Three day major food and drink trade event held at Leicester University

Leading business people converged on the University of Leicester for a major trade conference aimed at boosting exports to India and developing new partnerships.

Some of the UK’s well-known firms were represented at the event focusing on the food and drink sector from August 30-September 1. University of Leicester experts discussed their research that impacts on the sector and delegates had an opportunity to view the University’s research facilities.

The Indo-British Trade Council's UK-India Food and Drink Conference is a result of the recent agreement between the University of Leicester and the Leicestershire Asian Business Association (LABA) in July. Led by ProfessorKevin Schürer, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research and Enterprise, the pact marks a major step forward in the strategy to work more closely with business, industry and the professions.

The event was supported by firms and organisations such as Tesco, Asda, S&A Foods, Samworth Brothers of Melton, Cofresh of Leicester, Loughborough University, Birmingham Airport and UK Trade and Investment.

Jaspal Singh Minhas, President of LABA, said: “The aim of the three-day event was to bring together industry professionals, buyers, regulators and leading experts to disseminate some of the latest perspectives and opportunities in the food and drink industries.

“Presentations were made by leading experts, including a workshop on Food and Drink Packaging led by Professor Paul Monks from the University’s Department of Chemistry.

“Our hope from this event is to launch the UK-India SME Food & Drink Concordat to make the UK-India Food & Drink Event an annual Event.”

Professor Schürer said: “The University is delighted to be working with LABA in order to bring its world-class academic expertise and specialist knowledge for the benefit of industry and commerce. The relationship underpins our joint commitment to problem-orientated research and spinoff synergy with the local food companies and through them a supply chain relationship with multiples in the UK and India.”

Amongst the many distinguished speakers at the event was Mrs.Perween Warsi, founder and CEO of S&A Foods which sponsored the dinner on 30 August. She said: “The platform for creating long term trading links for SMEs is of paramount importance - especially amongst smaller SMEs who cannot afford a full time dedicated export resource”.

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