To meet the demand of changing consumer trends towards online retailing, Bord Bia and Google have teamed up to offer a training programme to help Irish food businesses maximize their online presence and sales.

Dubbed the “Digital Food Hub”, the 21 Irish companies, which represent the dairy, meat, confectionary and chilled food sectors include national and multinational brands like Kerrygold, Ballymaloe and The Jelly Bean Factory (full list below).

These companies will now participate in a seven month long digital training programme which has been specifically tailored for the Irish food industry. The programme includes workshops, training modules and one-to-one mentoring delivered by Google digital experts at its European headquarters in Dublin

Speaking at the launch this morning, Bord Bia CEO Aidan Cotter said the programme is sign of changing times.

“It is widely recognised that technology is one of the key drivers of change in terms of consumer buying behaviour. Both brands and retailers need to think outside the confines of the ‘bricks and mortar’ store to build stronger and longer lasting relationships with consumers. Irish food and drink companies with the capability to collect, understand, and leverage specific consumer information using digital technology will be best positioned to deliver value added benefits to shoppers," Cotter said.

According to Bord Bia’s ‘Tomorrow’s Shopper’ research the number of Irish consumers buying online continues to grow, with 94% of shoppers in Ireland purchasing online.

The 21 companies partaking in the partnership are:

1. Burren Smokehouse

2. Ballymaloe Foods

3. Barry's Tea

4. Cuisine de France

5. Cuisine Royale Manufacturing Ltd

6. Dawn Farms

7. Dawn Meats

8. Elivar

9. Glanbia Plc

10. Glenisk

11. Good4U

12. Irish Dairy Board – Kerrygold

13. Kepak Frozen Division

14. Kerry Foods – Cheestrings

15. Largo Foods

16. Lily O'Brien's

17. Nature's Best

18. Silver Hill Foods

19. Sofrimar Ltd

20. The Jelly Bean Factory

21. The Little Milk Company