Ten Irish food companies are set to take part in Bord Bia’s first FoodService Academy programme, a new initiative run by the food board and Musgrave MarketPlace.
TheFoodService Academy has been designed to help small Irish food and drink companies develop their business in the foodservice market – commonly referred to as "out of home food market".
The programme also aims to help companies achieve growth in Musgrave MarketPlace's food service business, which works with more than 6,000 customer each week, from hotels and restaurants, to pubs and nursing homes.
Corn tortilla producer, Blanco Nino, and dairy-free ice-cream company, Nobó have already been set up as suppliers in advance of the programme.
Other companies joining the programme include Tipperary Kitchen, a family run artisan bakery and Secret Recipe, the only producer of halal and gluten free meals to the foodservice industry in Ireland and the UK, as well as other bakery, seafood, pork and beverage producers.
Maureen Gahan, Bord Bia’s Foodservice Specialist said, "Bord Bia is delighted to work with Musgrave MarketPlace for the first time on the inaugural FoodService Academy, looking to grow the sales of small businesses in the market.
"The foodservice market is delivering real growth and value for Irish food and drink companies, as is evidenced in our recent industry report. The ‘out of home’ market is now worth €6.37 billion and this is forecasted to grow to almost €6.9 billion by 2018."
Sheena Forde, Trading Director, Musgrave MarketPlace added. "Following on from the success of Musgrave’s SuperValu Food Academy programme with Bord Bia and the Local Enterprise Offices, we are now looking forward to bringing a similar programme to Irish foodservice producers through MarketPlace.
"A number of the participating companies are Food Academy graduates so we are proud to be in a position to introduce their products to our foodservice customer base," she said.
"As the largest and fastest growing wholesaler in Ireland, we are ideally placed to understand the needs of the foodservice market and, as an Irish family business, we are delighted to work with small Irish manufacturers, many of which are family owned, to give them a head start in the market."
© 2016 - Checkout Magazine by Jenny Whelan.
