Top chef support British food exports

Gordon Ramsay is flying the flag for British food at the International Festival for Business (IFB), curating a Gala menu for over 100 guests at UK Trade and Investment’s Food & Drink Summit on 3 July at Knowsley Hall.

This dinner will be the grand finale to the UKTI Food & Drink summit, which sees top British suppliers showcasing food to International buyers.  This event is being run in partnership with the Food and Drink Federation and aims to maximise the growth of international food and drink exports for British suppliers.

Gordon Ramsay said: “I am delighted to be supporting UK Trade & Investment’s Food & Drink event as part of my on-going support of the food is GREAT campaign. As a restauranteur of 12 restaurants in London, quality local produce is key to delivering fine dining at the highest level.

“I am extremely passionate about supporting British suppliers on a global scale and will be working with a number of UK suppliers as we expand into Asia this September.”

The GREAT Britain campaign is the Government’s most ambitious international marketing campaign ever and showcases the very best of what Britain has to offer to encourage the world to visit, study and do business with the UK. The campaign is in over 144 countries.

A current focus of the Food is GREAT Britain campaign is expansion into the Asia. Last year, the UK exported almost £50 billion of goods to Asia, of which £1.8 billion was food and drink.

Among the most popular food exports to Asia were the elements to make a Classic British dish– fish and chips. In 2013 over£100 million worth of fresh fish, £7 million of potatoes and £6.6 million peas were exported to the region. However, some clearly preferred a battered sausage, with £390,000 exported to the region.

You can’t have chips without tomato sauce. £8 million worth of sauces and condiments exported to the Asian market, including £400,000 Tomato ketchup, £730,000 Mustard and even £70,000 Soya Sauce exported to the region, somewhat a surprise for a condiment originating in China in the 2nd century BCE.

Manchester based restaurateurs, Sweet Mandarin, have seen the potential of this market, exporting their Chinese sauces to China. Thanks to a UKTI mission to the region, led by the Prime Minister last year Sweet Mandarin won a £6 million pound deal to export to China over the next five years.

“The Prime Minister said he could help us to promote our sauces to China and he kept his word,” said Lisa Tse, co-owner of Sweet Mandarin. “Exporting is crucial for a business to survive…we really appreciate having UKTI on hand to answer our questions, make introductions and create opportunities for us to promote ourselves globally.”

For those who fancy a brew with their chip supper, over £8 million of tea was exported to the homeland of tea. Those with the penchant for something a little stronger, saw £1,100 million (£1.1bn) of alcoholic beverages including £900 million spirits (mainly whisky) exported to the market.

Dominic Jermey, UKTI’s Chief Executive, said: “It is clear the Asian palette is not only accustomed to, but is now demanding British cuisine. This has led to a sharp rise in British chefs exporting their services to the market, with top British chefs like Gordon announcing the opening of their restaurants in Asia over the next year.

“There has never been a better time for Britain’s businesses to break into new international markets and the Food and Drink summit will highlight the lucrative opportunities available and how we can help firms take advantage of them.

“Exporting helps companies grow and research shows that exporters do better with UKTI’s help. I encourage all companies with global ambitions to get in contact with UKTI this week.”

Today’s UKTI Food & Drink Summit will take place at Knowsley Hall and is being run in partnership with Food and Drink Federation (FDF). To find out more on how UK Trade & Investment supports UK food and drink companies, follow @UKTIFoodDrink. You can also receive live updates on IFB at #IFB14

Next week see’s the International Festival for Business (IFB) host a China/Hong Kong market week. Businesses interested in finding out how they too can break into the lucrative China/Hong Kong market should consider attending UKTI China/Hong Kong event in Liverpool 4 July 2014 at the IFB hub. For more information and to sign up please visit the IFB website.