Wexford based company, Good Food Ireland founded and managed by Margaret Jeffares was the driving force behind the biggest ever showcase of Irish artisan food producers and chefs at the 3-Day Web Summit in Dublin last week.
The brainchild of Wicklow man,Paddy Cosgrave, the Web Summit brought in excess of 20,000 people to Dublin for Europe’s largest technology conference. Often dubbed as “Davos for Geeks” or in Irish terms “The Ploughing for Techies”, the conference has become a global phenomenon since its inception four years ago and is estimated to be worth a welcome €100m to the Irish economy.
Good Food Ireland ensured that the delegates and journalists from more than one hundred different countries were served an amazing array of Irish food each day by almost 400 of the best chefs and food producers in the country.
On the final evening, the company hosted a spectacular celebration of Irish food in a giant marquee in Herbert Park. The party was attended by 1,500 international media and guests which included An Taoiseach, Enda Kenny as well as highly acclaimed food writers Rowley Leigh and Tom Parker-Bowles. Speaking at the event, An Taoiseach, Enda Kenny congratulated Margaret Jeffares of Good Food Ireland and Paddy Cosgrave, Web Summit CEO on delivering a highly impressive showcase of what our country has to offer. He went on to confirm the government’s commitment to supporting the artisan food sector as a key player in the growth of the rural economy.
Wexford Local Development was proud to see some of Wexford’s finest food producers including Killowen Farm of Courtnacuddy and Wild About of Monamolin as enthusiastic and hard-working as ever offering their produce to the massive and highly influential attendance.
According to Jeffares, the Food Summit was a golden opportunity to raise Ireland’s food and tourism image, bringing our food business entrepreneurs face to face with world leaders in technology, marketing and business. Without doubt, the event has greatly enhanced the country’s reputation as a food island and will prove to have a very positive impact on food tourism in Ireland.
