Professor Patrick Wall, University College Dublin, explained how farmers need to realise they are in the health business, not just the business of producing food.
He said: “For our food industry to be successful, we need global consumers to be confident that our products don’t just satisfy hunger but actually enhance their lives.
“For example, increased whey protein consumption in the elderly can help them maintain muscle mass and stay more active.
“We are competing on a global market so we must be competitive and use creative marketing to make people want to buy Irish products above others.
“This is about marketing and having schemes in place which produce data certifying that our food is produced to the highest standard.
Lucrative markets
“The Bord Bia dairy quality assurance scheme is a very welcome initiative and will provide the data that will help secure lucrative markets for Irish dairy products in the future.”
Patrick outlined how there are two types of businesses in food – those who have had a food safety crisis and those who are yet to have a food safety crisis.
He emphasised how every co-op should have risk management as part of their ongoing strategy, this should include food safety as well as financial risk as the two are closely linked.
Any food safety issue can destroy consumer confidence in a brand.
Patrick highlighted the recent botulism scare in New Zealand’s Fonterra where product had to be recalled.
Ireland has come close to similar catastrophes. While the horse meat scandal proved to be a European problem, it still inflicted significant damage to Ireland’s reputation.
Patrick highlighted that if some of the dioxin contaminated bread had been fed to dairy cows as well as pigs in 2008 then the market for many dairy products could have been lost.
He concluded: “Standards in food quality are being raised continually – new methods of testing can identify minimal traces of residue.
“We need to keep raising the bar but we have so much to be proud of already – I judge the milk quality awards every year and see farmers passionate about producing the highest quality of food.
“Many have been on the same farm for generations and that’s part of our story. We need to sell this more to consumers.
“We don’t just have a green image, we have a green reality and consumers will pay for that if we support the claim with evidence and market our products well.”
Risk management will make or break expansion plans - read more from the ICOS conference here.
Questions and answers from the ICOS conference - read more here
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