Twenty Northern Ireland food companies are attending the world’s biggest food and drink showcase in Paris this week in a bid to attract French business.

The trip to the SIAL 2008 exhibition is part of a wide-ranging drive to help local food companies win business in France which is being run by Invest NI over the next six months.

There will be a major presentation of local food and drink at the SIAL exhibition — and a visit to Northern Ireland by a delegation of top buyers from French grocery and food services companies.

This follow-up visit will take place over two days in January and will allow local companies participating in the events surrounding SIAL to have one-to-one meetings with selected buyers at Invest NI's headquarters in Belfast.

The initiative has been developed jointly by Invest NI's Food and Trade divisions.

Maynard Mawhinney, Invest NI's food director, said: “France is one of Europe's biggest and most discerning markets for food and drink products.

“In 2007, for example, the market was worth around £120 billion and was dominated by retail spending.

“The country also imports food and drink worth over £20 billion annually, the UK supplying around 6%.”