Lincolnshire Chamber and local businesses attend the DEFRA Regional Food Summit

The DEFRA Regional Food Summit took place on Wednesday 2^nd March 2022 in Birmingham, and brought together sector SMEs, regional food groups (RFGs) and other organisations with an interest in supporting regional and local food and drink.

The Lincolnshire Chamber of Commerce’s International Trade Coach Eve Farley joined the delegates to discuss export options for the sector, to help these great businesses expand beyond our borders.

Lincolnshire Food & Drink’s Business Development Executive Alex Bavin also attended, to promote Lincolnshire’s fantastic food and drink delicacies and make contact with like-minded delegates to work together on creating a strong regional presence.

With over 200 delegates, the Summit was well attended and Lincolnshire was highly visible with businesses such as The Lincoln Distillery, Stokes Tea & Coffee, and Ferry Ales Brewery., and other local organisations including The Greater Lincolnshire LEP.

The Summit also provided workshops, networking opportunities, and aimed to deliver the Government’s manifesto commitment to ensure that “people, both at home and abroad are lining up to buy British.”

Eve, Alex, and the other delegates enjoyed a great line-up of speakers which included Minister of State for Farming, Fisheries and Food, Victoria Prentice, who opened the Summit, and Ian Harrison, Head of Exports at Midlands DIT, who led an insightful Building Export Capability session.

Eve Farley commented: “The event was a great opportunity to network and highlight opportunities for growth and share best practice. I am very excited by all the exporting possibilities for local, regional and national businesses in the food and drink sectors.”

L-R: Mike Nield, Warmers Distillery, Matt Felgate of The Lincoln Distillery, Eve Farley, John of The Lincoln Distillery

Web banner photo credit: Emma Olivier- Townrow, Stokes Tea & Coffee