SUPPLIERS and producers must gear up for changes in how people buy their groceries.
The growth in discount supermarket chains and the rise in popularity of online shopping is changing food and drink retailing across Britain and Ireland.
And Charlie Kerlin, head of the food and beverage team at Belfast business advisers Grant Thornton, said suppliers in the north - big and small - must be ready to adapt.
"Shopping patterns are changing," he said.
"The rise of the discounters and small convenience stores is seeing more people shop locally and doing their big shop maybe every two weeks instead of every week.
"And there's the implications of online with a trend towards click and collect.
"These are challenges but there are also opportunities.
"If people are using click and collect, how do you get your product into their basket?"
Mr Kerlin said the most successful food firms in the years ahead would be those that understand marketing and branding.
"A lot of firms can get a foothold in large supermarkets by providing own-brand products.
"But then you look at a company like Mash Direct and they were always very clear that wasn't a route they would take. Now it is a really well known brand."
He said that as it is, the north "doesn't have enough big brands".
And for those new brands trying to make their mark, they must understand modern technqiues.
"Ten Acre has been very good at this," he said.
Mr Kerlin said the Manchester-based gluten free crisp company had "come from nothing" to show it had something different from products already on the market.
"Ten Acre have done a lot on social media and it is about having that understanding of your market," he said.
"With online shopping, people are not passing your products on instore shelves so there are other ways of getting it into their baskets".
