Industry leaders from the Irish agri food sector, led by Bord Bia and the Department of Agriculture, have been in Asia this week as part of a charm offensive for Irish food.

Gaining access to the rapidly growing Asian economies has the power to transform Irish agriculture – especially while future trade relations with the UK remain unclear.

China is already our second biggest market for dairy products and it is increasingly important for our pigmeat industry. Indeed, we are now seeing pigs flow from Northern Ireland to the Republic for slaughtering in response to the higher prices, driven by access to China.

However, it’s not just about China – where Ministers Michael Creed and Andrew Doyle are right to want to crack the market for Irish beef – the first leg of the Irish trade mission was to Vietnam.

What emerged was perhaps not as exciting but nevertheless – according to Minister Andrew Doyle, who led his first trade mission on the Vietnam leg of the trip – it was a necessary step on the journey to getting Irish beef into Vietnam.

After bilateral meetings with the Vietnamese agricultural ministers, there is confidence that the goodwill necessary to move the deal along is present. In a country with 91 million people and a growing middle class, access for Irish beef would be significant. Irish pigmeat has had access to Vietnam for over a year now and trade has been growing.

Dairy offers another opportunity. While familiar Irish dairy products such as cheddar cheese or fresh milk are not at all popular, UHT long-life milk and yoghurts are growing in demand. Young people in Vietnam are very much enticed by the dairy diet as they admire the generally taller and stronger Europeans.

Improving disposable incomes makes dairy protein purchases more affordable. While there is some indecision as to the exact definition of the income take of the middle class, there is no doubt that income and social outcomes have improved across the board.

Vietnam’s per capita GDP growth since 1990 has been among the fastest in the world. It has averaged 5.5% a year since 1990, and even higher since the 2000s at 6.4%.

Minister Doyle makes the point that Ireland has much more than just meat or milk to offer countries such as Vietnam. He suggests Irish know-how of the process and technology offers a great opportunity and is a good discussion opener to any deal with the possibility of growing relations and potential trade down the line. What we take for granted as business acumen in Ireland is very valuable in a country where it is absent.

Let’s be real about it: much of the Vietnamese population is still involved in subsistence farming (0.8ha/farm with three cows), only 75% have access to clean water and modern sanitation, and 80% of product is purchased in what are called wet markets – not high-class supermarkets. So the challenge and opportunity for Irish companies is getting a foothold via infant formula, reconstituted yoghurt-type products, beef and pigmeat.

Irish trade with Vietnam grew from €10m in 2010 to over €35m by 2014, with dairy making up 82% of that, followed by pigmeat, valued at €2.5m in 2015. Trade in 2016 looks even more promising.

The size of the Vietnam market is only 13% of the total Asian population. This just goes to show the scale and potential opportunities that exist – and why global players such as Danone, Nestlé, Fonterra and Friesland Campina are investing in the region.

What is really interesting to note is the Vietnam focus on sustainable food production. They are keen to partner with sustainable food producing countries. Origin Green and Bord Bia are putting Irish food on the table as exactly this.

Goodwill and press conferences are part of the process, but what our sector deserves is meaningful trade with lucrative markets.