Food and drink exports reached almost €10 billion last year

China could soon be our second largest market for food and drink after the UK, Bord Bia chief executive Aidan Cotter said yesterday. He was speaking after it emerged that food and drink exports to China had increased by more than 40 per cent to reach €390 million last year.

China is now Ireland’s second-largest dairy market and third-largest pork market and Mr Cotter described the progress made by the food and drink industry there as exceptional.

“It’s our sixth-largest market overall and when we look ahead, in terms of the position of seafood and of beverages in that market and with the eventual opening of the market for beef in China, the platform for growth is going to expand and the opportunity for China to become potentially our second largest market is significant and may not be too far away.”

He was speaking at the publication of Bord Bia's Export Performance and Prospects report which found that Irish food and drink exports were worth €9.99 billion last year – a 9 per cent increase on 2012 figures.

This means that food and drink exports are now almost €3 billion higher than they were in 2009.

Minister for Agriculture Simon Coveney said getting the Chinese market open to Irish beef was "a huge priority" for him "but ultimately this will be a political decision in China".

US market
He was also hoping for good news soon on the reopening of the US market to Irish beef. He said the figures showed that the agri-food sector was "by far the most important indigenous sector in the Irish economy".

However, despite the focus on China, Mr Cotter said the UK was still Ireland’s most important market. Some 42 per cent of food and drink exports went to the UK last year.

Mr Cotter said the UK population was projected to increase by 10 million over the next 25 years. “This is a huge opportunity and one that should not be ignored. The Irish food and drink industry has very strong positions across all the categories in which it competes in the UK market.”

Mr Cotter said there was no doubt that the trajectory of our food and drink exports would be upwards “for a very significant time to come”.

Global population
He pointed to the growing global population which had increased by 80 million in the past year and said there would be 9.6 billion people in the world by the middle of this century. "This is a relentless growth that will underpin the demand for food throughout the coming decades."

Mr Cotter said the growth of the middle classes was even more significant. According to the OECD, three billion people will join the middle classes over this and the next decade. Mr Cotter said this meant that a market as big as the EU was being created every three years.

Dairy products and ingredients passed the €3 billion mark for the first time while the meat and livestock category accounted for one third of food and drink exports last year. It was worth €3.3 billion.

Despite – or because of – the horse meat crisis, the value of beef exports increased by 10 per cent and were worth more than €2 billion.

The prepared foods category, which includes products such as milk powders and pizzas, was worth €1.65 billion.