On Thursday 31st May 2018, the BLCC is organising an industry briefing at the British Chamber of Commerce in Brussels in collaboration with Food Matters Live, AWEX and the Brussels Region. Our guest speakers will be Chris Whittaker, Founder of CW Consultancy & former Buyer at Waitrose and Adrian Beale, Co-Founder and Sales & Marketing Director for Buckley & Beale. They will talk about how Belgian and Luxembourg food and drink producers can succeed in the UK retail food and drink market, the UK buyer’s mentality, the key UK consumer trends and how brands best position themselves.

Chris Whittaker runs CW Consultancy, where he works with entrepreneurs and brand owners to develop their commercial strategy and prepare their pitches for major retailers. Previously, Chris spent almost a decade working for Waitrose, during which time he has been a buyer for dairy, milk alternatives, chilled juice, superfoods and canned goods. He has worked with a number of start-up brands such as Naturya or Plenish.

Adrian Beale is the Co-Founder and Sales & Marketing Director for Buckley & Beale, an importer, distributor and wholesaler of speciality foods based in South Gloucestershire. He has over 20 years sales and marketing experience, 11 in the automotive industry, 5 in food retail, and the last 6 with Buckley & Beale. Adrian Co-Founded Buckley & Beale in January 2011 and has been actively involved in supporting small speciality food producers ever since, speaking at conferences and events on the importance of packaging, pricing, making the most of exhibiting and identifying what buyers are looking for.

The event is free of charge and to register please send an email to amy.houseman@foodmatterslive.com