The Yorkshire and Humber food and drink sector is the largest in the country and is worth £2.5bn a year to the regional economy. Yorkshire Forward said its new initiative would give new and established businesses a clear route to accessing support.

The four areas which have been identified for support are: Provinence, supply chains and export support; Process innovation; Product and packaging innovation and people and skills


Key partners will deliver different elements of the support package. A Farexchange programme aims to develop sustainable value chains, linking manufacturers back to the region's farmers and growers to secure future supply.

The Regional Food Group (RFG) for Yorkshire and Humber will support food and drink companies with provenance, linking local food and reducing food miles. It will also assist companies with exporting enquiries, finding the right markets overseas to grow and compete.

The Centre for Food Robotics and Automation (CenFRA) will deliver process innovation. Yorkshire Forward said that traditionally there was low investment in robotics and process automation and CenFRA aimed to encourage improvement by introducing enhanced and affordable automation.


Appetizing Innovation will assist the region's product and packaging innovation by linking food and drink companies to a range of sources with the most up to date skills, technologies and equipment.

The National Skills Academy for Food and Drinks Manufacturing and Train to Gain initiative will support the skills aspect of the package.

Companies interested in accessing any areas of the support package should visit www.yorkshire-forward.com/food

Jim Farmery, assistant director of business at Yorkshire Forward, said: "Our vision is to create an enterprise and innovation region of choice for new, emerging and established food and drink businesses.

"The strategy represents a more coherent approach to support for businesses – they will know who to go to in our partner network. We've made the support much more accessible and there is something in the strategy for everyone."