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
- F2G Ltd
Two North West SMEs, F2G Ltd and Ai2 Ltd, are spearheading a trans-European consortium of partners to design future g...
- W D Close
W D Close manufacture architectural steelwork and engineering fabrications from a large, heavy engineering shop in Wa...
- Wolsingham School and Community College
Year 9 pupils from Wolsingham School and Community College used futures thinking to launch their week long project th...
Latest news
- Workshops aim to improve product development
Experts from the Institute for Manufacturing (IFM) at the University of Cambridge and Design Network North have teamed up to offer North East companies access to a suite of tools designed to aid the development of new products.








