Food processors from Northern Ireland and the Republic will today commence a marketing programme designed to boost sales and give them firsthand knowledge of the US market.
The programme, which will include marketing workshops and visits to retail outlets, is organised jointly by Bord Bia and Trade International Northern Ireland. This is its second year. The companies will be based in Philadelphia. The company representatives will take master classes at St Joseph's University in Philadelphia in the college's new high-tech Haub Centre which will be delivered by academics and leading figures from the retail industry.
One of the strategies they will study is micro-marketing, which means targeting individual ethnic groups within their neighbourhoods and providing them with a range of products from their own ethnic backgrounds.
"By keeping abreast of emerging trends, our companies can enhance their competitiveness in a very demanding marketplace," says Mr Muiris Kennedy, director of client services with Bord Bia.
Mr Ronnie Pedlow, executive director of the Northern Ireland Industrial Development Board's consumer products division, says ethnic food requirements and the strengthening demand for home meal replacement using restaurant quality meals to eat at home were areas where Irish processors could learn from the US experience.
