National Food & Drink Conference + Exhibition takes place this week
Ireland's largest gathering of retailers, vendors and industry professionals, the National Food and Drink Conference 2017, is upon us...
Print11 September 2017
After months of preparation and planning, the National Food and Drink Conference and Exhibition, Ireland’s largest gathering of food industry professionals, takes place this Wednesday September 13 at Dublin’s Citywest Convention Centre. The event is set to welcome 3,000 food industry professionals, 200 speakers and 170 exhibitors to discuss the key issues facing the food industry.
The grocery and retail sectors are a major focus at this year’s event with the Food, Retail and Hospitality Expo and Forecourt and Convenience Retail Expo taking place, and the excellent panel of speakers reflects this. They include:
- Vincent Carton, CEO, Manor Farm
- Joe Barrett, Co-Founder, Applegreen
- Alison Cowzer, Investor, Dragons Den
- Mella Frewen, Director General, FoodDrinkEurope
- Simon McKeever, CEO, Irish Exporters Association
- Stan McCarthy, CEO, Kerry Group
The conference comes at a time when the grocery retail sector is experiencing a period of growth. Last year, the value of Irish retail sales grew by 1.7% across supermarkets and convenience stores according to IBEC, even as competition in the sector is heating up with Aldi and Lidl gaining market share. The retail sector is also the largest employer in the country generating 275,000 jobs.
Naturally, the Brexit issue will also be a major topic at the conference, with the ongoing and unresolved situation continuing to affect consumer spending in Ireland and Northern Ireland.
“This is an important event for the retail and grocery sector in Ireland,” says Colin Murphy, National Food & Drink Conference and Exhibition organiser. “It’s taking place at a time when there is a significant amount of apprehension ahead of Brexit. It’s not quite business as usual, and boths sides of the border are in limbo until we know what happens next.”
Another focus of the conference will be the drinks industry, which is also facing uncertainty due to Brexit and other issues. The speakers at the Craft Beer & Spirits Expo and the Pub & Off License Expo will include:
- Mella Frewen, Director General, FoodDrinkEurope
- Simon McKeever, CEO, Irish Exporters Association
- Paul Kelly, Director Food & Drink, IBEC
- David Thompson, Director, Food and Drink Federation Scotland
- Tim Casey, Country Manager, Innocent Drinks.
The National Food & Drink Conference is free to attend for industry professionals; to register, visit www.fooddrinkevent.com or contact Premier Publishing & Events Ltd. on 01-612-0880 or info@fooddrinkevent.com
Fans 0
Followers