Kerrygold is known around the world as a premium brand for butter, cheese and milk powders, thanks in no small part to consistent long-term marketing programmes by the Irish Dairy Board (IDB), or as we know it now, Ornua.

The establishment of the IDB Market Development Fund in 1985 was important in this regard and showed foresight and commitment by Irish dairy farmers at a difficult time. It was spent largely on advertising and promotion to build up the Kerrygold brand, particularly in Germany, which continues to be the single most important market for premium Irish butter.

It also helped with the early market entry of Kerrygold into strategically important markets such as Greece, Spain, the Canary Islands and Belgium, and further afield again in markets such as Trinidad and Singapore.

Kerrygold has not been the sole vehicle for consumer dairy products. The establishment by Ornua of its major cheese packing operation at Adams Foods in the UK in the 1970s gave Irish cheese a route into the predominantly own-label UK cheddar market – to be followed in 1997 by the acquisition of what is now the UK’s number two cheddar brand, Pilgrims Choice.

Indeed the move into Germany, the UK and the US through “route to market” investments in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, was crucial to the development of a profitable consumer foods business for Irish dairying. This important market access strategy by Ornua facilitated the establishment of local sales and marketing expertise, and ensured control of the all-important distribution supply chain.

The extraction of high-value returns from whey and SMP is another example of how far the industry has come in marketing terms over the last three decades. While casein, and in more recent times fat-filled powder, were innovative products of their time, offering good returns, both SMP and whey, throughout the 1980s, were to all intents and purposes a disposal problem for the sector, resolved by the animal feed sector, and in the case of SMP, via an EU subsidy scheme. This has all changed.

Non-fat milk solids today are high-value primary products in themselves, and their nutritional properties have opened up opportunities across the spectrum, from infant formula to sports nutrition to dietary supplements for the elderly. The growth of infant formula demand in particular has dramatically increased the market demand for non-fat milk solids, both whey and skim, and paved the way for the development of a new marketing proposition for dairy-based ingredients.

Despite the success of our consumer dairy products, Ireland has maintained a substantial commodity and dairy ingredients trading capacity. Long seen as “the commodity producer of the EU”, Ireland’s trading capability has enabled us to ride the peaks and troughs of the volatile international dairy markets better than most.

The world has become a lot smaller in the last 30 years, but no less risky. Given the convergence of international commodity prices and the substantial increase in price volatility, this exporting expertise will be a key driver of our future success. Marketing dairy products off an island on the periphery of Europe is certainly not without its challenges, but the skill-set we have developed so successfully will enable us to capitalise on the growth in the global demand for dairy products, whether it be milk powders to Africa (already a proven success) or consumer and ingredient products to China.

China is singularly responsible for the escalation in global demand over the past 15 years, accounting for about a third of total global growth, despite its very low per capita consumption base. The marketing of dairy products to the Chinese consumer is a challenge in itself, but one which must be met with flexibility and dexterity, as shown in the development of a Chinese version of Kerrygold – called ‘Jin Kai Li’ – for Ornua’s new whole milk offering.

The paradigm shift in the consumer attitude to dairy products and greater acceptance of dairy’s key role in health and wellness is an exciting new development. The health debate on margarine versus butter over the last three decades, and the near vilification of dairy fats from the 1990s on, unfairly damaged the image of dairy, and butter in particular. With a growing understanding and acceptance of the complexity of milk and its health benefits, the industry now has the opportunity to reverse this slide and promote the positive attributes of this natural product.

Ireland’s milk production model is unique in the northern hemisphere for its almost exclusive reliance on grass as the primary feed source, and for its outdoor grazing and traditional family farm structure. Dairy products produced from this “meadow milk” have a unique quality and are physically different in terms of taste, colour, and in the case of butter, softness.

The 1960s marketing strategy for Kerrygold in the UK was to emphasise lush green pastures and the beauty of the Irish countryside. The perception of Ireland as an unpolluted agriculture-based economy was successfully leveraged a decade later with the launch of Kerrygold butter in Germany, providing a strong creative proposition – “Das Gold Der Grünen Insel”.

A further three decades on, the core tenets of the market strategy for Kerrygold have not shifted that much, whether it be the UK, Germany or the highly successful US market, and yet emanate directly from the sustainability of Ireland’s low-carbon, grass-based production system and family farm structure.

If the best way to predict the future is to create it, then the future for Irish dairying is positive. From the pioneering years of An Bord Bainne, Irish dairy exports today generate €3 billion annually for the Irish economy. From a marketing perspective, full use has been made of the positive image associated with our grass-based, sustainable production platform. A priority now will be to extend the range of our dairy-based products for our core branded markets and markets further afield, predominantly in the Middle East.

With the abolition of quotas from 1 April, the Irish dairy sector has, in many ways, come full circle, and we now have the opportunity to reach our true potential. While there will be challenges, not least a more competitive, volatile marketplace with limited CAP support mechanisms, there are significant opportunities. Food production globally is predicted to grow 70% by 2050 to meet the needs of nine billion people.

Urbanisation will continue at an accelerated pace, as will the growth in disposable income, and more countries will depend on international trade to ensure their food security.

As in the past, we must play to our strengths, which, in many ways, are the export orientation of our industry, our production off grass, our low-carbon sustainable production model and our focus on quality and the consumer.

The success of Kerrygold is proof that a basic food product can be successfully differentiated and is profitable. Key to any marketing success is sustained investment, marketing support and ensuring the product’s relevance to the consumer.

We have come a long way from the early days of marketing, when the concept of added value was poorly appreciated and the ultimate consumer of the product dimly perceived. Consumer insights, innovation and communication are core tenets of any marketing strategy and vital to the future success of the sector. The industry will continue to evolve but must not stray from its current offering.

Social media has become central to modern marketing, but the central message has remained resolutely the same; Ireland’s grass-based production and family farm model are what define our dairy products and are key to our future success.