Moving up the value chain: From commodities to premium foods
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Ireland’s food industry has become an export powerhouse. In the process it has evolved from a commodities-based price taker to an innovative provider of world leading value-added food products.
“The food and drink industry is a cornerstone of Ireland’s economy. The food and sustainability sector is Enterprise Ireland’s largest indigenous exporting sector with exports exceeding €16 billion in 2024, employing more than 68,000 people in towns and villages around the country,” says Deirdre Glenn, food tech and food FDI department manager with Enterprise Ireland.
It is a sector that has faced continued challenges in recent years as global supply chains are reconfigured and expectations increased around sustainability, amid fluctuating costs and changes in global trading environments.
“But amid that volatility lies Ireland’s great advantages – agility, innovation, and deep-rooted excellence in food,” says Glenn.
Ireland is now a global leader in grass-fed food and drink production, agri-technology, and nutritional innovation. “This natural advantage, coupled with a robust export footprint and premium branding, reinforces Ireland’s position as a trusted supplier of sustainable, high-quality consumer foods, drinks and meat, dairy, and protein-rich products.
“From premium consumables in seafood, bakery and confectionery, to functional nutrition and high-protein derivatives, Irish companies are leveraging innovation and sustainability to meet evolving global demand and maintain a competitive edge in key markets.”
Research, development and innovation are at the heart of that, she says, and critical for driving productivity, building sustainable growth and deepening regional impact – all efforts that Enterprise Ireland is committed to supporting.
“Irish food companies continue to shape the future of this sector on the global stage as they continue to push boundaries in product development, process innovation, market strategy and sustainability.”
Enterprise Ireland is a supporter, along with industry partners such as Kerry, Tírlán, Carbery and Dairygold, of Food for Health Ireland, a national, full service scientific organisation that helps give companies here a competitive edge in the global food and ingredients market.
Over more than a decade, Food for Health Ireland has undertaken extensive work establishing the nutritional credentials of food products derived, for example, from grass fed livestock.
It helps to discover, or back up, claims food companies can make in relation to health and wellness. With the functional foods market worth hundreds of billions of euros worldwide, that helps Irish food companies to meet growing global demand for products that aid gut health, promote immune health or support healthy ageing, for example.
That science-backed journey from “bench to bottle” mirrors the transformation the industry has taken here.
“When people think about Ireland’s food industry, they often still think in terms of commodities. But the real story now is how far the sector has moved up the value chain,” says Jason Hawkins, chief executive of Carbery Group.
“At Carbery, that shift is very much our story. We are proud of our west Cork roots and our dairy co-op heritage, while over time building a broader business by focusing on innovation and creating the most value for our customers in Ireland and other markets. That has taken us beyond traditional dairy processing and into taste, nutrition and dairy ingredients on a global scale,” he says.
Carbery has facilities in eight locations globally including Ireland, US, UK, Brazil, Italy, Singapore, Thailand and Indonesia. It produces taste, dairy and nutritional ingredients for more than 50 markets globally.
“As a mid-sized business, one of our real strengths is agility. It allows us to stay close to customers, respond quickly to changing needs and build the kind of long-term partnerships that have been at the heart of Carbery since the beginning,” says Hawkins.
Its international growth has been built by combining this partnership-led approach, with its co-operative ethos, and a long-term focus on research, development, innovation and market insight.
“In nutrition, that has meant moving beyond commodity whey into advanced whey protein ingredients for infant, clinical and sports nutrition. In taste, it has meant building a flavours business that helps customers respond to changing consumer preferences and develop products for markets around the world,” he says.
That feeds into Ireland’s wider food story, a narrative still being written. “We have evolved from being seen primarily as a producer of high-quality raw materials to becoming a trusted source of high-value food innovation,” says Hawkins.
“Ireland’s reputation in quality food production speaks for itself, with international customers recognising its quality, traceability and integrity. But reputation alone is never enough. We still must earn our place through technical capability, consistency and the ability to solve customers’ problems.”
