Major food and drink companies from across the UK have showcased their latest products to new customers in Hull this week.
Turner Price’s XL Food & Drink Show, which took place at the Bonus Arena on Thursday, September 19, featured big names including Young’s Seafood, Unilever, Whitby Seafoods and Harrogate Spring Water.
Around 100 exhibitors packed out the venue in the centre of Hull, giving trades professionals and industry experts the chance to meet new businesses and pick up orders.
This year was the largest food and drink show Hull-based supplier Turner Price has ever hosted.
Beth Ruane, of Young’s Seafood, said: “The show is a great way of meeting new customers and getting feedback on your products.
“We are perhaps best-known as a British manufacturer of fish fingers, so we brought along a selection of the other products that we do for people to see.
“As a local company, we always try and attend events like this, and this venue has been perfect for the food and drink show.”
The annual show is organised by Hull-based Turner Price.
The family-owned food firm delivers to over 2,500 trading customers across the UK.
Its fleet of vehicles delivers its catalogue of more than 5,000 products to counties including Lincolnshire, Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Durham.
Dublin-based homemade cakes company Broderick Brothers exhibited in Hull for the first time this week.
It struck a new partnership with Turner Price earlier this year.
Ciara McCormack, from Broderick Brothers, said: “We were recommended to Turner Price by another country range company, and came to present to them in Hull, and they then picked us up as a new customer.
“It has been really good here today. It’s a great opportunity to get people to taste our products, and get the brand name out to new people.
“We are focused mainly at the coffee shop and garden centre market, because the cakes look so homemade.”
Familiar faces at the food and drink show were joined by a string of new manufacturing partners at the 2019 expo.
These included Essential Cuisine, Broderick Brothers and Bonta Italia - established by Gino D’Acampo and Marco Silvagni.
Kevin Hall, of Kent-based Speciality Breads, said: “We have a long-standing relationship with Turner Price. They are a really good customer of ours.
“We have bumped into a lot of our existing customers today, which has been nice, but we have also met some new faces as well.”
Tom English, of Turner Price, said of the 2019 show: “These shows are all about trying to add value to the customers that come.
“If people can take away just one thing from the day, then it was worth them coming, and we like to think they will take away a lot more than that.
“One thing we have found, which is encouraging, is that a lot of food producers are working hard to get new products to the market, and to do something different.
“This has without doubt been one of the best shows we have done, and the Bonus Arena has been fantastic.”
