OVERVIEW
The flavour
of success
The Food Harvest export target of ¤12bn by 2020 is beginning to look almost easy,
writes Alison Healy, Food and Farming Correspondent
O
nce upon a time, it gave people
a small thrill to find Kerrygold
butter on the shelf of a supermarket when they travelled
abroad. Now, we would be surprised if we didn’t find a range of Irish products on foreign supermarket shelves.
Keogh’s crisps can now be bought in Australia, the US and Dubai. You’re as likely to
find Cashel Blue cheese in New York as you
are in Newbridge.
If you feel like one of Glenisk’s yogurts or
dairy products, try Dubai, Portugal or
Spain. Donegal-based Irish Premium Oysters are firmly established in Tokyo. And
most impressively, Broderick’s, the artisan
chocolate bar and cake makers, are now
selling chocolate to the Swiss. And to the
Icelanders, Danish, Russian and Japanese.
The list goes on.
The success of these products abroad
helps to explain why the value of Irish food
and drink tipped ¤10 billion last year. The
Food Harvest target of reaching ¤12 billion
by 2020 is beginning to look almost easy,
particularly when the growing global population is considered. It increased by 80 million in the past year and, according to the
OECD, three billion people in places such
as India, Africa and China will join the middle classes over this and the next decade.
Trade missions to far-flung places are no
longer just about the meat and dairy sector. Now they are selling our confectionery, snacks, desserts, jams and relishes.
The Gulfood exhibition which was recently held in Dubai saw the biggest ever
representation of Irish food when 17 firms
travelled to the fair. It was a new experience for Keogh’s crisps, which was only set
up in 2011 and its managing director Tom
Keogh says it was very encouraging to see
how Irish food was viewed in the Middle
East. “There was a very, very, good reac-
4 |THE IRISH TIMES | March 26, 2014
tion to Irish companies. There were countries from all over the world exhibiting
their wares,” he recalls, “but when you
went around for a look, there was no comparison when it came to the quality of the
products on offer. You could see people’s
faces light up when they tasted our crisps.”
Nicheproducts
While niche products are making great
strides, the meat and dairy sectors still account for our most valuable exports by far.
Meat and livestock exports accounted for a
third of food and drink exports last year
and were worth ¤3.3 billion, according to
Bord Bia. And dairy products exceeded the
¤3 billion mark for the first time. Milk quotas will be removed next year, leaving Irish
farmers free to produce as much milk as
they like for the first time in 30 years and
the sector has major plans for expansion.
Milk volumes are expected to increase by
50 per cent '