Three quarters of Irish food and drink companies who responded to the Deloitte Food and Beverage Survey 2013 indicate that they are expanding into new markets. While eight out of ten say that they are currently recruiting. The survey was carried out in conjunction with the second annual Deloitte Food and Beverage Seminar. The most popular location for companies who are on the expansion trail remains the UK, followed by Germany, France and the rest of Europe. Asia also features prominently, ahead of the US. While the majority indicated that they are recruiting up to 10 people, some of the larger companies are currently recruiting in excess of 100 people. Of those recruiting, more than 40% indicated that they are experiencing difficulties in finding the right talent. Sales and marketing followed by R&D, innovation and product development were identified as the areas where roles were most difficult to fill. When probed on the biggest challenges when entering new markets, just over a quarter of respondents (28%) cited competition from indigenous brands as the top challenge. This was followed by lack of market expertise (21%) and distribution and channel models (17%). Just 7% indicated competition from multinational brands as their biggest challenge.
