UK's Top Food Store 'Taste-Tests' NI

Top decision makers from the country's largest food retailer, Tesco - including recently retiring Chief Executive Sir Terry Leahy and Richard Brasher, the new Chief Executive for the UK and Republic of Ireland - have experienced local food and drink at a 'showcase' organised by Invest Northern Ireland.

Held at the retailer's headquarters in Cheshunt, Hertfordshire, some 21 NI companies supplied food and drink for a special buffet lunch for Tesco Directors.

Cliff Kells, Tesco NI Commercial Manager, (pictured, left, with Sir Terry Leahy, ex-Tesco Chief Executive, and Maynard Mawhinney, Invest NI Food Director, right) was on hand to meet directors at the heart of Tesco's £57bn NI trade in the first-ever such meeting to be attended by the Tesco board for a UK region.

The decision to set up the presentation and lunch, which was supervised by celebrity chef Paul Rankin, was the result of a joint initiative by Invest NI's Food Marketing Team and Cliff Kells, Commercial Manager for Tesco in Northern Ireland.

Maynard Mawhinney, Invest NI Food Director, commenting on the showcase, said: "We greatly appreciate the very positive response from Tesco top management to our approach to set up an event which provided unprecedented access for our companies to key decision makers.

"It provided our companies with an ideal platform to demonstrate the quality, provenance and innovation which underpins local food and drink, now a £3bn industry that is focused on growing sales outside Northern Ireland.

"Tesco makes a massive contribution to the agri-food industry throughout Northern Ireland and is probably its biggest single customer, currently spending £480m annually on almost 2,000 food and drink products from 92 local suppliers."

On job opportunities he said: "Over 9,000 local people are employed by Tesco here, while another and immensely important contribution to local food industry is made by the Tesco technical team in the work they do with existing and potential suppliers in developing new products, packaging and labelling and exacting environmental regulations and requirements.

"This dedication of Tesco management to sourcing products and services from a range of local suppliers also benefits more than 3,000 farmers here who supply the company with quality beef including over 750 who provide farm quality assured Tesco Finest Aberdeen Angus Beef to the retailer's meat counters across Northern Ireland," he added.

(BMcC/GK)