Processors in the Yorkshire and Humber region will get added support on issues ranging from international commerce to supply chain efficiency thanks to a £4.1M cash injection from Yorkshire Forward.
The Regional Food Group (RFG), which has received the funding, also said it planned to use it to expand its advice on food technology.
The RFG said it was researching the overseas export opportunities for Yorkshire producers, focusing on 10 key countries, including Brazil, Russia, India, China and the Gulf states. The organisation would seek to encourage smaller processors that had previously considered themselves to have insufficient scale to consider exporting.
Poland also offered considerable export potential, he said, in a reversal of the recognised trend towards selling Polish products in the UK, driven by the influx of Polish workers.
In terms of export activities, RFG aimed to take up some of the activities of Food From Britain (FFB), the fate of which still hangs in the balance. Trade representatives are still lobbying MPs to act to preserve its existence after it announced that it was losing funding previously supplied by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA).
On the supply chain, the RFG said one project involving Sheffield Hallam University and Hull Logistics Institute was looking at making better use of space in vehicles returning from deliveries. Another project was looking at using Sheffield Airport’s capability to channel imports and exports and the distribution of perishable goods into the UK.
RFG chief executive Jonathan Knight said RFG also wanted to work more at linking smaller and larger suppliers. “We’re doing some product development work with a large Yorkshire/Scandinavian dairy company that is keen to make Yorkshire products. We’re looking at smaller producers supplying ingredients for those products. Several larger companies are also keen to use our Deliciously Yorkshire branding on their products.”
RFG would also aim to increase its membership and represent members’ interests with bodies such as DEFRA and the Food Standards Agency (FSA). A recent visit by FSA chief executive Deirdre Hutton had addressed issues of concern to manufacturers in the region, ranging from standardising on-pack labelling to rising raw material prices.
Knight said his ambition was for the RFG “to be acknowledged as the driver of Yorkshire and Humber food and drink both nationally and internationally”