Over one-third of pig meat products sold in food services sector not Irish

The traditional full-Irish breakfast may not be entirely Irish.

The Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) is asking businesses in the food services sector to “step up to the mark” and procure more from Irish farmers as a new analysis shows that more than one in three pigmeat products could not be traced back to farms in Ireland.

On Wednesday, the IFA released the results of its Irish Foodservice DNA Verified Survey for 2022 which looked into whether pigmeat products sold in different sectors in Ireland come from Irish farms.

It found that while 97% of pigmeat products in the retail sector could be traced back to Irish farms, this drops to 61% in the food services sector.

The food services sector includes fast food restaurants, hotels, service stations, deli counters, and butchers. The samples are collected independently of the IFA.

Tim Cullinan, president of the IFA, said the Irish food services sector is “not supporting the Irish pigmeat sector” and they must “close the gap” on the benchmark that the retailers have set.

“The Irish pig sector continues to experience turbulent times, and the results of this survey highlight where the support must come from to help pig farms overcome the 18 months of decline in price,” he said.

Using the IFA’s boar DNA database, the association is able to determine whether the pigmeat samples in the market match with a boar from an Irish farm in the database. 

Tests

For the survey, 582 tests were conducted on various pigmeat products of which 73% could be traced back to Irish farms. Of this, 401 tests were conducted on samples from the Irish food service sector, which included 34 individual outlets.

It’s estimated that these companies have a combined reach of 2,600 locations nationwide.

In the food service sector, only 55% of rashers could be traced back to Irish farms, compared to 65% of ham products and 85% of pork products.

Roy Gallie, chair of the IFA’s national pigs committee, said DNA “doesn’t lie” and this new data allows them to “hold various outlets to account” when they say something is Irish when it is not.

He said that they know the retail sector is with them on this but now it is time to get the food service sector more on board.

“Every time you make a decision to buy food that is not produced in Ireland, you pay money into somebody else's pocket rather than an Irishman's profit. It is really important that we stick up for ourselves,” he said.

"I am asking for the food service sector to step up to the mark and come with us because we are all in this together, we will all benefit from your decision to buy Irish before others.”

 Mr Gallie said that the food service sector should have a “bit of pride” in sourcing Irish products rather than just basing their decisions on price.

He added that in some cases, businesses were found to be advertising products as Irish, but when tested, “this is proven to be false and this is hugely disappointing”.

“These companies are marketing themselves off the back of the high standards of production which Irish pig farms hold, and for them to undermine that label is unacceptable.”