Global consumers require "more and more promise" from Irish beef producers – whether they are in sophisticated markets looking for ever higher environmental and animal welfare standards, or in countries where Ireland is unknown and needs to differentiate itself, Bord Bia's chief executive Tara McCarthy has said.

"More will be demanded on us – that’s not a popular thing to say, but it will come from the market," McCarthy told the Beef Summit organised by the Irish Farmers Journal on Thursday in Ballinasloe, Co Galway.

Since 2010, Irish beef exports have increased by 50% to €2.5bn and the number of supermarket and foodservice chains committed to purchasing the product has increased from 80 to 115. Yet there are challenges ahead, McCarthy warned.

At that point, she was briefly interrupted by animal rights activists waving placards with slogans such as "Animals don’t want to die" and "We are all animals".

"This feeds exactly into the challenges I want to talk to you about," she said, mentioning the EAT-Lancet report and the rise of veganism.

Proof

"Increasingly, the market wants to know about grass-fed animal welfare," McCarthy said. Data collected through quality assurance schemes provide the proof that Irish beef meets these requirements, she added.

McCarthy told the Irish Farmers Journal that Bord Bia was now targeting its efforts to a small number of key countries to increase exports and was considering a range of tools including protected geographical indication (PGI) to raise its profile where Irish or even European beef is not recognised, especially in Asia.

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