Union flag, British red meat and dairy shine at Anuga

This year, 13 red meat and 14 dairy exporters joined us on our Quality Meat from Britain Pavilion in the Meat Hall at the event in Cologne, Germany. The British Dairy Pavilion represented a collaboration between AHDB and the UK government.

With more than 7,900 exhibitors and 169,600 visitors, the AHDB stands were extremely busy, with continuous high-level buyer activity throughout the five-day event.

Visitors sampled high-quality British red meat and dairy products in recipes such as beef fillet steak with peeled vegetables, Frankfurt herbs and mustard seeds; pink-roasted rack of lamb with dried fruits, bulgur, shitake mushrooms and coriander; and pulled pork served in a brioche bun with coleslaw and barbecue sauce.

Located in the centre of the Meat Hall, our pavilion was adorned with the red GREAT Britain and Northern Ireland logo, proudly promoting the best of the UK agri-food produce abroad.

Designs describing the quality of British red meat and farming environments added an extra finesse to the look and feel of the stand, which also served as a space for exporters to network, collaborate and capitalise on each other’s leads.

Our export team’s commitment to driving export opportunities for levy payers, both processors and farmers, was evident. The team included experts in various markets, such as the Americas, Asia, the Middle East and Europe, and they were able to provide the exporters with the support and expertise needed.

Kevin Hollinrake MP, Minister for Enterprise, Markets and Small Business at the Department for Business and Trade (DBT), visited the stands on Monday 9 October. He met with almost all the red meat and dairy exporters, emphasising the Government's commitment to promoting more export activities.

The Minister commended the AHDB Export team for their efforts in ensuring that there are representatives in different countries and that the levy is used wisely in terms of promoting British produce around the world.

On the Dairy stand, a group of buyers representing the six largest food trading businesses from Japan, including Cargill, Costco, Bio C’Bon, Murakawa Corporation and AEON, enjoyed an exquisite British cheese-tasting experience and met the exporters around the stand.

Some of the exporters with stands on the AHDB pavilion included Woodhead Bros, Dingley Dell Ltd., Pilgrim's UK, GPS Food Group, Cranswick PLC, Dunbia, Norwest Food International Ltd., Pickstock Telford Ltd., Warrendale Wagyu Ltd., Menai Meats Wales Ltd., Karro Food Group and Foyle Food Group Ltd.

On the Dairy side, we had Coombe Castle, Snowdonia Cheese, Long Clawson Dairy, Yew Tree Dairy, Bradbury’s Cheese, Greenfields, Isle of Man Creamery, Prima Cheese, Wensleydale Creamery, The Fine Cheese Company, Eat Lean, and Cathedral Cheese.

Cheryl Brett, International Sales Manager at Coombe Castle, said:

“Anuga has been a fantastic show for several reasons. We’ve managed to showcase our full range of Great British dairy products. In addition, we have met all our customers – existing and hopefully new – at the show and we are hoping to follow that up with lots of fantastic sales.

“We work extensively with AHDB and value the support we get from them in the markets that we work in, especially when we want to enter a new market. The exhibitions they host, especially in the Asian markets, work well in the format in which they have them. Without them, we wouldn’t be able to enter some new markets.”

Mark Hayward, a farmer representing family-owned Dingley Dell Pork, added:

“Being able to attend Anuga for a business like ours is fantastic. We are one of 900 meat exhibitors and almost certainly the smallest one here, but we have people from all over the world here sourcing products.

"For us, it is a time to catch up with some of our clients abroad who are visiting the show, but also to meet people from the Caribbean, Taiwan and other countries. So, anyone coming to this show who has done their research and is looking for some type of specialty pork, we are going to be on their radar."

“This is our second time at Anuga and it has been a great event. We don't do a lot of shows, but we've had interest from the Dominican Republic and Hong Kong, where we already trade. This is the food world coming to you. They are not going to find me on the farm.”

Jonathan Eckley, Head of International Trade and Development at AHDB, said:

“Anuga is the biggest and most important trade show in the world this year. There were nearly 1,000 exhibitors in the Meat Hall and 70,000 visitors.

“We had 13 exporters taking space on our stand. The reason we come is to meet both new and existing clients because it is a competitive world. AHDB was at Anuga to fly the British flag, represent the meat industry across beef, lamb and pork and show the world quality British produce."

Four social media farming influencers also joined us this year: Rebecca Wilson (@BeccaFarms), Joe Seels (@joeseels), James Herrick (@BaldysFarm) and James Small (@doitinwellies).

They had the privilege of seeing first-hand the competition that exists in trying to sell agrifood products on a global stage.

They also saw how AHDB helps British farmers, integrators and processors gain access to new markets and supports them in developing their relationship with these markets.

Last year, levy payers told us that they want AHDB to focus more on export work across all sectors.

The AHDB sector councils are now proposing an increase in the levy to allow AHDB to continue to grow the value of service delivered in the context of increasing challenges for the industry.

To find out more about the proposals, visit ahdb.org.uk/funding-your-future-2023, and if you have any questions, email us at info@ahdb.org.uk