Friday, 18th February 2011 (Source: IEA)

The Meet the Buyer Day for the Craft Butchers Cluster took place on Wednesday 16th February in Citywest Hotel in Saggart, Co Dublin. Godfrey Lydon of the IEA gave the attendees an overview of the IEA and the Channel Clusters Programme*. He told them about the other 5 clusters and the successes to date.

The cluster leader, Sheila Gallogly, gave a presentation outlining the work done with each of the 5 participants to date, including new product development, branding, developing the online channel and distribution. John Hickie talked about the strategy for the ACBI (Associated Craft Butchers of Ireland) brand over the coming months. He said that there will be a focus on driving excellence in store and this will include all aspects of the customer experience.

Fintan Flood of Scobies and Junor spoke about the work they do with ACBI in Ireland and their distribution business internationally. Dave Lang, Product and Development Manager and Hugh Maguire and Brendan Mallon also contributed during the meeting. To read the press release, please click here.

Left to Right Back Row: Dave Lang, ACBI; Fintan Flood, Scobies and Junor; Brendan Mallon, ACBI; Godfrey Lydon, IEA; Hugh Maguire, ACBI; Left to Right Front Row: Sheila Gallogly, Márla.ie; Sinead Branigan, IEA and John Hickie, ACBI.

*The Channel Clusters Project was made possible through a financial contribution from the European Regional Development Fund Ireland Wales (INTERREG 4A) 2007 - 2013.