Food & Drink
With an annual turnover accounting for around £3.5bn, the food & drink industry in the North East is made up of over 1500 companies employing over 40,000 people.
The reputation for innovation within the sector is growing and its strong manufacturing base also supplies leading household brands with own label products.
The area has become a base for some of the best known names including United Biscuits, PepsiCo, Nestle, and Kerry Foods and meets the requirements for producing value adding innovative products supplying markets worldwide.
Regional Development Agency, One NorthEast has invested in a number of established projects delivering improvements to industry, including:
Regional Food Group: Northumbria Larder is the regional Food & Drink network for North East England. It consists of independent food and drink producers in County Durham, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear and Tees Valley.
Set up in 2001 following the foot and mouth outbreak, which caused the cancellation of most of the Farmers' Markets in the region, threatening the livelihoods of farmers, food producers and suppliers, Northumbria Larder aims to encourage, develop and help grow its members in their aspirations of producing the finest Food and Drink the region can offer.
Northumbria Larder has over 60 members. It is recognised by the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), Food From Britain (FFB) and One NorthEast as the regional food group.
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Case studies
- Quantum Specials
Quantum Specials makes one-off ‘special medicines’ for retail and hospital pharmacies. The brainchild of ...
- Salford University
The CoSpaces project lead by Professor Terrence Fernando from Salford University has brought in €1.2 million for...
- Cotswold Manufacturing
Located in Billingham, Cotswold Manufacturing manufactures and supplies internal doorsets and doorkits to the constru...
Latest news
- Diary Note: Building For Export Success Workshop
Newcastle University Business School is joining forces with UK Trade & Investment and RTC North to invite SMEs in the region to attend the first annual Herbert Loebl Export Workshop on Tuesday 9 March 2010. (Free to attend)








