Sales of more than €300 million are expected to be generated over the next two days at the retail food and drink event which opened yesterday in the RDS Simmonscourt in Ballsbridge, Dublin.
Shop 2006 features more than 250 national and international stands. It is a merger of two existing trade shows, Ifex, the food, drink and hospitality exhibition, and Forecourt, the convenience, retail and forecourt equipment exhibition.
More than 5,000 national buyers will be at the show which showcases everything from gluten-free meals, exotic meats, organic foods of all kind to the latest in shopfitting equipment, security systems and even car washes and petrol pumps.
Officially opening the event, Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Brendan Smith said bringing food and equipment manufacturers under the same room made a lot of sense.
The event, he said, would give food producers the opportunity to look at new and innovative forms of production and there was an acceptance that Irish retailers and their equipment were at the cutting edge of global retailing.
Mr Smith, who has responsibility for food, said one in 10 people employed in Ireland was working in the agri-food sector, which contributed €17 billion to the economy and €7.5 billion in exports.
"Over 700 food and drinks companies employing 50,000 people were regionally dispersed throughout the country and the purchases of local raw materials made by these companies and the 60,000 people employed in distribution and other services embed wealth in the economy," he said.
The food and drink industry was changing at a dramatic pace with consumer tastes inclining towards higher-value, higher-quality foods and demanding greater convenience.
"The family dinner table has lost out to the change in lifestyle, as more and more people choose snacking over sitting down for family meals. When the family gets together for dinner now, it is increasingly likely to be eating out at a restaurant," he said.
He said three out of four people regularly ate out and this figure was increasing all the time. All sectors had to be prepared to change with the times.
The overall winner of the speciality farmhouse cheese title, which featured 200 entries, was Jeefa Gill, Bantry, of Durrus Cheese who took the supreme championship and the Irish Farmhouse Cheese Award.