Should Northern Ireland have its own food export marketing body?

Northern Ireland should have its own official overseas marketing body for local food to help boost global exports of premium NI products, according to ABP Northern Ireland's George Mullan.

Northern Ireland has become known around the world for a number of food and drink products that are exported globally, from our high-quality beef to premium whiskeys and several different local beers. The historic Bushmills distillery recently announced that it has gained approval to expand its plant to double production rates of its famous whiskey for export, and it's not the only NI agri-food firm that's looking overseas for sales.

The Balmoral Show is taking place right now in Belfast, and local producers such as potato crisp manufacturer Wolff and Woodsman, and hot sauce maker Totally Hot NI have been showing off their wares as part of Ulster Bank's stand at the event. Many of those presenting their food and drink at the stand are part of the Ulster Bank Entrepreneur Accelerator, and the focus for them in the coming years will be scaling up to not just produce locally but export their products globally.

Managing Director George Mullan from meat processor ABP Northern Ireland was in attendance at the Balmoral Show yesterday, where he called for Northern Ireland to take the next step in promoting locally produced food on the worldwide stage and establish its own official overseas marketing body for local food. Northern Ireland has a great deal of recognisability worldwide, and premium products from the region have already proven to fare well in export markets.