City News

Food and drink professionals across the UK are being invited by regional food group HEART of ENGLAND fine foods (HEFF) to attend their annual free trade event Food, Information, Networking Drink (FIND).

The one day event is being staged through funding from the West Midlands Food Partnership, an Advantage West Midlands initiative launched in March 2006 representing and raising the profile of the food and drink industry in the region. FIND will showcase hundreds of regional products, present advance previews of seasonal Christmas lines and will be held at Aston Villa Football Club, Birmingham on Tuesday 18th July 2006. Opening with a series of workshops for producers at 8.30am, the programme for buyers, retailers and other non-exhibitors starts at 10.00am, closing at 5.00pm.

The FIND agenda offers delegates a choice of interesting activities and targeted business networking opportunities. From 10.00am – 11.30am a series of ten industry specific, round table discussion forums will get the day off to a lively start. Topics range from Dairy Produce and Ethnic Foods to Poultry, Wine and Pre-prepared & Packaged Foods and will be led by a mixed panel of sector professionals, including buyers, company CEO’s, restaurateurs, trade organisation representatives, marketing managers and journalists. Confirmed participants include representatives from Budgens, Sainsbury’s, Paxton & Whitfield, House of Fraser, CAMRA, EBLEX and the National Farmers Union.

The Savour the Flavour Showcase Store will be open for browsing between 11.30am – 5.00pm and will display fresh, ambient, chilled and frozen produce from producers in Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, Birmingham & the Black Country, Herefordshire and Worcestershire. Visitors are encouraged to browse and taste products at their leisure and will be supplied with enquiry cards to record notes and make enquiries. HEFF Marketing Executives will be on hand to answer questions and coordinate introductions to the producers, who will be taking part in workshops and other activities throughout the day.

After a locally sourced lunch and networking, delegates can choose to attend one of three stimulating afternoon seminars from 2.30pm to 3.30pm. ‘Understanding the Food Shopper’, delivered by the Food Chain Centre at IGD looks at the importance of researching target markets and consumer profiling; The Ark Foundation will discuss ‘The Dangers of Alcohol Dependency and Drug Misuse in the Hospitality Industry’ and Scientific Generics will present on how to retain product quality while addressing demands for lower salt, fat and sugar content in ‘Healthy Eating & New Product Development’.

Five Meet the Buyer sessions will be held during the event, with buyers from ASDA, Birmingham Hippodrome, Aston Villa FC and gourmet food service suppliers Pallas Foods Ireland & UK signed up to meet producers and review products. Patrick Clement and his team from Pallas Foods, based in Limerick, are coming to Great Britain with UK Trade & Investment and are specifically looking to enhance their 3000-strong ambient, chilled, frozen and complete meal solutions range with regional products. A UK branch is about to launch in Blackburn meaning producers will have the option of presenting to two buyers from the same company.

To round off a hectic day, a closing Keynote Address will be given by Siân Harrington, Deputy Editor of The Grocer, on the value of PR and promotion for any food business.

Karen Davies, Chief Executive of HEFF says, ‘FIND is a fantastic opportunity for buyers to review over 300 product lines from the Heart of England and interact with professionals from every link in the food chain. Last year’s event at the Birmingham Hippodrome was a great success and generated some excellent business contacts that have boosted production in the West Midlands and seen regional food and drink supplied into retail stores, restaurants, hotels, pubs and organisations nationwide. Through funding from the West Midlands Food Partnership we are able to offer delegates entry to the event free of charge - this is an opportunity not to be missed!’

To register for FIND please complete the online form at www.heff.co.uk or contact HEFF on 01746 785185 or email office@heff.co.uk Further details as they are confirmed will be available on the HEFF website.