ahead of the visit owner Carol Jones said:
“I am looking forward to going to New York to showcase what we have to offer here at Welsh Lady. I have recently received several inquiries from the USA so this is a good opportunity to present our products, and to try to establish relationships with new customers, but mainly to make contact with a distributor.
“We will be showcasing our range of products in bottles - mainly the Red Sauce and Brown Sauce, our lemon curd of course, which is always popular, and also a new product which is our "Pumpkin Pie Curd".
“Attending a show like this is challenging, with a lot of preparation. We are very lucky here in Wales to have the support of the Welsh Government, I am very grateful that is available.”
Also attending is award winning Hilltop Honey who will be showcasing their most recent innovation with their full Manuka range, which launched into retail giant Tesco in February this year.
Jack Davies, Export Sales Manager said: “We’re excited to be attending Summer Fancy Food Show 2023 to grow our presence in the US market. We’re well aware of the potential the US market has to offer and are looking forward to engaging with potential customers, distributors and agents to get the wheels in motion on Hilltop’s move into this new market. We’re keen to work with potential new partners in the market and through attending Summer Fancy Food Show 2023, we’re able to meet these new customers face to face and make lasting relationships thereafter.
“Hilltop has continued to grow from strength to strength in the first half of 2023 and we’re keen to offer our expertise in honey, maple syrup, agave and carob syrup through own label opportunities as well as through our Hilltop brand. The launch of our new high strength Hilltop Manuka Honey is a product we’re eager to offer to the USA along with our speciality honeys sourced from across Europe”
Also attending the show is Iain Lavelle, Head of Marketing at Morning Foods. He says,
“We’ll be showcasing our newly re-positioned Mighty Oats range that demonstrates our commitment to producing porridge from 100% British Oats, milled carbon neutrally using power generated by our own wind turbine and solar farm. We will also feature some of our heroes from our Ready to Eat range including our premium Granolas and Mueslis and Oat Bran Flakes; and from the birthplace of the Chocolate Square our newly launched Pixels, another level of chocolate cereal!
“We would like to meet businesses looking for that something special. Dating back to 1675, we’re a family business now in its 15th generation of ownership, making us unique in terms of expertise and heritage, meaning our cereals are certainly amongst the best in the world.”
Summer Fancy Food is a three-day event providing food and drink businesses with an opportunity to discover the newest trends and best products, make key business connections and network with buyers and industry professionals. The event will feature more than 180,000 products, 25,000 buyers and 2,500 exhibitors.