Manufacturers are now well and truly into the pre-Christmas production period - our busiest of the year and a vital indicator of the year’s overall export figures.

Exports of British-manufactured food and non-alcoholic drinks are one of our industry’s key success stories, having grown consecutively for the last seven years.

However, this success does not come easy. As our most recent export report showed, in the first six months of 2012, food and drink trade slowed to key EU markets, largely due to the challenging economic situation in the Eurozone.

Despite this, there was significant growth to emerging markets as progressive companies looked further afield for opportunities - prompted by westernising diets, global confidence in the quality and safety of British food and the prestige of our brands.

Our industry is determined to grow 20% by 2020 and exports are a key part of delivering this vision. We know there is much more to do to help businesses break into new markets. We are working with Defra and UKTI to help address some of the barriers businesses face and to raise awareness of the opportunities available.

Our commitment to growth is strongly underpinned by our desire to do so responsibly, making export growth also an opportunity to share industry’s responsible behaviours and values, such as our world-leading reformulation programmes, with a global audience.

” Exports are key part of our vision of growing 20% by 2020”

In recognition of the value we place on the industry’s export potential, we have used our annual industry awards ceremony - the Community Partnership Awards - to recognise fantastic businesses making inroads into new markets, generating new growth to create an array of jobs and opportunities.

The Export Success of the Year award sought entries from companies pushing boundaries by tapping into new markets, creating targeted products or with industry-leading strategies.

Our first-ever gold winner is the Burton’s Biscuit Company - the producer of Jammie Dodgers and Maryland Cookies. Burton’s was selected for an impressive and ambitious export strategy that has led to it winning contracts with major global retailers such as Walmart and Loblaw.

Similarly, our silver and bronze winners, United Biscuits and Typhoo Tea respectively, are impressive examples of businesses driving their growth through innovation and truly understanding the needs of consumers in global markets, reaping great rewards as a result.

All of this shows that the determination of industry to innovate and grow, domestically or globally, remains firmly intact.

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