20 April 2016

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20 April 2016

New guidance rolled out to food and drink manufacturers today will help existing and would-be exporters to compete in the fiercely competitive global marketplace.

'Exports – Five Steps to Food and Drink Exporting Success' was developed by the Food and Drink Federation (FDF) and Food and Drink Exporters Association (FDEA) as part of an enhanced partnership to help more of Britain's 6,500 producers to export. The guide provides useful information and tips on how food and drink manufacturers can begin exporting to foreign markets including details of necessary research, and how to create exporting opportunities and useful contacts.

FDF has set an ambition to grow value-added food and drink exports by a third to achieve a total value of £6 billion by 2020, with regular joint activity and promotions between FDF and FDEA a key strand of FDF's efforts to achieve that ambition.

A host of food and drink manufacturers and industry experts joined FDF and FDEA for the guide's launch on Tuesday 19 April 2016 at a UKTI event at Food & Drink Expo 2016. Export champions attended the launch to provide practical advice to other would-be exporters, sharing experiences from their own export journey.

Angela Coleshill, Competitiveness Director at FDF, said: “Our guide gives manufacturers the information they need to access new markets and begin their journey as successful exporters. FDF is committed to working with FDEA to help the UK's food and drink manufacturers compete on an international level.

At present only a relatively small proportion of food and drink businesses export from the UK. We want to unlock our industry's huge export potential by helping more of Britain's finest manufacturers to seize the opportunity to sell their products overseas. By doing this, we believe we can grow exports of UK branded goods by a third by 2020 to more than £6bn."

John Whitehead OBE, Director of FDEA said: “The FDEA is dedicated to working with UK food and drink companies which want to grow their business through export. We are confident that this new guide demonstrates our knowledge and expertise in the food and drink export sector, by offering sound advice that can really help companies to develop their export potential.

Working in partnership with FDF we want to ensure that this message reaches the widest possible audience and encourages more companies to begin the journey into international markets.”

A spokesperson for UK Trade and Investment and the GREAT British Food Unit, said: “Working collaboratively with industry will enable government to increase industry exports and deliver further opportunities for the food and drink sector.

This event is the perfect occasion to consolidate an already excellent relationship with these key industry stakeholders. We welcome the opportunity to work more closely together in the future.”

Nimisha Ray, Founder of Nim's Fruit Crisps said: "I had always planned to export but it seemed like a distant plan until I was contacted by UKTI to apply to attend some meetings at ANUGA and then to exhibit at Tavola. As a result of Tavola, I now have a distributor in Belgium covering BENELUX and possibly Southern France as well as a distributor in Italy.

I still have a lot to learn about export and these events help to concentrate the mind and the sound advice available helps to strategize the route to export."

The export guide is available online at the following link: www.fdf.org.uk/export-guide.aspx

More information

1. FDEA is hosting a Meet the Buyer event at IFB2016 International Food and Drink Summit. For more information visit - http://www.ukfdea.com/News/3802658
2. Link to annual figures

Contact Alexandra Crisp, Corporate Affairs Division, at: alexandra.crisp@fdf.org.uk, or 020 7379 7120.

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