WHAT WAS SAID AT THE UK - SPANISH FOOD SUMMIT IN LONDON ?

This was an event organised by Food and Wines From Spain , along with colleagues at RED Communications Ltd , held in London yesterday. It consisted of several presentations on the nature of the UK food and wine market in a post Brexit, post COVID environment and two panel Q & A sessions on food, and then, wine.? I was asked to be involved in the session on food, ably chaired by Mike Knowles of the Eurofruit Magazine publication.

During the course of the afternoon, a whole series of topics were covered by speakers and panellists, but some of the common themes to both the food and wine sessions appeared to me to be, as follows:

• the fresh produce, wine, dairy, meat and olive industries are not only economically important for Spain, but also at the very heart of the social and cultural fabric of the country
• the gastronomic sector is of high added value to the Spanish food and drink category. It is based on a combination of quality, diversity and innovation, but at the same time building on the huge tradition of these industries
• the UK market has been through a torrid time in the last few years. Consumer confidence has been low, but now seems to be gradually recovering. This has seen in the short term, consumers focus on value for money and shopping more ?in discounters - but in the mid to long term, the premium sector and higher added value products that fit this, seem poised for future growth
• Spanish products are seen to represent excellent value for money, but more work needs to be done on improving quality and introducing better marketing. The use of social media to capture the imagination of a younger generation of consumers will be especially important
• the future promotion of Spanish food and drink in the UK needs to be built around the quality of products, as well as its regionality, new products and varieties. The foodservice sector is still full of opportunity for Spanish food and drink products
• there is a very strong link in the minds of UK consumers between Spanish food and drink and tourism. This is still maybe an unexploited area and presents a wonderful opportunity to boost Spanish exports to the UK
• this is all part of the need to create interesting “stories” about Spanish food and drink, as part of a wider narrative on what Spain has to offer the UK. Retailers and consumers are hungry for these “stories”. Retailers want to be able to differentiate themselves from their competition and consumers are increasingly interested in where their food and drink has come from
• sustainability is a wide and complex ?issue. It can cover the full supply chain and, despite the much good work that is going on here, Spain needs to do more on this in the future. Strong sustainability credentials for Spanish suppliers will eventually become part of the “right to supply” the UK market
• with the advent of direct sourcing by UK supermarkets, Spanish food and drink companies need to develop strong, robust and resilient supply chains to the UK. While technical competence is of a critical nature, relationships in the supply chain are also crucial

As always, ?this even was also an opportunity to “meet some old friends (you know who you are!) and make some new ones too”.

The overriding message of the day? Amongst other things, Spain wants to do more business in the UK, has a rich food and drink culture, has a great reputation in the commercial food and drink sector. They still need, however, to do more on marketing in order to tell UK consumers, who are increasingly interested in food provenance and sustainability, about what Spain has to offer and its strong product attributes. And the UK market will see mid to long term growth in the area of premium products.

As they say – “keep this frequency clear”.

Well done to RED Communications Ltd and Food and Wines From Spain for organising such an excellent event.

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John Giles is a Divisional Director at Promar International the agri food chain consulting arm of Genus ABS - he has worked on agri food and drink marketing assignments in the UK and then some 60 other countries around the world. This includes a good deal of work in Spain and other Southern European markets. He is also a visiting Fellow at the University of Reading’s THE SCHOOL OF AGRICULTURE, POLICY AND DEVELOPMENT (SAPD) at the University of Reading