Some of the country's famous food and wine brands, many coming from Central West, and their makers have descended at Dubbo, with spring in their steps exuding optimism that the coronavirus pandemic that shut them down is behind them.
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"It's coming back at a rate of knots and rebounded really well because people now want to get out and about, they want to eat out, they want to mingle so places are busy," Foodservice Industry Association president Frank Furlong who's in town said.
"We're forecasting the industry will keep powering along [even if] we know interest rates have risen, we know there's a change of government so that might impact a bit but we're gearing up the next months would be busy..provided we don't have lockdowns again it would be great.
"I've had breakfast here in Dubbo [on Tuesday morning] it was lovely, a great cafe, lovely food outlets and there's the [Western Plain Taronga] zoo here so it's a vibrant town."
The past two years of the pandemic crippled the entire food industry whether they were big or small although the quick food service sector they call QSR has pivoted to takeaways and contactless services "suffered less" the overall food industry "really struggled badly", Mr Furlong said.
The FIA consists of food producers and makers and manufacturers with a broad range of customers such as shops, supermarkets, clubs, cafes, pubs, restaurants and even school canteens in the Dubbo-Orana region.
Jo Suckling, marketing and retail manager of Midwest Food and Liquor who represented the food and wine brands from the region said the hospitality industry has been "in a world of hurt" but the sense of optimism to get back into business is shown by reopening the trade shows once again.
MidWest has organised the show at Dubbo and drew visiting customers as far as Cobar, Mudgee and further out west Orana while at least 40 manufacturers of well-known brands also come from Sydney, Queensland, Melbourne and Perth to showcase their latest range developed out of a lull in production during the pandemic.
"This is the first time we've been able to come together as wholesale distributors and suppliers of all products such as Inghams and Mrs Macs..everything for the industry is here and we are here to remind our customers all the wonderful things we do and the services we provide are here," Ms Suckling said.
The shows were suspended since 2019 because restrictions forced businesses to close their doors.
Elizabeth Frias
I began my news reporting days in western and inner west Sydney before joining the Daily Liberal's Dubbo NSW newsroom. Telling all sorts of stories about people, places and events is my daily preoccupation so email me at elizabeth.frias@austcommunitymedia.com.au and I'll be in touch!
I began my news reporting days in western and inner west Sydney before joining the Daily Liberal's Dubbo NSW newsroom. Telling all sorts of stories about people, places and events is my daily preoccupation so email me at elizabeth.frias@austcommunitymedia.com.au and I'll be in touch!
