ABP Food Group has today announced a three-year supply agreement with Asian restaurant chain Wowprime Corporation to supply beef to its restaurants in China. The agreement is estimated to be valued at €50m.

Wowprime is a publicly listed company and has over 400 restaurants in China and Taiwan.

The agreement extends to ABP’s joint venture partners Slaney Foods and is contingent on Irish beef gaining access to the Chinese market.

ABP and Wowprime have also agreed to extend the arrangement to include ABP’s UK operations, in the event of the UK gaining market access to China.

Commenting on the announcement, Mark Goodman, managing director of ABP’s international division, said: “ABP Food Group is delighted to sign this initial and exclusive agreement with Wowprime.

"It is a tangible endorsement of the quality beef that ABP has to offer and it is another significant step in developing new market opportunities for our products against the uncertain backdrop of Brexit.”

Last month, Minister for Agriculture Michael Creed said it was a matter of when, more than if Irish beef would gain access to the Chinese market and he said: "We would be very disappointed if we didn’t crack that in 2018."

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