Northern Ireland's Dale Farm in new business in Spain

Dale Farm, Northern Ireland's biggest dairy business, won a series of deal with retailers in Spain for its cheese, butter and dairy spreads at the recent Alimentaria 2014 food show in Barcelona.

The company, the processing arm of United Dairy Farmers, Northern Ireland's biggest farmers' co-operative will supply its Dromona range of products following a series of tastings involving some of Spain's biggest retail buyers.

The initial target for the Northern Irish dairy products will be the 300,000 British and Irish living along the holiday costas and the millions of tourists from the British Isles who holiday there every year. The intention is then that the products should then go on sale across Spain.

The sampling sessions in Barcelona were organised by Invest Northern Ireland, the UK region's business development body.

Dr David Dobbin, Dale Farm group chief executive, says: "This is an important contract for the company as it will strengthen our market position and distribution chain in Spain, a nation renowned for its passion for food.

"While the initial target consumer will be the many British and Irish tourists in the country looking for familiar brands and products that they know and can trust, we also expect to win over Spanish shoppers who want to try top quality Northern Irish dairy products which have a well deserved reputation for outstanding taste, safety and provenance.

"Dale Farm's exports into Europe are showing strong year-on-year growth and our products are now on sale in seven different EU countries. Clearly the quality of our local milk and dairy produce is driving this growth."

A leading Northern Irish exporter, Dale Farm now sells its dairy products including whey protein powders, to around 45 countries including China, Russia, the Middle East, North Africa and South America.