Suppliers and retailers to explore trading opportunities

More than 150 suppliers, indigenous and multinational, will descend on the Convention Centre in Dublin this Wednesday, to access up to 1,000 retailers from across the country.

BWG Foods, operators of the Spar, Eurospar, Mace, and XL brands, will stage the trading day to give suppliers exclusive access to sell to local independent retailers across its entire network of stores, with a combined annual turnover of €1.6 billion.

Spanning categories such as grocery, fresh food and alcohol, suppliers showcasing at this year’s event include Keogh’s, Kerry Group, Swift Fine Foods, Keelings, Daily Bake, Coca Cola, Kellogg’s, Mondelez, Fyffes, Mars, Unilever, PepsiCo, Nestle, Heineken and Irish Distillers among others. Sales of €20 million were generated at last year’s event.

BWG group chief executive Leo Crawford said this is the fifth consecutive year the company has hosted the event which has become the largest retail trade event in the country.

“This event presents a unique opportunity for food and beverage companies to pitch directly to independent retailers, allowing them to explore potentially lucrative new business opportunities,” he said.

Recently published Eurostat figures show retail trade growth is bouncing back in Ireland. Year-on-year figures comparing April 2014 and April 2015 show an increase of 6.9 per cent, while month-on-month (March 2015 versus April 2015) show an increase of 3.2 per cent. Both of these figures far outstrip the retail growth in most other EU member states, according to Eurostat. This means Ireland's retail sector is currently one of the fastest growing in Europe, with only Romania's figures are stronger.