Ambitious targets help boost beef industry
IT IS now two years since the publication of Food Harvest 2020, a road map developed by my department in collaboration with industry, which targeted increasing value of agri food exports by 40%, to €12bn by 2020.
When I took office in Mar 2011, I undertook to do everything I could to drive the agri-food agenda, to ensure that the sector made the maximum possible contribution to the economy.
I spent this week in the US trying to raise the profile of Ireland as a supplier of premium consumer foods, and also of the kind of top quality products and ingredients that can provide a solid foundation for a global food businesses.
Last February, I took part in a conference attended by more than 500 small business owners. Looking around the banked seats of the venue, one couldn’t fail to be impressed with the extent to which these men and women were engaged in the proceedings, with a clear strategic vision of where they wanted to position their businesses over the coming decade.
It might surprise some that the venue I am referring to was the pristine Cillin Hill Mart in Kilkenny and the entrepreneurs were beef farmers. Those that are surprised might not realise that the beef industry is a giant of the Irish agri-food sector.
Ireland is the largest net exporter of beef in the northern hemisphere and Irish beef has a significant market presence in over 70 of the main retailing groups across Europe. The beef farmers attending the Teagasc “Profitable Suckling” event represent the foundation of this export industry.
It is not just the farm sector that is focussing on efficiency and competitiveness. The processing, transport, and other related sectors are impacted by factors such as energy costs, which affect all industrial sectors, and a stagnant global economy. In Government we are taking the steps necessary to make our economy more competitive.
The beef industry is no stranger to transformation. It has reinvented itself through reforms of the Common Agricultural Policy, designed to reduce dependence on EU market supports and increase focus on the marketplace.
The industry here has responded admirably to the challenge. With the assistance of Bord Bia’s marketing strategy, focussing on product differentiation and premiumisation, the Irish beef industry has transformed itself from a supplier of commodities to third countries to a consumer focused industry supplying a premium product to high value European markets.
We are also continuing to look outwards as the emergence of rapidly developing “new” economies provides market opportunities. My department is renewing its focus on further developing market access opportunities for beef in third countries. Trade in agri-food products was high on the agenda during the visit of vice-president Xi Jiinping of China earlier this year, and since my subsequent trade mission to China, my department has hosted two Chinese delegations at vice-ministerial level.
From a marketing perspective, the beef sector has a fantastic story to tell. Overseas delegations hosted by my department never fail to be impressed not alone by our high food standards but by the beauty of the landscape, by the abundant supplies of grass and water and by the pasture-fed beef raised through natural and sustainable production methods. The fact that a company like McDonald’s, which sources 20% of the beef for its outlets across Europe in this country, has chosen an Irish farm as the “McDonald’s Flagship Farm” for beef in Europe, says something for the power of Ireland’s positive brand image when it comes to environmental sustainability.
The McDonald’s story here entered a new phase recently, with the announcement of a five-year contract worth over €300m with Dawn Meats for the manufacture of McDonald’s burgers at a €14.5m processing plant. This is a perfect example of the transition of a business from a supplier of primary product for further processing in Britain and Europe, to adding value and creating jobs in Ireland.
The initial Food Harvest 2020 target for the beef sector of an increase of 20% in the value of output has been overtaken by a more ambitious target of 40%. Significant milestones on the road to the implementation of that report have already been taken.
With the right blend of ambition, business prudence and attention to detail, and with the correct application of technology, underpinned by the traditional values associated with Irish agricultural production, the future for our beef industry is bright.
* Simon Coveney TD is the agriculture minister
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