12 August 2010, 20:19 PM
  • Companies exhibiting at IFE11 and Speciality & Fine Food Fair 2010 are being given a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to present their products to The London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games [LOCOG].

In an unprecedented move, LOCOG will bring its sourcing team to this year’s Speciality & Fine Food Fair and a larger group of buyers and development chefs to IFE11 for ‘Meet the Buyer’ sessions. Exhibitors of all sizes at both events will be in with a chance of getting their products onto the 14 million plates of food served to visitors, media, VIPS and athletes during the 2012 Games.

In particular, the team will be looking to source quality local and regional produce from the UK and internationally explained Jan Matthews, Head of Catering at LOCOG: “We’re entering a really exciting phase in planning of the 2012 Games and meeting businesses at IFE11 and Speciality & Fine Food Fair 2010 will be key to helping us develop the catering offering.”

Matthews continued: “Although the 2012 Games are primarily based in London, we are dedicated to showcasing the finest food from around Britain whilst ensuring that we offer a wide range of international cuisine to the 16,500 people we need to cater for in the Athletes Village.

“London 2012 will be the largest peace-time catering operation in the world, so the Meet the Buyer events really will provide a mammoth opportunity for exhibitors to get involved. The whole catering team is really excited about uncovering a huge range of businesses to help meet our demands.” 

Toby Wand, Group Event Director at Fresh RM, the organisers behind both exhibitions, echoed these sentiments: “We can’t stress enough the scale of the opportunity that LOCOG is offering to exhibitors at both our shows. It is notoriously difficult and highly unusual for companies to get an audience with such a high profile catering team, so we’re delighted that we are able to facilitate this.“

The Meet the Buyer events with the LOCOG will take place at IFE11 [13-16 March 2011, ExCeL, London] and Speciality & Fine Food Fair 2010 [5-7 September 2010, Olympia, London].

Suppliers keen to be involved can find out full details on exhibiting at www.ife.co.uk or www.specialityandfinefoodfairs.co.uk

For further information please contactme on 0207 240 2444.