Food, drink, nutrition and climate tech exports made €16.98bn in 2025
From left: Lisa Hughes, co-founder and chief operations officer, Gigi Supplements; Jim Woulfe, chairman, Enterprise Ireland; minister of state at the Department of Enterprise Alan Dillon; Andy Mulloy, managing director, Connemara Seafoods; and Ellen Ní Cléirigh, Enterprise Ireland, at the Enterprise Ireland Food Innovation Summit at Croke Park. Picture: Orla Murray/Coalesce
Food, drink, nutrition and climate tech exports reportedly made €16.98bn in 2025, an increase of 5% on previous figures.
Enterprise Ireland highlighted it at the annual Food Innovation Summit at Croke Park, as the three key sectors that saw steady and positive growth in 2025.
Enterprise Ireland also reported that across the three sectors, it employs almost 70,000 people in towns and villages countrywide.
Now in its fourth year, the summit comes at a demanding time for the industry. Companies across the food and drink sector are managing significant cost pressures from rising input and raw material costs to wider global volatility that are testing businesses of every size.
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The summit focuses on what food and drink companies can control: investment in innovation, AI, and skills and capability needed for the sector’s next chapter. It also explores major shifts in global consumer demand, including the accelerating impact of GLP-1 weight-loss medications on demand for high-protein, high-fibre, low-sugar and portion-controlled products.
Agriculture minister Martin Heydon said: “Our food and drink companies continue to perform strongly in international markets, built on the quality and integrity of the entire chain from primary production through to export. Consumer expectations are evolving — on transparency, on sustainability, on innovation — and Irish producers are responding.
“As a sector, we must constantly question are we sufficiently utilising the huge range of supports that are available. We are also seeing many of the highly skilled graduates from our public food research system being recruited by other sectors of the economy — this is a massive lost opportunity. Government is creating the conditions for innovation.
"We are investing in research, infrastructure, skills and support programmes. But ultimately, innovation requires businesses to make the investment and to prioritise R&I if we are to realise the future growth potential of this critically important indigenous sector.”
Chairman of Enterprise Ireland Jim Woulfe said: “This is a challenging time for food and drink companies, and we don't underestimate the pressures they are under. But it is precisely in moments like this that innovation matters most. Today is about meeting companies and establishing where they are — listening to what they need, and connecting them with practical supports that help them invest in their future competitiveness. Enterprise Ireland, alongside our partners, will be with them every step of the way.”
