Féile Bia quality produce initiative attracts 800 food outlets
Féile Bia members including hotels, restaurants and pubs commit themselves to using beef, bacon, lamb, poultry and eggs from recognised quality assurance schemes.
They flag these quality ingredients on their menus and prominently display a blue-framed Féile Bia Certificate - all to provide customers with the reassurance that the food they are serving is quality sourced locally.
The Bord Bia-organised programme is supported by the Restaurants Association of Ireland; the Irish Hotels Federation, and the farming community. Euro-Toques, the European community of chefs, is also endorsing it and actively encouraging its member chefs in Ireland to sign up to the celebration of quality food. Campbell Catering; Supermacs; the Gresham Hotel Group and the Jurys Doyle Hotel Group are among the outlets that have joined the scheme this year, pushing the number of outlets beyond expectations.
Féile Bia provides Bord Bia with an opportunity to support the growing food service sector in Ireland, which was valued at 1.4 billion last year, part of the overall food and drink industry valued at 15 billion.
The initiative also provides tourists with the opportunity to experience quality produce in Ireland and in turn become ambassadors for Irish food abroad, assisting the growth of the 6.6 billion of Irish food and drink exported annually.
Campbell Catering, which has some 300 outlets throughout the country, is Ireland’s leading contract catering company with a 45% market share.
Bord Bia chief executive Michael Duffy said Féile Bia food service operators were committed to sourcing products from quality-assured schemes and Campbell Catering’s participation reinforces the high standard of Irish food and drink.
Campbell Catering managing director Joan O’Shaughnessy said it was using fresh, quality, local produce where possible.
“We prepare food for over 150,000 customers daily. Féile Bia now offers us the opportunity to exhibit our commitment to food traceability and food quality.”
Féile Bia, now in its fourth year, is putting more emphasis on the sourcing and provenance of food in hotels, restaurants and pubs. The target it set for participating outlets has already been met.
Bord Bia home market manager Georgina O’Sullivan said consumer research shows that people are concerned about where their food comes from.
“Bord Bia believes there is room for improvement by the food service sector in sourcing their ingredients through traceability systems and providing information to the consumer.” An ongoing promotional campaign has been undertaken to encourage the public to look for the certificate in their eating establishment.
Bord Bia’s focus going forward is to build on the momentum of the last six months and to bring a majority of food service operators into the promotion by the year end.
Georgina O’Sullivan said the range and quality of establishments now participating demonstrates that Féile Bia is achieving its objectives.
“Our message to prospective members is that Féile Bia is a clear and unambiguous way of demonstrating their commitment to sourcing the best quality food and, ultimately, meeting the demands of customers in a positive and mutually beneficial way,” she said.
IFA president John Dillon has repeatedly called on all hotels, restaurants, pubs and the catering sector throughout the country to support the Féile Bia campaign and to use high quality local produce and produce from Bord Bia-approved quality assurance schemes. He said he was delighted so many outlets have now fully committed to supporting quality Irish food and have the blue-framed Féile Bia Certificate on prominent display on their premises.
“These hotels, restaurants and caterers have shown commendable commitment and loyalty to high quality local produce and meat and egg products from Bord Bia quality assurance schemes, and they should in turn be supported by farm families and consumers throughout the country.”
Mr Dillon said an Agri Aware survey has shown that more than 90% of consumers want the country of origin identified when meat and poultry is purchased in hotels, restaurants and at retail point of sale.
But, unknowingly to Irish consumers, far too many hotels and restaurants still use imported product.
“In many cases, they pretend it is Irish because they know their customers expect to be served Irish food. They should commit to and support local high quality food products. The unnecessary use of imported product is putting the livelihood of Irish farmers at risk.”
Mr Dillon said local hotels, restaurants, caterers and pubs in the towns and villages throughout the country need to recognise that many of their customers are farmers, farm families and farm related businesses, whose survival depends on demand from the overall catering sector for products supplied by them.
“In an extremely difficult year for farming, caused by excessively wet weather and low market prices for farm produce, support from other sectors of the community is essential for the long term viability of rural areas.
“We all are in the business of food production and food preparation for the long term.
“Farmers as primary food producers are interdependent with hotels, restaurants and the catering sector.
“We need to support each other and together we can have a viable future,” he said.
