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In order to try and develop new markets for Irish agri food, the Minister for Agriculture Michael Creed is to lead a trade mission to Indonesia and Malaysia next month.
Minister Creed made the announcement following a meeting of the Food Wise 2025 high level implementation committee this week, where Brexit and market development were on the agenda.
Beef, dairy and poultry will all be up for discussion on the trade mission, with high level political meetings to take place in Jakarta and Kuala Lumpur. The trade mission will take place in the last week of October.
Bord Bia has highlighted that demand for dairy in southeast Asia continues to increase.
Malaysia
Bord Bia’s Prioritising Markets report has found that Malaysia is an important meat importer – taking in 165,294t of beef, 33,365t of sheepmeat, 22,138t of pork and 10,440t of offal in 2016, predominantly from Australia, New Zealand, India and Brazil.
It is estimated that meat consumption per capita is around 52.3kg. The consumption of beef is expected to increase from 1.4m tonnes in 2010 to 1.8m tonnes in 2020.
In Malaysia, local beef production cannot keep up pace with demand, which is leading to increasing import demand.
Ireland did not supply any meat to Malaysia in 2016, but the report found that it appears to be very price-competitive in fresh/chilled boneless beef and frozen boneless sheepmeat.
Indonesia
Indonesia also presents another opportunity for Irish exports, as it currently has significant meat import requirements, with demand for beef the driving force.
A total of 146,672t of beef, 1,221t of pork and 2,096t of sheepmeat were imported in 2016. Beef consumption is rising sharply in Indonesia, with demand growth largely coming from urban consumers, according to Bord Bia.
Ireland does not currently supply Indonesia with meat, but we do supply it with some dairy products.
Bord Bia has identified its demand for milk powder and whey has been growing fairly consistently. In 2016, Indonesia imported 160,000t of skimmed milk powder (SMP) in 2016, 116,000t of whey, 50,000t of butter and 24,000t of cheese.
There is opportunities in Indonesia for Irish exports in the form of whole milk powder (WMP) for manufacturing and re-pack, cheddar for processing and mozzarella.
China
Meanwhile, the Irish Farmers Journal also understands that Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture Andrew Doyle will be in Shanghai, China, in November.
In May of this year while Minister Creed was in China, Ireland was invited to participate at the China International Import Expo, which over 180,000 Chinese buyers are expected to attend. Minister Doyle will be attending the expo while he is in China and Bord Bia has alreadycommitted to taking a stand at the event.
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