OPINION LEADERS ISSUE 10

EVENTS
XIE XIE TEA
Embassy of Belgium
Promo Solution
In one of the biggest and most important International
Food and Beverage Trade Fairs held in
Great Britain, Greek exporting companies dynamically
participated, indicating that Greek entrepreneurship
is "alive" and ready to star in international
markets.
The list of Greek exhibitors participated in this
event, includes several companies from different
sectors of food and beverage market, which are
having an outstanding exporting activity and a
strong international presence the last years.
Among the Greek companies that participated
in the exhibition were: CRETA SPRINGS, ELVIDA
FOODS S.A., KONVA S.A., MEVGAL S.A, MY VI-
TAMIN BAR, OLIVELLAS S.A., OLYMPUS DAIRY
S.A., SIOURAS S.A., TZEKOS ORGANIC HERBS,
THRACE GROUP.
The Greek companies were honoured by the
presence of Mr. Antonios Katepodis, Counsellor for
Economic and Commercial Affairs at Embassy of
Greece in London, who had discussions with exhibitors
about the British market. The organization
of participation and the construction of the exhibition
stands of Greeks participants were undertaken
for one more time by Promo Solution Ltd, which
the last two decades represents successfully the
biggest Greek exporting companies, participating
in International and Domestic Exhibitions.
It is also noteworthy that the British market is
extremely important for the development of Greek
exports and Greek economy, as it is the seventh,
in value of exports, destination for Greek products,
with 30% of them related with food and drinks sector.
British Frozen Food Federation
“Alongside the well-established BFFF members’
hub, which was filled with existing and potential
members networking or simply taking a
break, this year IFE saw the launch of the first ever
BFFF Ice Café.
“The Ice Café was run in conjunction with
the Craft Guild of Chefs and show organiser Fresh
Montgomery and was sponsored by Bidfood, aiming
to promote the use of frozen food to visitors
from across the food service and retail sector.
“The café served hundreds of hungry show-goers
a range of dishes from beef bitok, to teriyaki of
salmon fillet, using top quality frozen food cooked
by industry-leading chefs.
“And the response was overwhelmingly positive
with 95% of those voting claiming that they
were impressed with the quality of the ingredients.
“IFE was another great event for BFFF and all
of our members and we hope to see many of you
again at the Excel at IFE 2019.”
John Hyman, chief executive
XIE XIE
TEA is a Taiwanese
tea
company that
produces famous
Formosa
Oolong from
its own plantation
at 2500
meters high
Mountains in
central Taiwan.
The Xie family
follows 15
steps of artisanal tea-making philosophy, using
only the bud and top tea leaves to create refined
tea. No chemicals, no fuss, just unlimited amounts
of passion and love for tea.
This was our first time to the IFE show, our
first presentation in the UK, right after our presentation
in Monaco where Prince Albert appreciated
our tea. We were happy with IFE show. We
encountered some important customers like Harrods,
and realized that UK people like our tea. We
were glad that people like our stand that present
well our brand, as well as the tea ceremony that
we present in the trade show. We are satisfied with
the result, and are ready for the UK market after
the event.
Cyprus at the International Food &
Drink event 2017
Supported by the Ministry of Energy, Commerce,
Industry & Tourism, Cypriot foodstuff exporters
came to London once again to participate
at IFE 2017 (the International Food & Drink event),
held from 19 to 22 March at ExCel, London.
This year 17 Cypriot companies took part in
IFE, the biggest food and drink trade show in the
UK, and had the opportunity to present their products
to retailers, wholesalers, distributors and caterers.
In particular, 8 cheese-making companies
exhibited Halloumi and other dairy products, and 9
other companies presented their bakery products,
frozen food, processed meat products, olive oil, and
traditional products such as tahini and halvas.
The High Commissioner for the Republic of
Cyprus to the UK Mr Euripides L. Evriviades, accompanied
by the Commercial Attaché Costas
Dafos, visited the Cypriot companies’ stands and
talked with the Cypriot exporters and other visitors.
During his visit, the High Commissioner expressed
his satisfaction for the constantly increasing
presence of the Cypriot products in the UK, in
supermarkets and independent food stores, and for
their prospects in the UK market due to their high
quality and uniqueness.
He also stressed that the High Commission
through its Trade Centre is ready to support the
efforts of the Cypriot exporters to do business and
expand further in the UK market.
It is worth noting that the UK is the main export
destination for Cyprus, especially in food and
drink sector.
Belgium has more to offer than just chocolates
and beer. Belgian cuisine is widely varied
with significant regional variations while also
reflecting the cuisines of neighboring countries.
It is sometimes said that Belgian food is served in
the quantity of German cuisine but with the
quality of French food. The governmental export
promotion agency Flanders Investment & Trade
has taken part at IFE for a large number of
years. In 2017 they welcomed 7 companies on
the Belgian pavilion: Volys Star, Waffles Thijs,
Boulangerie Bloch, Blue Ocean Seafood, Belgian
Blenders, Vandromme and Top Bronnen.
Several of these third generation delicious
food businesses took part for the first time.
Amongst them Vandromme Finest Meat
Products. They are based in Ypres and have a
long-held tradition of making the finest meat
that goes all the way back to 1889.During IFE
they presented some innovative and distinctive
products that were appreciated by the visitors
from all over the world. Especially the
company’s bestseller, BonRill® Finest Rillettes,
garnered a lot of enthusiasm amongst the IFE
audience. The smooth, tasteful product was recognized
as unique in its kind and the feedback made
for a successful first visit to this international
food fair according to Thomas Vandromme.
Another artisan food company present was
Blue Ocean Seafood, a family business that was
founded in 1885. Blue Ocean Food specialises in
the smoking of traditional seafood products in an
artisanal way.
They decided to participate at IFE for the
first time and had a great experience during
their stay.
Mathieu Ronse: ‘Thumbs up to the organisation
for their great effort!
A third Belgian company was Belgian
Blenders:
“The International Food & Drink 2017
event was an excellent opportunity for our
Belgian Blenders brand to position itself towards
an international public.
Finally, Peter Dewaele from Volys Star. They
have been a stalwart exhibitor at IFE for over 10
years together with their British agent.
UK is Volys Star’s 4th biggest market where
consumption of poultry products is increasing
over the last years.
Hence, a presence during IFE is the ideal opportunity
to see existing customers and be able to
showcase the entire product range.
However, another objective to participate at
any exhibition is to reach out to new and alternative
market segments. In this respect we had a
number of promising contacts. Although IFE is a
step up, we are questioning whether a presence
at exhibitions targeting more specific market
channels could be an alternative option or a
next step.
Our aircraft charter team were at
Olympia, London for International
Confex on Wednesday 1st & Thursday
2nd March 2017, showcasing our aircraft
charter services for the events industry.
We met event professionals from across
the UK and gave free advice on group
travel, executive / corporate travel and
VIP travel for events. Since 2005, we
have provided aircraft charters for UK
and international events and have sent
sports clubs and supporters, orchestras,
press, pilgrims and corporate groups
all over the globe. Whether you have
a group of 3 or 3,000 people to fly, our
experienced team can source the perfect
aircraft for your event and organise
additional services such as aircraft
branding and bespoke catering.
Speakers Corner is one of the world’s
leading speaker bureaus. We are committed
to providing an honest, friendly
and impartial service to clients looking
for after dinner speakers, keynotes, conference
facilitators, motivational speakers
or corporate entertainment, in the
form of consultancy, booking and logistics.
We do not represent any speakers
exclusively, so this means we offer a
thoroughly impartial service, where our
honest, efficient and friendly team takes
clients step by step through each stage
of booking a speaker for an event. From
an initial enquiry, our skilled Account
Managers will access our database of
over 6000 speakers, to recommend
those we trust; have strong professional
connections with, and above all, fit the
client’s brief perfectly – our free consultancy
service allows us to stand head
and shoulders above the rest of the market,
whilst offering objective and honest
advice, and ultimately a bespoke booking
service. Our team here are on call
24 hours a day to help you find the perfect
speaker for your event. Telephone:
02076077070 Website: www.speakerscorner.co.uk
This is our 500 person capacity venue
in Bracknell. Its called "The Acoustic
Couch Community Centre CIC" and
is available for hire for many purposes,
mainly Music and Art based events, but
not restricted to this. We provide facilities
and opportunities for local artists
to learn, produce and perform. With gig
nights, special events and recording and
production equipment we are a one stop
shop to develop and showcase your creative
side, whether it’s a hobby or a full
time profession.
The Lensbury Conference Groups Team
Building Options
The Lensbury offers great motivational
team building activities. The
Lensbury can accommodate groups of
up to 150 people and, with our unique
waterside location, can offer water based
challenges from raft building, dragon
boat racing to fun regattas. We also have
a variety of land based activities such
as a sports day, tennis tournaments or
garden games. If you have particular requirements,
we can always tailor a package
for you.
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