FOR THE FIRST time in more than 20 years a senior Minister showed up at a press conference organised by the Guaranteed Irish organisation earlier this week. His presence was a sign of the times.
Last Monday, when the umbrella group was announcing research that suggested consumers could help create more than 6,000 jobs by spending just €4 more a week per household on Irish products, Minister for Enterprise and Jobs Richard Bruton was sitting at the podium beaming like the cat who’d got the Irish-produced cream.
It was an easy result for him. But just €4? For 6,200 jobs? Isn’t that too good to be true? No, it really isn’t, according to Tom Rea, the executive director of Guaranteed Irish. At the press conference and in the days afterwards, Rea was proselytising on behalf of the privately owned not-for-profit group, which wants to capitalise on a growing appetite among Irish consumers for shopping locally.
The study, carried out by Amárach Research, found that Irish households typically spend an average of about €16 a week on Guaranteed Irish products. The group claims that if consumers upped their spend to €20 a week, a jobs bonanza would follow. The maths are undoubtedly simplistic, and even Rea accepts that the figures in the report are indicative, but that is not to say they are completely wide of the mark.
The estimated annual turnover of companies that have the Guaranteed Irish seal of approval is €1.2 billion. Their businesses involve 23,700 employees making anything from cottage cheese to coffins. Guaranteed Irish says that if households were to increase their spending on its products by 25 per cent, the number of jobs would increase by a similar proportion, which is where it gets the figure of 6,200 jobs. Rea says the numbers show “just how important it is that we support Guaranteed Irish services and products as much as possible during these tough economic times”. He appears to be preaching to the choir.
According to Amárach Research, 83 per cent of consumers believe it is more important to buy locally produced goods and services now than it was five years ago, while almost two-thirds say that buying Guaranteed Irish products helps them to feel they are supporting Ireland.
Rea describes Guaranteed Irish as “one of the most powerful and respected brands in the market”. But he would say that, wouldn’t he? So what does Guaranteed Irish actually mean? Are the companies that use the Guaranteed Irish symbol on their products actually Irish or, as critics suggest, are the criteria for joining the scheme so loose that the brand is confusing consumers? Many people will remember the Guaranteed Irish brand name from their copybooks of the 1970s, but things have changed. Now everyone from pharma giants such as Pfizer and Merck to small start-ups making windmills and artisan products wants the symbol, because it can make them money.
The Buy Irish initiative was introduced in 1975 by the Irish Goods Council, but it did not last long. Following a 1984 ruling by the European Court of Justice that individual countries must not promote their own products as being better than those produced elsewhere within the European Union, the scheme fell out of government control. Guaranteed Irish became a not-for-profit organisation, and for many years its label was largely ignored by the buying public. In recent years it has seen a resurgence. If a product is to be allowed to carry the Guaranteed Irish symbol, 50 per cent of its production process must take place in Ireland. About 25 per cent of companies that use the symbol produce food; a similar number make pharmaceutical products.
“This has probably been our best year in 27 years,” Rea says. “A lot of multinationals want to carry the label because of the amount of money they pump into the local economies in terms of employment. These companies are putting a huge amount back into our economy.”
He accepts that the Guaranteed Irish label is less about the provenance of the products that are being sold than it is about jobs. But is it fair to expect Irish consumers to do anything but seek out the best value for money, irrespective of where a product comes from? Many of us simply do not have the luxury of making buying decisions based on anything other than price.
“We never suggest that people buy inferior products at a higher price,” Rea says. “People must ask if what they are buying is fit for purpose and reasonably competitively priced; of course they must.”
He claims that Irish products have become more competitive in recent years as companies have dropped their prices in order to stay in business. “Many of our members who are still in business are there because they have been able to compete on price and quality with imports.”
Brian McGee, of the Crafts Council of Ireland, says that buying Irish has a clear and sometimes instant effect on jobs, particularly in the artisan and craft sector. “If an Irish jeweller gets a large order from Brown Thomas or from an international chain, then it is not just a case of increasing their order from China. They have to actually make the stuff and hire people to help them.” He accepts that buying home-based craftsmanship is likely to cost more than buying international brands but points out that this is a niche market. “For certain things, the craft sector can obviously never compete with the likes of Ikea, but we are in an entirely different space.”
The economist Jim Power fronts the Love Irish Food campaign, another initiative aimed at promoting Irish products (though he insists it is not a rival to Guaranteed Irish). He believes that while the Guaranteed Irish figures seem simplistic, they do contain an underlying truth. He points out that for every €1 spent in the local economy, €1.50 is generated as a result of income multiples.
“A big leakage in any economy occurs when imports are bought,” he says. “When you buy imports, a lot of the euro you spend go straight out of the system.” He adds that there is “still huge consumer confusion when it comes to labelling”.
He’s not wrong. How many harassed shoppers would be able to tell the difference between smoked Irish salmon and Irish smoked salmon? They look similar but the difference could be thousands of miles. Smoked Irish salmon definitely comes from Ireland, while Irish smoked salmon could come from anywhere, with just the smoke added closer to home.
Then there are the brands that attach a town name to their products to create the impression that they come from there. Sometimes this kind of branding is harmless: does it matter that Dubliner cheese actually comes from Cork? But what about Donegal Catch, some of which comes from foreign waters? Does that make a difference? For most consumers, the answer would certainly be yes. And most people would assume that brands such as Denny and Galtee are 100 per cent Irish. They’re not, and neither is the pork in some of their products.
Power believes that legislation should be introduced at a European level to make labelling clearer, so consumers can see at a glance where a product is from. “I think consumers have a right to know where the food they are eating is coming from,” he says.
No guarantees: There's nothing as Irish as . . . or is there?
Jacob's Fig RollsThese have been "Ireland's favourite for over 100 years", according to the company, but they are now made in Malta, so we'll probably never know how they get the figs into the fig rolls.
SiúcraObviously Irish, right, because of the name? Nope. All the Irish sugar-beet factories are long gone, and Greencore, the company that owns the Siúcra brand, imports its sugar from elsewhere in Europe, frequently Germany, and then repacks it.
Donegal Catch salmonSalmon caught by Donegal Catch comes from Donegal, right? Eh, no. This company's salmon might have been farmed in Ireland. Or Scotland. Or Chile.
Boyne Valley HoneyTo be fair, Boyne Valley Honey is an Irish company that sources a lot (though by no means all) of its honey from Ireland. The bestselling lines tend to be made with both EU and non-EU honey, so many of the bees involved were likely to be buzzing a long, long way from the Boyne.
ViagraOne of the most talked-about drugs of the past 15 years, this is made by Pfizer in Cork. The company is one of the big multinationals to carry the Guaranteed Irish label, although the big G is not stamped on the pill – that might not play well in some countries. It's not like we're Italy or something.
LipitorOne of the biggest-selling drugs in the world, this lowers cholesterol and is credited with reducing deaths from heart attacks all over the world. It is also made by Pfizer in Co Cork.
Punch Colour CatcherThis international bestseller, which enables coloured clothes and whites to be washed together without the whites turning pink, blue or any other colour, was invented by Pat McNamee at Punch Industries in Little Island, Co Cork. It has different names around the world, including Shout in the US.
Local heroes
The buy-local movement has taken off in the US, in response to the astonishing growth and power of corporations such as Walmart and McDonald's. While these big companies may offer cheap food, opponents say they are laying waste to town centres across the US. The buy-local movement is trying to fight their power, using social media such as Twitter and Facebook to generate backing. Supporters say the movement stimulates local economies and creates a stronger sense of community. One recent study recently found that for every $100 spent by local businesses, $68 stayed in the community, compared with $43 of the money by non-local businesses.
For a week beginning on Monday, 26 retailers in Rathmines, Dublin,will be offering substantial discounts to shoppers in an initiative designed to get people shopping locally. The programme, organised by the search engine yelp.ie, will see restaurants offering diners free desserts or cocktails, off-licences offering discounts and other local businesses offering everything from discounted books to free bicycle services.
