Irish suppliers and UK food buyers with a combined purchasing power of over €200 million attended Bord Bia's twelfth Annual UK Foodservice Seminar in Dublin today where positive research findings for Irish companies were revealed in the lead up to the impending 2007 UK smoking ban.
Bord Bia research showed overall foodservice sales in Ireland increased by an average of 7% after the smoking ban was introduced. The Irish smoking ban is a vital case study for the UK foodservice market which is set to grow following the ban. The research also found 50% of publicans in Ireland felt the smoking ban had a positive impact on their catering business.
Jason Danciger, Catering Director, Laurel Pub Co., responsible for the catering of 400 pubs in the UK, who presented at the seminar, said the smoking ban will attract new consumers to pubs who were previously put off by smoking environments.
"While pubs may lose a small portion of drinkers initially, following the ban, the loss of these numbers will be more than compensated by new customers groups such families and the health conscious", Mr Danciger commented.
Increased UK consumer demand for ‘Food on the Go' was also identified as a lucrative prospect for Irish suppliers to develop innovative products to complement the changing requirements of UK foodservice providers.
Paul Donegan, Trade Market Specialist UK Foodservice, Bord Bia said "This year's seminar shows that the UK Foodservice market is a changing dynamic and represents interesting opportunities for innovative Irish suppliers. The key challenge for suppliers is to understand these changes in order to grow their foothold in the UK market".
According to TNS data, over 2 billion sandwiches are sold in UK supermarkets annually, an increase of 6% in the last 2 years while the combined fresh and chilled food sales have increased by £1.4billion. This puts Irish food suppliers of convenience stores and sandwich bars in a strong position to capitalize on this trend.
Bord Bia's Annual Foodservice Seminar is part of a greater initiative to deliver market intelligence, promotion and business development opportunities to all Irish Foodservice suppliers including both market entry companies and those already established in the UK.
Further speakers at the seminar included Steve Jobson, Head of Buying, Sodexho UK, the second largest catering group in the UK with a turnover of over £1 billion; and Gary Laird, Sales Director, Simple Simon Foodservice, which specialises in supplying ‘grab n go' snacks.