Economy minister supports meat industry export drive
Thursday, 31 May 2007Economy Minister Nigel Dodds welcomed 10 top buyers from Italian meat companies at an inward buyer event in Belfast today.
Mr Dodds also took the opportunity to give his support to senior managers from 13 Northern Ireland beef and lamb processing companies, seeking to develop business in one-to-one meetings with members of the Italian delegation.
The inward visit was organised jointly by Invest Northern Ireland and the Livestock and Meat Commission (LMC).
Speaking at the event, which was held at Invest NI’s headquarters, Minister Dodds said: “This delegation from Italy is one of the largest and most influential inward buyer missions ever to visit Northern Ireland and as such, its presence is very important to our economy. I am confident that our meat processing industry can rise to the challenge and offer the delegation premium quality and innovative products that will readily find a place on Italian tables.
“Collectively the buying power of the Italian visitors is substantial and presents a major new export opportunity for an important manufacturing sector here. The visit also represents a significant breakthrough for Invest NI and LMC in their work to help red meat companies expand business in key European markets.
“The beef and lamb sector is one of our most successful food processing industries achieving total sales in 2004 of £580million and providing almost 3,000 jobs. The export challenge is now being addressed proactively and future planned events will also support the industry as it seeks to expand export sales.
“To achieve this and to differentiate themselves from their competitors, our companies must continue to invest substantial amounts in product innovation in what is a very challenging consumer-led marketplace. I am confident that they can, and will, succeed in strengthening their share in key European markets.”
The visit follows on from an earlier exploratory outward visit by Northern Ireland companies to Italy last October. That was co-ordinated jointly by Invest NI, the Department for Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD) and LMC.
It is also in line with the export focus recommended for the growth of the Northern Ireland food industry in the ‘Fit for Market’ strategy. This is now being implemented by Invest NI and DARD, with support from LMC and other sectoral representative organisations.
Following the Minister’s welcome, the buyers received a briefing on the meat industry in Northern Ireland. Local companies then had over 100 individual one-to-one meetings with the buyers to discuss trade and other commercial opportunities in the Italian marketplace.
NOTES TO EDITORS:
1. The Italian meat companies taking part in the Invest NI/Livestock and Meat Commission ‘Meet the Buyer’ event in Belfast were:
Ala Carni:
based near Trento in the north of Italy, imports and processes meat.
Bonometti:
an importer of high quality meat in the north of Italy for customers in the foodservice sector.
Centro Carni Company:
an importer in the Veneto region.
CLAI:
a cooperative in Emilia Romagna which already buy from Ireland and wishes to develop contacts in Northern Ireland.
Co-Op Italia:
the multiple retail chain with the largest market share in Italy (20%). It is the leading group in Italian food retail and the largest single chain present on the market. It has 70 hypermarkets and 561 supermarkets across Italy.
Ferrara srl, Avellino:
a company in the south of Italy which imports both live animals and buys meat (beef, lamb and pork).
Giraudi:
the most important meat importer/broker operating in Italy.
Vercelli SpA:
market leader in veal for industry, caterers and retailers.
Rosa Carni:
an importer based in the Veneto region
VIP Catering:
based in Cervia, a major supplier to the catering sector.
2. The Northern Ireland companies taking part in the event were:
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