Northern Ireland-Foyle Meats look to Holland.

Foyle Food Group seeks slice of Dutch meat trade market

A Derry meat company has held a series of meetings aimed at tapping into the £3billion Dutch market.

The Foyle Food Group, one of the North West’s biggest employers was among a number of companies from the North to take part in the series of high level business pitches in the Netherlands.

Organised by Invest NI, the intensive sales drive, which tADVERTISEMENTook place last week from 4 - 6 February, included major retailers, caterers and foodservice organisations.

Foyle Food group representatives met senior buyers from Dutch companies supplying a range of beef, lamb and pork products to retailers, hotels, restaurants and canteens, both private and public sector, across the Netherlands. The North’s Enterprise Minister Arlene Foster said the sales drive was vital for companies like the Foyle Food Group.

"Invest NI set up this sales drive as part of its focus on helping the red meat industry in Northern Ireland to grow exports.

"It sought to increase awareness of the outstanding quality and variety of Northern Ireland beef and lamb in one of our most important European markets."

Sales pitches were made to seven companies with total annual meat sales in excess of £3billion. These included industry leaders such as Sligro Food Group in Amsterdam, an operator of 150 supermarkets, representing 35% of the Dutch market, 44 cash and carry depots and ten major distribution centres across the country; Van Der Zee in Emmen, one of the largest butchers in the Netherlands and Deli XL in Ede, which has 30,000 customers in catering and foodservice.