Largo Foods boss travels to Mumbai for CEO retreat

One of County Meath's leading entrepreneurs has taken part in an exclusive corporate retreat with some of the world's premier business leaders. CEO of Ashbourne-based Largo Foods, Ray Coyle, attended the Strategic Growth Forum, which recently took place in the Indian city of Mumbai. Largo Foods is one of 24 finalists in this year's Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year Awards programme, and the Strategic Growth Forum was the keystone event in the 2011 CEO Retreat for members of the extended entrepreneurial community. The week-long trip, which forms an integral part of this high-profile global recognition programme, introduces entrepreneurs to an environment that nurtures progression and empowers the 24 selected finalists to learn from the successes of their worldwide - and Irish - counterparts. Listed by Forbes.com as one of the top seven corporate retreats, the Strategic Growth Forum is now a regular feature on the calendars of some of the world's most eminent business leaders, and participants attended an array of keynote speaking events, panel discussions, and industry presentations aimed at guiding enterprises through to their next stage of development. During the week-long trip, Mr Coyle and his fellow finalists were introduced to a variety of commercial, cultural, educational and humanitarian aspects of doing business in India. This included an exclusive dinner with top Indian entrepreneur, Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw; a UNICEF field visit to female empowerment entrepreneurship projects located close to Mumbai, and networking opportunities with students and academics at Pune University. Mr Coyle said he found the visit to have been extremely enlightening and his overall assessment of the visit has been overwhelmingly positive. "The CEO Retreat challenged all of the assembled entrepreneurs to be at the cutting-edge of innovation," he said. "It provided us with the opportunities to meet with key industry leaders and develop a wide network of international contacts that will assist us to build upon our strategies for future business growth and development." Frank O'Keeffe, Ernst & Young partner-in-charge of the Entrepreneur Of The Year Programme, reinforced the value of the CEO Retreat to Ireland's business leaders. "With a population of 1.2 billion, India is undergoing a period of rapid urbanization and development, and Irish entrepreneurs, such as Ray Coyle, are ideally placed to avail of the myriad opportunities presented by such advances. Previous CEO retreats have unearthed multiple commercial and learning opportunities for participants, and this year's trip proved to have been just as successful," he said. Established in 1983, Largo Foods is a leading manufacturer and distributor of premium snack foods, supplying branded and own label products in the Irish, UK and continental European markets. Amongst its well-known brands are Tayto, King, Hunky Dorys, Perri and Sam Spudz. With production facilities in Ashbourne and the Donegal gaeltacht, Largo Food Exports currently employs 564 people between its two Irish locations. Meanwhile, Ray Coyle is this week launching a €600,000 animated television advertising campaign centred on the Tayto Park in Curraha.