Food firms get tips on how to earn Tesco retail listing

Sixteen food and beverage companies are taking part in a Bord Bia and Tesco programme to help them develop skills to achieve sustainable growth at multiple retail level.

The programme will equip participants with the skills required to secure and grow a listing with Tesco.

It will involve three different levels, local, national and export, to assist small, medium-sized and large companies.

Bord Bia chief executive Aidan Cotter said food exports had been growing, despite tough conditions in the domestic market. “Based on Eurostat data, food prices in Ireland today are just 3% to 4% above their level of seven years ago,” he said.

“By comparison, in the euro area as a whole, they have grown by 15%, and in the UK by as much as 35%, a period moreover of strong commodity price inflation.

“It is vital in this environment that Irish food and drink companies work with the retail sector to build their competitiveness on the domestic and export markets alike.”

Irish exports to Tesco outside Ireland represented 9% of the value of food and drink exported in 2010.

An Indecon report found Irish suppliers exported €705.8m of Irish-produced goods to the Tesco group internationally in 2010. The destinations were Britain, central Europe and Asia.

Tesco Ireland chief executive Tony Keohane said: “This initiative continues our desire to source local products, particularly fresh foods, which have always been a key part of our strategy and a cornerstone of our business.”