Emigrants vote Kerrygold and Tayto most longed-for foods ahead of stout and chocolate

Kerrygold and Tayto have fended off competition from stout, chocolate, and rashers to be voted the most longed-for foods in a survey of Irish emigrants.

The poll of 546 current and returned emigrants for Checkout magazine found that 46% “missed” their Kerrygold butter while living abroad, while 42% ached for Tayto.

The results were neck and neck in terms of the never-ending battle of the tea brands — both Barry’s and Lyons’ teas were missed by 40% of respondents.

Meanwhile, 38% of respondents said they did not miss Tayto at all, as did 35% in relation to Kerrygold butter.

Checkout editor Stephen Wynne-Jones said that the results indicate that many emigrants may hope to find Irish food under the tree this Christmas.

“With the Irish diaspora spread far and wide, it’s likely that at least some of the products featured in this survey will be making their way to loved ones on the other side of the world this Christmas.”

The poll by Behaviour & Attitudes also asked people which product categories respondents felt were of a higher quality in Ireland.

Two thirds said stout was of a higher quality in Ireland, with prepacked bacon/rashers (65%), meat (62%), sausages (61%), butter (61%), and milk (58%) also scoring highly.

Martha Fanning, director of Behaviour & Attitudes, said the strong performance of pork and bacon products suggests recent World Health Organisation reports on processed meats did little to dampen enthusiasm for the traditional full Irish breakfast.

The survey included 546 respondents, in two groups.

A total of 105 were Irish adults living abroad for at least six months and not planning on returning home in the next six months.

The other 441 respondents were adults returned to Ireland after living abroad for at least six months.