Welsh food and drink producers are gearing up for one of the most important trade events of the year, the Food and Drink Expo 2012 (March 25-27).
The show is set to be the UK’s largest food and drink trade event of 2012, featuring some 550 companies from household names to artisan start-ups.
Businesses featured at the Expo cover all areas of the foodservice, speciality retail and manufacturing sectors.
Twenty companies will be exhibiting at the NEC in Birmingham under the auspices of the Welsh Government’s True Taste brand, and features a number of Wales the True Taste Food & Drink Award winners.
Tan Y Castell (Foods) Ltd bakes Welsh cakes and Bara Brith to Pembrokeshire farmhouse recipes at its BRC (British Retail Consortium) accredited Grade ‘A’ bakery in Narberth.
Also on display at the Expo will be two new products – scones and Pembrokeshire farmhouse loaf cake. The multiple award-winning company started out 16 years ago in the proprietor’s kitchen and now supplies local shops, national supermarkets and prestigious retailers such as Harrods and Fortnum and Mason. In addition to its full range of PET and flavoured still and bubbly spring water fellow Narberth based company, Princes Gate Spring Water Ltd will be debuting its new bespoke 500ml bottles.
The new still and bubbly bottle format is centred around the award-winning company’s brand ethos and features clouds with rain falling around the Preseli Mountain range.
It is a year since Authentic Curries & World Foods (formerly known as the Authentic Curry Company) launched its new branding.
The award-winning company, which makes a wide selection of curries and ready meals for the retail and trade sectors, has combined its operations and increased capacity at its purpose built manufacturing base in Hirwaun, South Wales.
Formed in 1995 by managing director Paul Trotman the company now employs 38 people producing nearly 100 dishes.
At the Food & Drink Expo Authentic Curry & World Foods will be exhibiting its famous range of curries and meals designed to meet the needs of the catering sector which include delicious dishes such as ‘Sliced Roast Beef in Gravy’, ‘Meat Balls in a Spicy Sauce’, and ‘Faggots with Gravy’.
South Wales based specialist bakery Easibake Foods Ltd will be unveiling a new range of exciting flatbread products at the show.
Part of the Evron Foods Group, Easibake supplies the UK Retail, Foodservice, Wholesale and Food Processing sectors.
A range of products are created at its modern 70,000sq ft. factory in Pontypool, in particular artisan breads and ciabattas baked on the oven sole; modified atmosphere ambient loaves, rolls and ciabattas.
Garlic and handcrafted topped and filled specialty breads, gluten free bread, part baked breads and confectionery lines are also produced in Pontypool as well as at Evron’s bakery in Northern Ireland.
The Carmarthenshire Cheese Company makes a number of award-winning cheeses, including Pont Gar and Llangloffan, and will be showing its latest range of soft white mould cheeses.
The new cheeses – Great British Brie, Luxury British Brie and Full Flavour British Brie – have been produced in a joint venture with distributor, Bradburys.
Great British Brie is a smooth and creamy pasteurised Brie; Luxury British Brie is an indulgent pasteurised brie with added cream; and Full Flavour British Brie is a pasteurised brie with a robust well-rounded taste – similar in style to a ‘Brie de Meaux’ product.
Family run Lewis Pie & Pasty Company has been baking in Swansea for more than three-quarters of a century, producing an extensive range of pies, pasties, and slices, as well as cakes and biscuits.
The award-winning company’s latest product is a Chicken Tikka Pie – which has been branded ‘Britain’s favourite curry now available in a pie’.
The 190g pie is aimed at the food service industry and will be launched at the Expo, following highly successful consumer taste trials, which has seen the new pie even overtake Lewis’ most popular Balti Pie.
Also on the stand at the Expo will be a range of pies, pasties and slices, including the business’ biggest selling variety, the Steak Slice
Newport based Clarks UK Ltd makes a range of maple syrup and honey from its BRC ‘A’ grade factory.
Along with its pure and blended maple varieties the company has also introduced a line of maple blended with vanilla, raspberry, pecan or walnut.
The company’s latest product, Clarks Natural Maple Spread, is made by blending pure maple syrup with Carob syrup and natural vegetable pectin. The result is a tasty 100% natural spread with 30% less sugar than honey.
New from Langfords The Welsh Sausage Company are BBQ boneless ribs, which will be exhibited at the Expo along with the award-winning company’s meat products.
The Welshpool company makes a variety of products for the hospitality sector including sausages, burgers, patties, and meatballs.
Trioni Ltd produces the award-winning Daioni range of flavoured Welsh organic milk drinks.
The Pembrokeshire company will be introducing its new multilingual 200ml and 1litre cartons of its organic strawberry and chocolate drinks.
Trioni has produced two versions, which will be exhibited at the Expo; one with information printed in Arabic, Mandarin and Greek, and the other featuring European languages.
Ty Nant Spring Water Ltd. produces an award winning range of natural mineral water of the highest quality from the heart of West Wales from organic land certified by the Soil Association.
Famed for its iconic cobalt blue glass bottles the range also includes a sensuous crimson red glass bottle and a ground breaking curvaceous PET (plastic) bottle designed by Welsh designer Ross Lovegrove to evoke the natural flows and refreshing nature of water.
Also part of the range is the award winning creation TAU Spring Water with its chic minimalist labelling in black and white livery.
Ty Nant’s bottles grace the tables of some of the most discerning hotels and restaurants around the world, and are a popular choice at high profile events.
Mintons Good Food Ltd will be launching a new brand of savoury and sweet snacks called Hungry Dragon.
The first three products in the range are Roasted & Salted Peanuts, Dry Roasted Peanuts and Bombay Mix.
The family owned company distributes a wide range of fine foods – including wholefoods, health foods and luxury foods – from its base in Llandrindod Wells.
Nine of the companies exhibiting at the show are based in North Wales.
Among them is The Anglesey Sea Salt Company, which began with a saucepan of water from the Menai Straits on the Aga in the Lea-Wilson family’s kitchen.
Now exported around the globe the company’s hand harvested sea salt is used by some of the world’s best chefs and restaurants.
At the Show a selection of products will be exhibited including a new range of sea salt gifts, as well as salted caramel sauce, laverbread, crisps and pork scratchings – all made with the company’s award-winning Halen Môn sea salt.
Roberts Country Fayre makes speciality pies and quiches at its Wrexham base.
The range is produced for the foodservice frozen market and includes a wide range of quiches – from Spanish and Lorraine to Brie & Sunblushed Tomato – and catering 2-kilo pre-portioned pies such as Steak & Guinness, Game, Venison and Ham & Leek.
Unveiling its new look at the Expo will be award-winning yogurt producer Llaeth y Llan Cyf/Village Dairy Ltd, along with its new 450g large sharing size pot which is available in strawberry, toffee, natural and forest fruit flavours.
For over 25 years the Denbighshire company has been producing a wide range of delicious Welsh yogurt, many of which will be on display including blackcurrant, mandarin, gooseberry, rhubarb, and peach.
Conwy based sausage producer, The Traditional Welsh Sausage Company Ltd (Edwards of Conwy), will be showing one of its latest award-winning products, the Welsh Steak Burger.
Also on show will be a variety of sausages including Traditional Pork, Pork & Leek, Pork & Herb, Pork with Cracked Black Pepper, Pork & Leek and Pork & Chilli.
The Patchwork Traditional Food Company makes pâtés, terrines, desserts and ice cream in Ruthin.
The family run business has reaped numerous awards, and will be showing three new varieties of pâté under its ‘British Classics’ banner, which celebrates British heritage.
The 110g jars of delicious Chicken Liver Pâté are available with Rosemary & Thyme, Mushroom & Ale, and Marmalade & Whisky.
Wrexham based Tomlinson Dairies Ltd is Wales’ largest milk processor supplying more than 300 outlets in Wales, the North West and Midlands.
The family run business will shortly be opening its brand new state of the art dairy, and has just undergone a complete company re-brand.
The Celtic Spirit Company will be showing its flagship Danzy Jones and Black Mountain Liqueur.
The Anglesey company makes award-winning spirits and liqueurs from age-old family recipes dating back to the 1980s.
Danzy Jones is an old style mellow whisky liqueur with the addition of rosehips and herbs, while Black Mountain Liqueur is a rich aromatic blend of apple and blackcurrant brandy. Also being exhibited will be the smooth triple distilled Poteen, and 12 year-old Celtic Whisky.
Fellow Anglesey company, Plas Farm Ltd has over 20 years in the frozen yogurt market, supplying award winning, zero fat, probiotic frozen yogurts in a wide range of flavours.
Leaders in the UK frozen yogurt market, Plas Farm produces a variety of options from soft serve, to portions for blending and scooping smoothie frozen yogurt.
At the Expo it will exhibit its range of zero fat soft serve yogurt – available in 30 flavours – for the rapidly growing Fro Yo bar market.
Inspired by the Alpine ski slopes Anglesey based Toffoc Ltd.’s toffee flavoured vodka is available in 70cl bottles 5cl miniature bottles. Made from triple distilled UK grain, Toffoc is strong (27.5% ABV), and not too sweet, with a crystal clear golden colour.
Also a number of producers will be exhibiting at the show as part of the True Taste stand’s Wales the True Taste Deli Showcase: Anne’s Patisserie, Aballu, Anglesey Eggs, Blue, Caws Cenarth, Cnwd, Cocoa Magic, Hilltop Honey, Ooomeringue, Samosaco, Seren Foods, Siocled Moethus Sarah Bunton Luxury Chocolates, Siwgr a Sbeis, The Chocolate Brownie Co, and Cradocs Savoury Biscuits.
Cheese lovers will be able to find out more about Wales’ wonderful cheeses when a True Taste tutored tasting takes place between 3-4pm on Sunday (March 25th) in The Brainfood Factory at the Expo.
