Food and drink businesses in the region are continuing to leverage export opportunities in China by travelling to Shanghai to take part in the country's largest trade show for the food and hospitality industry.

The trade mission include five Yorkshire businesses: Taylors of Harrogate; confectionery distributor Crème d'Or; smoked meat specialist Bleiker's; distiller Harrogate Tipple; and microbrewery Cold Bath Brewing Co. They all exhibited under the Northern Powerhouse banner at Food Hotel China (FHC).

The companies were among 23 British producers taking part in the show as part of the Food is GREAT campaign - the UK government's cross department scheme to showcase food and drink overseas by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), and the Department for International Trade (DIT).

At the show, Defra hosted an exclusive event enabling 50 businesses to exhibit products to 300 attendees which included Chinese distributors and e-commerce buyers, industry buyers for restaurants, hotels and supermarkets, representatives from Chinese trade media and associations and key opinion leaders.

Mark Robson, head, UK regions – Yorkshire and Humber, at the DIT, said: "China being the world's biggest grocery market presents an excellent opportunity for our region's food and drink producers. Feedback from visitors at the show also proved how British brands are highly-regarded by Chinese consumers, who see our food and drink products as high-quality and safe."

The Yorkshire and Humber region exported £30.8m of food and drink to China in 2017, growing from £10.5m in 2015.