Irish beef must focus on marketing
Dr David Lewis, whose clients include British Airways, Coca Cola, Hewlett Packard and Lloyds TSB, said the industry needs to do three things in order to succeed and win among increasingly sophisticated new consumers.
Dr Lewis said it needs to develop quality and value for money, which is absolutely essential and acts as a starting point, and develop a good story about the product.
He said Ireland can really score with authenticity.
New consumers are looking for it in what they buy and that essentially means a product coming from a specific region and reared in a particular way the Irish Way, he said.
Over 300 invited guests including meat buyers from most of the major European retailers with a combined buying power of more than e4 billion attended the two day Forum, which ended yesterday.
Padraig Collins, meat buying director with Gruppo PAM in Italy, said Ireland's big opportunity in the Italian market is based on the taste of grass fed beef.
ICSA president Malcolm Thompson said it is vital that Ireland now capitalises on the exciting opportunities that are opening up for Irish beef on European markets.
