Proseal’s participation follows Lord Livingston’s visit to open the company’s third factory at its European headquarters in Adlington, Cheshire, in February.
The trip was part of the UK Trade & Investment’s (UKTI) target of doubling trade with Central and Eastern Europe by £30 billion by 2020. The four countries of Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary, along with five others in the Central Europe Network (Austria, Bulgaria, Romania, Slovenia and Croatia), have a combined population of over 100 million people, a combined GDP in excess of £1 trillion and annual average growth rates that in recent years have far exceeded most other European countries.
Proseal has already begun to develop business in the region following the establishment of a sales office in Poznan, Poland last year.
“The region is experiencing great growth in pre-prepared and convenience foods, such as meat and fruit,” comments Proseal’s Head of Sales and Control Systems Tony Burgess. “With the market for finished food products already worth around £150m, we are seeing huge potential for our tray sealing equipment to help companies deliver the convenience packaging solutions now being demanded by retailers and consumers.”
The five-day mission took in two of the region’s most important cities, Krakow and Brno, with delegates then choosing to continue to either Prague or Bratislava and Budapest. The mission included meetings with buyers, senior Government officials and trade associations to help companies expand their businesses, with commercial briefings covering key market opportunities, routes to market and essential background on the business environment, and a number of high level VIP networking dinners and receptions drawing in key local political and commercial contacts.
“This was an invaluable exercise which enabled us to learn more about the region and its opportunities as well as making a number of useful business contacts and introductions,” concludes Tony Burgess.
