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One thousand British food and drink firms will benefit from a new exports action plan which aims to deliver a £500m boost to the UK economy.
The Food and Drink International Action Plan will be delivered by UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), as part of the government’s overall ambition to raise UK exports to £1 trillion and to get 100,000 more UK companies exporting.
Food and drink is the UK’s largest manufacturing sector with a turnover of over £90 billion. The industry employs up to 400,000 workers. This represents 15 per cent of the overall manufacturing workforce in the UK.
However, there is huge untapped potential for export among small and medium sized businesses (SMEs) with 90 per cent currently not exporting and primarily only with close European neighbours.
The plan was launched by Environment Secretary Owen Paterson on Sunday evening at Anuga, in Cologne, Germany, the world’s leading food and drink trade fair.
At the same time food was officially launched as one of the GREAT marketing campaign pillars. The GREAT campaign showcases the very best of what Britain has to offer in order to encourage the world to visit, study and do business with the UK.
Through the GREAT campaign UKTI will deliver a two year programme of activity showcasing the British food and drink industry to markets including Vietnam, Mexico, Brazil, Russia, South Korea, Hong Kong and Macao, China, USA and Europe.
Sunday October 6, 2013/ DEFRA/ United Kingdom.
https://www.gov.uk
