Isle of Man Food & Drink Export Group to exhibit at the International Food Event (IFE) 2025

The Department for Enterprise's Business Agency will support Manx food and drink exporters at the International Food Event (IFE) at the ExCel Centre in London in 2025. This announcement follows a successful 2024 show that generated over £600,000 in orders and dozens of promising sales leads for the participating Manx businesses.

Earlier this year, Isle of Man Creamery, The Fynoderee Distillery, Outlier Distilling Company, and Okell's Brewery exhibited and showcased the finest Manx produce to attendees from across the world at the 2024 IFE. Business Isle of Man, through the Food & Drink Export Development Group, jointly funded the cost of exhibiting to enable Manx businesses to capitalise on the opportunities presented by the event, with the ultimate aim of increasing exports of their products into new markets.

Food & drink exported from the Isle of Man has well-established and loyal markets in Spain, France, Italy, USA, Canada and Australia, and each year the Island exports over 450 tonnes of cheese and seafood to the value of £7-8 million.

Minister for Enterprise, Tim Johnston MHK commented:

'It was a pleasure to visit our exhibitors at the IFE earlier this year with the Business Agency in London. The Economic Strategy highlights the need for us to protect, nurture and develop our export sectors, with the food and drink sector playing an important part in this ambition. I was impressed by how well Manx Produce stacked up against food and drink from all over the world. It is clear from the sales achieved from this year's event that we have a real opportunity to push Manx food and drink onto menus worldwide. This success is just the beginning, and we have a lot of potential for growth in the future.'  

Findlay Macleod, Managing Director at the Isle of Man Creamery and Business Isle of Man Non-Executive Board Member, commented:

'Attending IFE 2024 resulted in us securing valuable orders from a European customer and allowed us to effectively market our products to a discerning audience of national and international buyers. We were pleased to represent the Isle of Man at the show and found there to be a huge amount of interest in the Island and the food and drink we produce.'

Having won a World Food Innovation Award at IFE 2024 and recently the Great Taste Award, Okell's Brewery was one of the first companies to sign up to exhibit in 2025. Okell's will again present its products under the banner of Isle of Man Drinks, joined by the award-winning Fynoderee Distillery.

Ollie Neale, Managing Director at Okell's Brewery and Business Isle of Man Non-Executive Board Member, commented:

'IFE offers a great opportunity for Okell's to promote our unique Manx beers to potential customers from a diverse range of businesses. Exhibiting under the banner of 'Isle of Man Drinks' in March made us stand out among the other drinks producers, and we received a lot of appreciation for our unique status as an entire nation Biosphere. We are excited to return in 2025 to develop new relationships with potential buyers.'

In addition to supporting businesses seeking to grow international sales, Business Isle of Man is working with the Department for Environment, Food and Agriculture to increase the value of local produce sold in the Isle of Man. In support of this goal, an exclusive ‘Meet Your Producer’ Event will be held at the Market Hall in Douglas on 23 September 2024.

This event will offer local food and drink producers the chance to strengthen relationships with retail, food service, and hospitality businesses in the Island.  Businesses wishing to attend the Meet the Producer event can get in touch at contact-business@gov.im. Food & drink producers looking to exhibit are encouraged to reach out to food@gov.im for details.