Food and Drink
The food and drink sector is worth over £9.5 billion to the
Northwest economy. The agricultural, food and drink industry
provides 12% of the region’s income and employs 103,000
people, which accounts for 3.5% of regional employment and 3% of
the UK’s employment within this sector. The Northwest has more
local food manufacturing enterprises than any other UK
region.
The Northwest has significant strengths in a number of areas,
including dairy production, red meat and cereal processing,
speciality foods and regional food production. It is home to
some of the food industry’s biggest names, including
Nestle, Halewood Foods, Fox’s, Heinz, Kellogg’s, Patak Foods and
Vimto.
The Northwest is the largest food and drink producing region in
England and Wales in terms of manufacturing units (Promar Study for
the NWFA) and leads the whole of the UK in terms of manufacturing
Gross Value Added.
The NWDA has invested over £7 million into two ground-breaking
projects to assist the productivity of food businesses throughout
the region:
- 'Tastes of the Northwest': the largest project of its
kind, Tastes of the Northwest will assist over 2,300 food
businesses in gaining access to new markets, as well as
strengthening marketing advice, product development and skills
training.
- 'Distinctly Cumbrian': a programme to support farmers and
new and existing rural businesses in improving the production,
distribution and marketing of local produce.
In addition, the Northwest proudly fosters a different breed of
retailer, such as the food store Booths - recently voted one
of the world’s top 25 food heroes by an international academy of
2,000 industry experts. Booths ranked in second place in the list
of the World’s Greatest Food Retailers.
Visit the
Food Northwest website