Food and drink workshop for businesses to make the most of 2014 legacy

30th June 2013

Food and drink businesses in the Highlands and Islands are invited to attend a free workshop focusing on the development of new innovative products and packaging.

The day-long event, Food and Drink Innovation Workshop - 2014 The Legacy Challenge, will be held at Cowan House in Inverness on Wednesday July 10 and will be hosted by Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) in partnership with the 2014 Food and Drink Team. It aims to support those businesses involved in food and drink to use this unique year to drive additional sales and engage new customers at home and abroad.

2014 will be an exceptional year for Scotland when it hosts the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Ryder Cup at Gleneagles and the second edition of Homecoming – a year long celebration of the country’s food and drink, culture, heritage and natural resources.

Businesses involved in food and drink are hoping to use this unique year to drive additional sales and engage new customers at home and abroad and this workshop aims to help them to do that.

The workshop will focus on four key areas in order to develop new products or packaging. They are: ‘Customer Readiness’ where businesses will gain a better understanding of customers’ trends and opportunities; ‘Design Readiness’ will use tools to create and develop ideas for new products and packaging; ‘Business Readiness’ will help people to plan their business case to convert ideas into customer value and market opportunity to reach visitors during 2014; ‘Promotion Readiness’ will look at marketing via social media as a means to capitalise on event based opportunities.

Chris Taylor, Head of Tourism, Food and Drink at HIE said: “This presents a fantastic opportunity for Scotland to show its superb larder to the world and for food and drink businesses to take advantage of the business opportunities the year will bring.

“We would like to hear from anyone interested in attending this workshop. The aim of it is to leave with an individual action plan of practical steps needed to achieve and commercialise their new development idea. Our experienced innovation specialists will be on hand at the workshop to help them achieve maximum success.”

For further information visit the events page at www.hie.co.uk/about-hie/events/ or to book, email crystal.mackay[AT]hient.co.uk

 

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