Bord Bia has unveiled plans to increase investment in the German food market, as Irish food exports marked a 24% increase in the first half of 2017.
Speaking at Anuga, Bord Bia’s CEO Tara McCarthy outlined the German market’s strategic importance, being Ireland’s sixth largest export market for food, with an estimated export value of €600 million for 2016.
McCarthy commented: “Sustainably produced food is increasingly sought by German consumers and we are offering our customers a solution to this demand through our Origin Green programme.
“We are investing further in the market and we have identified a number of initiatives particular to the region to be funded under the recent Brexit allocation from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine.”
The German grocery retail market was worth €234bn in 2016 and is forecast to be worth €259bn by 2021, a growth rate of 10.5%, according to IGD Retail Analysis, 2017.
It is also “highly competitive and consolidated”, with the largest operators accounting for around 85% of total sales.
Bord Bia has renewed its focus on promoting Irish lamb in the country, which traditionally has a low consumption per capita of lamb “but with strong growth potential”.
To build on the Irish lamb’s in-market success, Bord Bia will be launching a new digital home in Germany, at www.irishlamb.de, whose launch will coincide with the Christmas period.
In addition, as Irish beef exports rose to €142 million in 2016 from €92 million just four years ago, Bordi Bia’s new Brexit initiative will include concept and strategy development planning for promotional activity from 2018 and beyond, along with existing material developed for the German market.
This story was originally published on a previous version of the Meat Management website and so there may be some missing images and formatting issues.
