MORE than 200 Yorkshire food companies will converge on York Racecourse on February 22 for a "meet the buyer" event.

It is an attempt to put more Yorkshire produce on national grocer shelves, menus, trains and aeroplanes across Britain and beyond.

Organised by the Regional Food Group for Yorkshire and Humber and Yorkshire Forward, the region's development agency, delegates will have the chance to have face-to-face confidential meetings with 35 key regional and national buyers from the food industry.

The buyers include House of Fraser, Geest, Harrods and Harvey Nichols Food Halls, Jet2 and even the House of Commons refreshment department.

Last year's introductory event, hosted by Yorkshire Forward, saw confirmed orders of £670,000 within six months, but it is estimated that this year's will generate more than £6.5 million-worth of new business for the region's food suppliers

Elizabeth Halsall, of the Regional Food Group, said: "Guaranteed face-to-face appointments mean no unreturned phone calls or torn-up expensive mail shots. Not only does it mean a minimum of travelling and effort is required to get an initial 'foot in the door', the event also offers the chance to network with a large number of businesses during the day.

"But each match making opportunity only lasts 15 minutes, so we are giving suppliers a pre-event sales seminar on how to make every second count to secure the deals that lead to an increase in company profits," she said.

Updated: 10:44 Wednesday, January 19, 2005