The Irish Food Board, Bord Bia, has won a contract to promote EU beef, lamb, dairy and horticulture across Asia, Europe and the US in three campaigns valued at €13.4 million (US$15.3 million) for the next three years. Bord Bia talks with FoodIngredientsFirst about the future of trade agreements, animal welfare and the opportunities for meat and dairy.

“Trade is at the center of Europe’s economic prosperity and competitiveness. As one of the world’s largest traders of agrifood it underpins the socio-economic well-being of a sector which employs over 12 million people and accounts for a turnover of €3.1 trillion (US$3.5 trillion),” the spokesperson says.

“It is imperative that the EU promotion policy supports European farmers and their effort in producing high standards in food safety, quality, animal welfare and sustainability to ensure we maintain competitiveness in global markets as well as realizing the opportunities that arise from bilateral trade agreements.”

Tara McCarthy, Bord Bia chief executive, welcomed the funding and said that Bord Bia’s imprint on the campaign will widen the recognition of Ireland as a secure supplier of safe and sustainably produced beef, lamb and dairy at a time when market diversification in response to the joint impact of Brexit and COVID-19 is strategically important.

“This is the biggest sustained investment we’ve made in dairy, and meat across species in third country markets, and it’s the first EU funding of its kind for the dairy sector,” she comments.

“A key element in securing this funding is how Bord Bia’s new three-year strategy aligns so closely with the EU’s farm to fork strategy, in that it allows us to focus on linking sustainable production with sustainable nutrition and consumption. This campaign affords us the opportunity to deploy each of these to the benefit of Irish and EU producers.”

Three core initiatives
The B2B campaign will run for three years (2022 to 2024) with aims to “build awareness and understanding of food safety, quality assurance and sustainability of European grass-fed beef, lamb and dairy.”

The overall financing of the initiative comprises €9.7 million (US$11 million) in EU funding and €3.7 million (US$4.2 million) from Bord Bia and industry funding.

This year, the three EU campaigns will be rolled out across a total of nine market territories between Asia, Europe and the US, each of which will have a specific target audience, product focus and tailored promotional activities.

The initiative’s financing comprises €9.7 million (US$11 million) in EU funding and €3.7 million (US$4.2 million) from Bord Bia and industry funding.Targeting importers, retailers, foodservice providers, chefs and media outlets, the campaigns will concentrate on digital media, PR, trade fairs, seminars and inward visits to Ireland.

The first campaign, “European Dairy - the sustainable choice for Asia,” will see dairy promoted in Japan, Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand and the Philippines while the second campaign, “Working with Nature - European Beef and Lamb” will be targeting trade buyers in China, Japan, South Korea and the US.

The third promotional campaign, “Life is better with fruit and vegetables,” will be rolled out in  France and Belgium with partner agencies Interfel, Freshfel and Association Interprofessionnelle de la Banane along with Bord Bia Ireland and is aimed at promoting fruit and vegetables for Millennials (25 to 40 year olds).

This campaign is significant in that along with educating Millennials on increasing their consumption of fruit and vegetables as part of a healthy and balanced diet, the campaign will, for the first time, also provide information on sustainable consumption methods such as waste reduction.

Eyes set on Asia’s growth potential
Since 2016, the value of Irish food and drink exports to Asia has increased 14% to €1.4 billion (US$1.6 billion).

Bord Bia has already identified the growth potential of Asia for Irish food and drink exports in Japan with the opening a Bord Bia office in Tokyo in 2019 to add to its significant presence in Shanghai and an office in Singapore. 

The Singapore office is focused on the South and East Asian countries of Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, The Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand and Vietnam.

“In 2019 the world’s largest bilateral trade deal EU-Japan EPA came into force. This trade deal has placed EU Member States and indeed Ireland on a level playing field with key competitors in the Japan market, providing a strong stimulus for growth,” the spokesperson tells FoodIngredientsFirst.

“Ireland is already reaping the benefits of this trade deal with exports of beef and dairy increasing significantly since 2019,” they detail. “Exports of dairy (predominantly cheese) to Japan were worth €66 million (US$75.4 million)in 2020, showing growth of 19% year-over-year and similarly for beef, exports in 2020 grew 279% year-over-year to €11 million (US$12.6 million).”

“The EU Vietnam trade agreement which came into force in June 2019 presents similar opportunities to develop and diversify food and drink exports.”