An international event for the Irish food and drinks industry will welcome 220 international delegates to Dublin over the next two days.
The event entitled Marketplace Irelandis hosted by Bord Bia and takes place at the Croke Park Conference Centre in Dublin. It is specifically geared towards food and drink manufacturing businesses wishing to enter the export market.
Over fifty Irish food producers are participating in the event, while 220 international delegates with a potential spending power of €135 billion will visit the conference over the next two days. 2,600 speed-dating-style face-to-face meetings between international buyers and Irish companies will take place during the conference.
Eighty-eight new products will be also be showcased at the conference's innovation zone.
According to Bord Bia, the Irish food and drinks export industry was worth €8.1 billion in 2006, buoyed largely by Irelands' meat and dairy industries and by a growth in the pizza and frozen bakery sector.
The showcase hosts four top international speakers from the international food industry, including Luc Vandevelde, Managing Director of Change Capital Partners and Larry Light, former Global Chief Marketing Officer at McDonald's.
"A focus on innovation and relationship building has driven the Irish consumer food capability to its current position of strength and is critical to its future success," said Angela Kennedy, Bord Bia's chairman.
"Bord Bia's Marketplace Ireland is the perfect showcase for the Irish food Industry to demonstrate the energy, range and capability of Ireland the Food Island," she said.