Food and Drink Forum to launch new services for the catering and hospitality trade

One of the East Midlands’ key business support organisations, The Food and Drink Forum, has revealed that it is to launch a new service aimed at helping firms in the catering and hospitality trade.

Announcing the move at its flagship AGM and members’ networking supper event, The Forum announced that it hoped to soon unveil a new package of support and a membership offer specifically for the catering and hospitality part of the sector.

Support available will include new training and technical services and supply chain support, which are designed to help businesses to grow and develop. 

“The Food and Drink Forum has supported organisations across the sector since it formed in 1998, particularly those in production or manufacture. Now we will be creating tailored support for those businesses that focus on hospitality, which we believe will be useful and will encourage more catering and hospitality outlets to join our organisation,” said managing director of The Food and Drink Forum, Fiona Anderson.

Around 100 guests attended the AGM and networking supper event, which was held at Kelham Hall, near Newark. The event attracted members and associates from across Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire and Rutland.

This year’s supper was sponsored and supported by Campden BRI, the UK's largest independent membership-based organisation carrying out research and development and providing technical support for the food and drinks industry worldwide, Clegg Food Projects, a market leader in providing practical design, engineering and construction solutions for major food and drink operations, and the Food and Drink iNet, which is part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and run by a consortium led by The Food and Drink Forum.

“Our AGM and members’ supper is our flagship event of the year, and once again it was greatly enjoyed by those who attended,” added Fiona Anderson.

Speakers at the event included James Pogson, director of Chesterfield-based Northern Tea Merchants, Kamal Dhutia, director at Leicester-based condiments portion control supplier B I (Europe) Limited, and Phil Ellis, from Attimo – an East Midlands online market place project which provides an easy and efficient opportunity for artisan producers and hotels, restaurants and caterers looking for high quality items to do business with each other.

For information about joining The Food and Drink Forum or the new service for the catering and hospitality trade please call 0115 9758810. 

www.foodanddrinkforum.co.uk

Press release issued by Nottingham PR firm Perfect 10 PR www.perfect10pr.co.uk

Business support organisation The Food and Drink Forum stages its AGM and networking event

More than 120 guests attended the flagship event of business support organisation The Food and Drink Forum.

The annual general meeting and networking supper attracted delegates linked to the food and drink sector from across the East Midlands.

Sponsored by Pork Farms and The Food and Drink iNet, the event was held at Kelham Hall, near Newark, and included the AGM, presentations by Ian Noakes, of Dovedale Foods, and Dave Harrison, operations director at Everards Brewery, and a networking supper which featured a range of regional food and drink.

Key industry figures from across Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire and Rutland attended the event, which also featured displays by Nottingham-based Pork Farms, Nottingham Trent University, Leicestershire-based Integrated Food Projects, The Food and Drink Forum and The Food and Drink iNet.

“Our annual general meeting and networking supper is our flagship event of the year, and we were delighted to welcome so many people from the industry to this year’s event,” said Food and Drink Forum managing director Fiona Anderson. “It was the perfect opportunity for those connected to the food and drink sector in the East Midlands to network, make contacts and to find out about the latest trends and information for our industry.”

During the AGM, Board chairman Peter Knight thanked Mike Adams, of Frontier Agriculture, Lincoln, who has stood down from The Board after eight years. He welcomed Pankaj Pancholi, managing director of Leicester firm Just Egg, who has now joined The Board.

Andy Napthine, head of marketing at Pork Farms, one of the sponsors of the event, said: “For us, it was the opportunity to work with the broader food industry in the East Midlands and really help to pull the industry together a bit more and share the latest thinking and share the challenges and the opportunities as we work through what is a difficult economic environment at the moment.”

The Food and Drink Forum, which is based at Southglade Food Park, Nottingham, has members across the region, including manufacturers, food service operators, and consultants and businesses providing services to the food and drink sector.

It was founded in 1998 as a not-for-profit, membership-led organisation to stimulate and support the sustainable growth and development of the food and drink industry in the East Midlands. Its aims include championing the food and drink sector in the East Midlands, developing strategic influencing partnerships within and outside the East Midlands, and acting as a centre for information and knowledge on all subjects relating to the food and drink sector in the region.

It also aims to stimulate and facilitate sustainable change within companies of all sizes across the food chain, generate income and secure resources to meet the needs of a high-quality service, and promote the food and drink sector to future employees through education and the raising of skills.

For information about membership please call 0115 9758810 or visit www.foodanddrinkforum.co.uk

The photo shows, left to right, Andy Napthine, head of marketing at Pork Farms, which was one of the sponsors of the AGM and networking supper, Food and Drink Forum managing director Fiona Anderson, and Richard Worrall, director of the Food and Drink iNet, which also sponsored the event.

Issued by Nottingham PR company Perfect 10 PR www.perfect10pr.co.uk