It was announced this week that Bord Bia is coordinating over 100 worldwide promotional activities and events aimed at consumers, retailers, trade and foodservice operators for St. Patrick's Day.
Irish food and drink exports reached over 175 countries around the world last year and were worth €10.8bn for the first time ever. Ireland is the 4th largest net exporter of beef in the world
and produces 50% of all global cream liqueur. Irish whiskey is the fastest growing spirit category in the world
In the UK, Ireland’s largest export market, Bord Bia is coordinating major in-store Irish food promotions across 100 retail stores. Products such as prime Irish beef, Kerrygold Dubliner Cheese, Irish pork sausages, Cully & Sully and Irish drinks will be given prime positioning.
The in-store activities will be boosted by an online promotion and social media campaign featuring chef Paul Foster from GreatBritishChefs.com, the fastest growing food website in the UK.
On Sunday, over 80,000 Londoners sampled dishes ranging from slow cooked Irish beef stew to Irish farmhouse cheeses at Bord Bia London’s ‘Irish Food Market’. The market was a central part of the Mayor’s St. Patrick’s Day Festival which took place on Trafalgar Square. In addition, almost 1 million UK consumers tuned into Channel 4’s Sunday Brunch programme to hear more about Irish food and drink, most notably Poitin.
An Taoiseach Enda Kenny will today present a hamper of Irish food and drink products to the Obamas and Dr. Jill Biden during his visit to the White House. The Bord Bia hampers represent Ireland's food and drink exports to the US including Irish beef, confectionary, oatmeal, tea, coffee, seafood, butter, whiskey, relishes and preserves, craft beer, crackers, bread and farmhouse cheese.
Furthermore, in Paris, the Chefs Irish Beef Club, Bord Bia’s international initiative that unites Michelin star and award-winning chefs who use and endorse Irish beef, will host an event to welcome its newest member, Claude Colliot.
Irish Hereford beef features on the menu of Claude’s high-end restaurant in Paris. Bord Bia has also secured an Irish beef promotion with Monoprix, the leading premium multiple retailer in France. The promotion will take place in over 100 stores and will be supported by in-store tastings.
Over 30,000 German consumers enjoyed Irish food during the St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Munich on Sunday. Bord Bia also hosted a German media and trade event at the esteemed Scholss Elmau restaurant in Munich. Mario Corti, a Michelin Star chef and a Chefs Irish Beef Club member, served Irish Hereford and Black Angus beef and briefed local media on the premium quality of Irish beef.
Irish food and drink will also take centre stage in Sweden’s top three restaurants based in Stockholm. Bord Bia has joined forces with the Irish Embassy in Sweden to organise an event allowing several Irish food and drink companies, including Tullamore, Jameson, Burren Smokehouse, Kelly’s Oysters and Dawn Meats to name but a few, to showcase their products to key trade buyers.
In Moscow, Bord Bia will host a trade reception for 90 targeted drink buyers and distributors, highlighting Irish whiskey and craft beers in particular. Although import sanctions are in place, Bord Bia continues to maintain and develop relationships with key buyers in this market.
Bord Bia’s Chief Executive, Aidan Cotter says, "St. Patrick’s Day provides Bord Bia, and the Irish food and drink industry, with an invaluable opportunity to highlight the quality and sustainability credentials of our produce.
"Events and promotional campaigns allow us engage with new and existing customers to tell the story of Origin Green, our industry and its producers, on a scale unmatched by the national day of any other country."
Source: www.businessworld.ie
