We all count as their customers, and their businesses are part of every community across Northern Ireland. But the food to go sector has been the forgotten man of the local economy, at least up until the last few years.
The Northern Ireland Food To Go Association, founded by its Chief Executive Michael Henderson seven years ago, has changed that. It isn’t just helping to raise the profile of a vital industry sector. It’s also helping its growing number of members to navigate through challenging times.
“We’re all well aware of the hospitality industry,” says Michael. “But hospitality tends to mean pubs, hotels and restaurants. Food to go businesses used to be regarded as something of a back street industry. But that’s not how it should have been.
Formerly working in the Northern Ireland marketplace for food ordering platform Just Eat, Michael Henderson gathered a dozen or so businesses together and formed the Northern Ireland Takeaway Association.
“We didn’t have any real strategy, we just set up and started with some members who operated kebab shops, Chinese takeaways and fish and chip outlets,” he says. “But it soon became clear that the demand was there. We reached almost 100 members in just a couple of weeks.
“We were warmly welcomed for one simple reason. We were listening to these business people, we were giving them the chance to vent, and we were promising to stand up for them.”
Not long after the new Association found its feet, Covid swept in and everything changed. “The traditional hospitality industry had to close its doors, but our members were allowed to stay open with restrictions. It was a bit of a game changer.
“We grew by close to 300 members during the Covid pandemic, and we started to put a lot more structure around what we were doing for those members. We started to offer them assistance with legal representation, for example, and we helped them cope with HR and staffing issues.
“But we also began to forge relationships with companies who supply the food to go sector, ranging from Henderson Foodservice on the food front to Budget Energy on the utility side.”
Three years ago, the organisation re-branded, dropping the takeaway tag and becoming the Northern Ireland Food To Go Association. With Michael Henderson continuing as Chief Executive, it appointed an advisory board under chair Kiera Campbell, Sales Director at Henderson Foodservice.
“People don’t always realise what a wide-ranging and diverse sector food to go actually is. We’re talking about fish & chip shops, Chinese and Indian restaurants, but we’re also talking about coffee shops, delis, bakeries, even ice cream vans,” Michael adds.
These days, NIFTGA has a thriving membership of 1,100, and a growing collective voice representing an industry sector that previously had no representation at all. It even has its own all-party group at the Stormont Assembly, a major step in strengthening representation for the sector at government level.
It’s hard to come by any official figures showing the actual size of Northern Ireland food to go sector. “We reckon that there are somewhere around 10,500 or 11,000 individual businesses out there,” says Michael Henderson. “That means that 50,000 or 60,000 workers are probably employed across the region. It’s a people-heavy sector.
“One thing we are sure of is that there are food to go enterprises in every single community across Northern Ireland. And the vast majority of them are family-owned businesses. It’s also a very diverse industry. Around a third of our members are from ethnic minority communities.”
It’s also a sector which is strong on innovation. Food to go offerings in Northern Ireland today go a long way beyond the traditional fish and chips and Chinese food. There has even been an innovation spin-off post-Covid.
“Quite a few chefs who found themselves at a loose end when restaurants closed during Covid moved into the food to go sector and set up new ventures,” says Michael, “bringing new tastes, flavours and products to the market.”
Food to go businesses, in common with others, are squaring up to cost pressures in the current climate.
“Fish has gone up in price by more than 300% and some other products aren’t far behind,” he adds. “Then there is the rising cost of energy and the issues of rates. The challenge for our members is to manage rising supplier costs while trying hard to keep their prices as low as possible for customers.
“It’s a difficult balancing act and we’ve heard from members who are finding things really difficult to juggle. Their loyal customers are really important to them.”
The impending reduction in VAT on food and catering from 13.5% to 9% in the Republic is also causing concern. It’s due to come into force at the start of July, and Michael Henderson says that it’s bound to hit NIFTGA members operating in border areas.
“There is definitely a case for tax regimes here in Northern Ireland to be adjusted when Irish rates are changed,” he says. “We’re not looking for hand outs from government, just a level playing field.”
The Northern Ireland food to go sector, he reckons, is well worth celebrating. And the Association has done just that over recent years with the success of the Northern Ireland Food To Go Awards, celebrating the very best of the industry here.
The third annual awards will be launched soon and are due to take place at Belfast’s Crowne Plaza Hotel on 19th November this year.
To find out more about becoming a member or partner and supporting the future of the sector, visit www.nifoodtogo.co.uk