Economic benefits will flow from showing more of our best in Britain

However, I reckon the Royal Ulster Agriculture Show at Balmoral is better. I know I’ll be accused of bias but our Food NI Food Pavilion is an exceptional showcase of the very best of our food and drink. To give credit where it is due, the food hall at Royal Highland inspired us to start the Balmoral Food Pavilion back in 2008, but as our food and drink sector has grown, the variety and quality of our produce has surpassed all our expectations and I am confident it will continue to do so.

I’ve enjoyed visiting Scotland’s four-day event and will certainly find much to celebrate this year about food and drink in there … and from further afield. Northern Ireland food and drink isn’t as well represented as I would wish.

While we’ve encouraged our smaller companies to take part at Edinburgh, many, I believe, have been impacted by the costs of a four-day stay in Edinburgh and the current economic challenges affecting food processors everywhere.

It’s a great pity because Scotland is becoming a hugely successful marketplace for a broad range of our companies, which include Thompson’s Family Teas in Belfast – its Scottish tea in particular – and other producers such as Burren Balsamic, Corndale Farm from Limavady and Coleraine’s Scott’s Crispy Onions. It’s a very accessible market with a tremendous appetite for our food. Mash Direct in Comber is a great supporter of the Royal Highland.

Other companies taking part this year are Hellbent with their range of South African inspired meats and the award-winning Feedwell pet products. I believe there’s a strong case for greater support to encourage our companies to be part of the Royal Highland and other agricultural shows across Britain, including the likes of the Great Yorkshire at Harrogate, Royal Bath and West Show, which also hosts the World Cheese Awards.

They provide an important platform to reach consumers in what remains the single most important market for our food. And it’s an easily accessible market for our companies. We’d certainly be keen to do more to work with DAERA and Invest NI to encourage our smaller companies in particular to explore opportunities there. Our industry would certainly benefit enormously from greater resources being made available to help accelerate the growth of food sales to Britain and Ireland.

The four-day event in Edinburgh, first held in 1822, is described as the “pinnacle of the agricultural calendar” in Scotland. Each year over 800 trade exhibitors, over 2,000 livestock competitors entering into over 900 competitions (with over 4,000 animals) and tens of thousands of visitors come to the show to experience the best of farming, food and rural life.

There is also a fantastic programme of music and entertainment to enjoy along with a plethora of produce from Scotland and other parts of the UK to sample in what is being promoted as Scotland's Larder!

The Royal Highland Show is famed for its food and drink offering, and rightly so – it's one of the biggest and best displays of produce from across Scotland! Balmoral compares very favourably … and in many cases is better than what Edinburgh offers. I believe that we should be making more of Balmoral in an international context, because it really is a genuinely world-class agri-food event of which Food NI is immensely proud to be an integral part.