Some 20 government officials and personnel from leading food and fresh produce companies in China visited FoodCentral, St Margarets, North County Dublin in February this year.
The Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Shane McEntee was present at the event and delivered an address that focused on developing the relations between China and Ireland. Speaking to the delegation, Minister McEntee outlined how Ireland has developed a reputation of producing high quality food in a safe and environmentally sustainable manner.
The Minister of State highlighted that, as well as exporting food products to over 80 countries worldwide and there being a very strong increase in demand for Irish products globally, Ireland is also very open to inward trade. Minister McEntee believes the fact that Ireland is a member of the European Union also gives the advantage of easy access for Irish and imported produce to the wider high value European market.
The Chinese trade delegation members were highly impressed with the growing and packing facilities at FoodCentral, in terms of food safety, quality and the state of the art technology.
FoodCentral was established in North County Dublin to develop a sustainable food-centric business and logistics hub for the domestic and export markets that facilitates. FoodCentral aims to facilitate consolidation, collaboration and co-opetition to enhance competitive advantage.
FoodCentral itself is ideally located. It is situated beside the airport and close to the major road networks of Ireland. FoodCentral also provides access to both Dublin city and Dublin port.