An appetite for food promotion

Speciality foods are worth £100 million; this is a very important sector made up of small companies which very much reflect the personality of the food industry here

The typical consumer is buying organic vegetables and meat, and there is a greater interest in the provenance of food - the conditions under which it was bred, whether it was extensive or intensive agriculture, etc

Bord Bia's Michael Duffy is working overtime and travelling extensively to ensure Irish food maintains a high international profile, writes Ella Shanahan

June? - it must be France because July is the Fancy Foods Fair in New York, September is World Food in Moscow, October is Anuga in Germany. So reads the diary of Bord Bia's chief executive, Mr Michael Duffy, as the food board sets out on major promotions for Irish food in the wake of the recent crises in the meat industry.

To the forefront of promotions in France is Vinexpo, the world's most important wine and spirits exhibition, held every two years in Bordeaux, which finished yesterday. Tomorrow sees the start of a promotion for Irish lamb, which kicks off with Agneau de le St Jean, a mid-summer barbecue in Paris. The French market is a valuable one for Irish food and drinks; some 80 per cent of our lamb, worth £120 million (#152 million), is sold to the French market annually, while exports of alcoholic drinks and other beverages are worth £33.7 million and growing.

Six Irish spirits and liqueurs companies were at the exhibition this week.

"Vinexpo is a `must do' showcase for companies who are in the sector. You get the key buyers there from all over the world," Mr Duffy says.

"We're doing a lot of promotional work with companies which have invested heavily on the Continent, in Britain and the US. There is a lot of entrepreneurial drive in the sector and Ireland is known for its drinks brands - Guinness, Baileys, Jameson would have a strong profile outside Ireland. This year we had the LE Eithne here and held a reception for some of the most important buyers in the world of wines and spirits," he says.

Following our success with the foot-and-mouth crisis and since we send so much of our lamb to France, Bord Bia has decided that it's time to raise awareness of Irish lamb. "Historically the vast bulk has been sold under the brand name of the retailer - Carrefour, Intermarche, Ocean, Monoprix.

"Now with labelling requirements, and retailers and consumers wanting to know where their meat is coming from, we are exploiting this to the full. "Where previously only one retailer was promoting the product as Irish lamb, now all the main retailers have come in. We have not moved away from Rungis (the Paris wholesale market) but much greater quantities are going directly to the retailers."

The market for consumer foods is very different from the British scene. French retailers have very decentralised marketing, distribution and merchandising. Own label is not very advanced. Bord Bia has a French retail programme, where the board works intensively with 15 to 20 companies that are targeting the French market over a period of years. "We have found that approach very effective, a learning curve. Demands are different; there is no low-hanging fruit. It's for companies that are committed and have the resources and capability," he explains.

Does Mr Duffy find it hard to defend the crises that have dogged meat production here over the past few years? He says not.

"In Britain last week, looking at some focus group research, there was quite a strong awareness among consumers that we had only one case [of foot-andmouth], a very clear awareness of the measures we have taken and a view that Ireland did a very good job at keeping the disease out. That would be the view coming back from buyers and people we are dealing with. We're doing similar research in France and other European countries."

Still, not everybody is happy with the situation and it is easy to see why Mr Duffy concentrates so much on the meat side of exports; after all, it accounts for £1.6 billion of our £5.4billion annual exports.

Of non-EU markets, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states - which normally take £375 million worth annually - are still closed to Irish beef. We have also lost the Japanese market for pigmeat, which was worth £25 million and the £7million US market. But Russia, which took £35 million worth of beef before the foot-and-mouth outbreak, has reopened.

Identifying trends and chasing them - and then relaying them back to the industry - is one of Bord Bia's more important functions.

Convenience, versatility and variety, followed now by nutrition, are the pointers to the way ahead for the food industry, Mr Duffy says. "Nutrition, as opposed to diet," he clarifies.

"Consumers are increasingly looking for what food can do for them; not only does it taste good, but is it healthy? And organics - retailers in Britain will tell you it's considered to be mainstream. The typical consumer is buying organic vegetables and meat, and there is a greater interest in the provenance of food - the conditions under which it was bred, whether it was extensive or intensive agriculture, etc," he explains.

This is why Bord Bia has introduced labelling of beef, for a start, in the Republic. Detailing the origin of an animal, where it was processed and where it was packaged, was introduced by the EU last January (and in the Republic) and Bord Bia has just introduced a £170,000campaign during which every home will receive an information leaflet, drawing attention to the new labelling system.

Bord Bia's annual budget of £20 million was increased by £2.8 million last year, money which will be spent on pushing forward the consumer foods sector, beverages, specialty foods and information services.

"Consumer foods is probably the most dynamically growing area, with increases of 7 to 10 per cent annually. It's a £1.28billion industry now and upwards of 80 per cent of exports go to Britain. It's a very important competitive market and we need to ensure and maintain it, and progress and diversify to the Continent," he says.

"Speciality foods are worth £100 million; this is a very important sector made up of small companies which very much reflect the personality of the food industry here. Outsiders tend to look at the craft, the artisinal [sic]. The focus here would be in Britain and Ireland. We have programmes for the food service sector which will focus on the British, continental and, to an extent, US markets, and on brand development."

Mr Duffy is a Dubliner but admits to the redeeming feature of having had a grandparent from each of the four provinces. He is a physics graduate from UCD and worked with Courtaulds in Britain before joining the IDA. He developed a keen interest in management and business organisation following a course at the INSEAD business school in Paris. A charming and debonair man, he is nonetheless a very private person. His interests are rugby and soccer - he supports Sunderland - he loves to walk along the coast near his south Dublin home and has been seen in many a cinema queue. But friends say his main interest is his family. His wife, Jennifer, is a remedial teacher and they have five children.

He loves food (beef in particular), which is a help in his job, but has the self-discipline to refuse desserts - at least when eating in public.