Following three days of visits to over 80 Irish farms, factories and food producers nationwide, almost 550 food buyers from all around the world will gather in the RDS, Dublin, on Thursday for Bord Bia’s Marketplace Ireland 2018 event.

The buyers will meet 185 Irish food and drink companies, ranging in size and profile from small enterprises to multinationals, for over 5,000 pre-scheduled "speed-dating"-style meetings.

The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Michael Creed officially opened proceedings on Thursday.

Commitment

Speaking ahead of the event, Creed commented: "We welcome the record number of international buyers from markets worldwide to Ireland to see at first hand our national commitment to the highest food safety standards, to experience the quality of the produce we export, but also to observe the shared promise of the sustainability standards of the produce we export and demanded by consumers the world over."

Meanwhile, Bord Bia CEO Tara McCarthy said: “Since June 2017, we have worked in collaboration with our client companies, and with support from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, to target the leading global players across retail, food service, convenience, online, wholesale, travel retail, distribution and manufacturing channels.

''Food buyers have travelled from over across the globe - Australia, Algeria, Bahrain, China, Indonesia, UAE, Japan, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, and South Africa to mention a few - and represent every sector of the industry including for dairy, beef, lamb, pigmeat, alcohol, seafood, prepared foods, grocery, bakery, confectionery and snacks and speciality foods.”

UK buyers

McCarthy also said interest from UK buyers remained strong “despite the challenges of Brexit” with over 50 UK buyers in attendance, and also pointed out there are 20 new countries in attendance compared with when it was last hosted three years ago.

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