Madam,

On 10 October, Food Centre Wales will be hosting a ‘Going for Growth’ event to help local food and drink businesses to focus their attention on developing and reaching new markets.

The event has been organised in collaboration with Cywain and the LEADER groups – Arwain Sir Benfro (Pembrokeshire), RDP Sir Gâr (Carmarthenshire) and Cynnal y Cardi (Ceredigion).

Opening the event will be Rachel Rowlands, Founder of Rachel’s Organic, who’ll be sharing her experience of growing a food business. Welsh Government will be present to highlight the latest industry research data to help businesses identify potential growth areas for their business.

Other participants who will be speaking at the event include: Ruth Davies from Cwm Farm, who will share her experience of product development, supplying Selfridges and exporting; Andrew Martin from Welsh Government Food Division, who will give an insight into the Welsh food and drink industry; Morrisons buyer, Matt Trigg, who’ll be giving a talk about what they look for in food products and how to get onto their shelves; and Arwyn Davies, new business development manager for Food Centre Wales who will talk about how food and drink producers can benefit from the support offered by the Food Technologists and the HELIX project.

The HELIX project is a Welsh Government initiative designed to help develop the food and drink industry in Wales take advantage of the much needed funding available to help their businesses grow in the marketplace. New and existing small and medium enterprise food and drink manufacturers are able to access bespoke assistance from Food Technologists that is specific and tailored to the individual business.

I recommend that any aspiring local food and drink businesses take up this exciting chance to attend this event. To have such an experienced and successful group of businesses and local producers come together to offer their experiences, knowledge and advice, it will be an opportunity not to miss. We’re proud of the high standard of our locally produced food and drink within Ceredigion and are enthusiastic about how we can show support in local businesses to flourish.

A lunch of locally produced food will be followed by an afternoon, offering optional one-to-one discussion slots with any of the food technologists and industry experts present at the event. There will be a chance to take a tour of the research and development facilities at Food Centre Wales.

The event is held on 10 October at the Food Centre Wales in Horeb. If you are would like to attend, book your place by contacting Food Centre Wales on 01559 362230 or [email protected]

Yours etc

Cllr Gareth Lloyd, Cabinet Member with responsibility for economic and community development, Ceredigion County Council.

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