Manx food and drink exporters are set to return to next year’s International Food Event (IFE) thanks to financial support from the Isle of Man Government.

The Department for Enterprise's Business Agency will support those involved with the event, which will take place at the ExCel Centre in London in 2025.

Earlier this year at the 2024 show, Isle of Man Creamery, The Fynoderee Distillery, Outlier Distilling Company, and Okell's Brewery successfully exhibited and showcased Manx produce to attendees from across the world.

This generated more than £600,000 in orders, as well as dozens of promising sales leads for all participating Manx businesses.

Business Isle of Man, through the Food & Drink Export Development Group, jointly funded the cost of exhibiting, which they will now do again in 2025.

A spokesperson from government said that this was to ‘enable Manx businesses to capitalise on the opportunities presented by the event, with the ultimate aim of increasing exports of their products into new markets’.

Minister for Enterprise, Tim Johnston MHK added: 'It was a pleasure to visit our exhibitors at the IFE earlier this year with the Business Agency in London.

‘The Economic Strategy highlights the need for us to protect, nurture and develop our export sectors, with the food and drink sector playing an important part in this ambition.

‘I was impressed by how well Manx produce stacked up against food and drink from all over the world. It is clear from the sales achieved from this year's event that we have a real opportunity to push Manx food and drink onto menus worldwide.

‘This success is just the beginning, and we have a lot of potential for growth in the future.'

Food and drink exported from the Isle of Man has markets in Spain, France, Italy, USA, Canada and Australia, with over 450 tonnes of cheese and seafood being exported each year to the value of £7-8 million.

Findlay Macleod, managing director at the Isle of Man Creamery, commented: 'Attending IFE 2024 resulted in us securing valuable orders from a European customer and allowed us to effectively market our products to a discerning audience of national and international buyers.

‘We were pleased to represent the Isle of Man at the show and found there to be a huge amount of interest in the island and the food and drink we produce.'

Having won a ‘World Food Innovation Award’ at IFE 2024, Okell's Brewery was one of the first companies to sign up to exhibit in 2025. Okell's will again present its products under the banner of ‘Isle of Man Drinks’, joined by the Fynoderee Distillery.

Ollie Neale, managing director at Okell's Brewery, said: 'IFE offers a great opportunity for Okell's to promote our unique Manx beers to potential customers from a diverse range of businesses.

‘Exhibiting under the banner of “Isle of Man Drinks” in March made us stand out among the other drinks producers, and we received a lot of appreciation for our unique status as an entire nation Biosphere.

‘We are excited to return in 2025 to develop new relationships with potential buyers.'

Business Isle of Man are also looking to increase the value of local produce sold in the Isle of Man, with a special event being held in September to support this objective.

An exclusive ‘Meet Your Producer’ event will be held at the Market Hall in Douglas on Monday, September 23.

This event will offer local food and drink producers the chance to strengthen relationships with retail, food service, and hospitality businesses in the island.

Businesses wishing to attend the Meet Your Producer event can get in touch by emailing [email protected], while food and drink producers looking to exhibit are encouraged to email [email protected] for details.