Great Additions to IFEX 2016
08 January 2016
IFEX 2016
8 – 10 March, Titanic Exhibition Centre, Belfast
THIS March, Northern Ireland’s biggest food, drink, retail & hospitality event – IFEX 2016 – will open its doors at its new home the Titanic Exhibition Centre, Belfast and there’s set to be even more ingredients for a successful show than ever before.
Organised by leading events company, Fresh Montgomery, the trade expo has partnered with The Guild of Fine Food to introduce the first-ever Great Taste Market to IFEX, which will house many ‘great taste’ producers from across NI and ROI. From cheese producers to tea houses, the Great Taste Market has already attracted many leading names including Burren Smokehouse, Cavanagh Free Range Eggs, Cashel Blue, Goodness Grains, S D Bell and Yellow Door.
Caroline McCusker, IFEX Event Manager adds: “The addition of the Great Taste Market was introduced to further build on IFEX’s growing status as THE trade expo which showcases thousands of innovative new products and services over 3 days.
“IFEX is set to become the ultimate destination for all those in the food, drink, retail and hospitality industries, and for visitors it’s a ‘one stop shop’ for discovering and tasting some of the best food and drink products that Northern Ireland has to offer.”
For small producers the addition of the Great Taste Market at IFEX provides the perfect platform to connect with key buyers, make valuable contacts and increase awareness of their products.
As well as the array of exciting food and speciality products on offer IFEX will feature a host of culinary competitions. Returning this year is the Salon Culinaire, which will house almost 250 industry and student chefs. The Salon Culinaire is hotly anticipated as the place where the ‘best of’ culinarians in Northern Ireland are formally acknowledged – including Michael Deane, Chris Bell and Roisin Gavin – who were first recognised on the IFEX stage.
Skills is high on the agenda and the Salon Culinaire which raises the bar in terms of culinary skills in Northern Ireland includes The ChefSkills Theatre, La Parade des Chefs and Edible Art (cold display).
Running over the three days, the ChefSkills Theatre sees an exciting series of back-to-back, live, hot competitions, including the hotly contended Department of Agriculture and Rural Development-supported IFEX Northern Ireland Chef of the Year and Northern Ireland Junior Chef of the Year accolades.
La Parade des Chefs, featuring four teams of eight, from outstanding NI culinary colleges, go head–to-head to serve 60 covers daily in a ‘real time’ restaurant. For this team competition, preparation, service, timing and team work are every bit as important as the quality of cooking. The winning team will offer the ‘whole package’ of hospitality skills.
Long-standing Salon Culinaire Director, Sean Owens comments “This year I’m confident that we’re going to discover some extraordinarily talented young chefs, and to have uncovered and encouraged new talent to flourish at IFEX is what THE event for the food, drink, retail and hospitality industries is all about.”
Bigger and better than ever before, The ChefSkills Theatre and La Parade des Chefs are designed to nurture the talents of the Province’s young chefs.
For those who hope to compete, ChefSkills and the team event, La Parade des Chefs, are now open for entry.
IFEX 2016 is taking place from Tuesday 8th March to Thursday 10th March at the Titanic Exhibition Centre, Belfast. The show opens daily at 10am and runs until 6pm on Tuesday and Wednesday, and to 4pm on Thursday. Follow IFEX on twitter @IFEX_NI or via Facebook.com/IfexBelfast or log onto to register your attendance for free now at www.IFEXexhibition.co.uk.