Last Friday, the IFA launched its annual campaign aimed at highlighting the extent to which some retailers are abusing the Irish brand. IFA president Joe Healy gave numerous examples of how Irish labels and Irish-sounding brand names were being used in a way which could have the effect of misleading consumers into thinking imported products were of Irish origin.

As Amy Forde reports, the IFA was able to show examples where, in the case of chicken, despite claims of being produced in Ireland on the front packaging, the labelling on the back revealed that the product was produced using EU and non-EU chicken.

Farmers, as well as consumers, have a legitimate expectation that labelling legislation should deliver such assurances but clearly this is not the case. The IFA has now launched a campaign calling for Fairness for Farmers, Honesty for Consumers. These type of campaigns are hugely important in ensuring consumers are more alert when making purchasing decisions, particularly in the high-spend Christmas period.

Few can question the quality of food produced by other EU member states, but we are fortunate that the Irish consumer has been shown to place a value on provenance, traceability and quality – and, more importantly, is prepared to pay a premium for it. A recent Bord Bia survey found that 67% of Irish consumers believe buying local was important.

Of course, the challenge is to ensure that these consumers are not mislead into buying imported products by both the retailer and the brand owner/processor. Are the brand owners who prepare and pack these products for the retailer also complicit in a strategy that has the potential to confuse consumers?

So, what tools do farmers have at their disposal in forcing retailers to deliver fairness for farmers and honesty for consumers? With pictures of Irish farmers draped from the ceilings, backdrops of Irish farms painted on the walls and their images on individual packs, it is clear that retailers recognise the value of selling their Irish credentials. There is no doubt their sales pitch is further enhanced by displaying the Bord Bia Quality Mark and/or the NDC logo or the FQAS branding in Northern Ireland. These logos are essentially the intellectual property of farmers, held in trust by organisations such as Bord Bia to demonstrate compliance with the highest on-farm production, welfare and environmental standards. Should we be placing additional conditions on retailers and processors looking to use these logos? Should we allow retailers place the Bord Bia or NDC logo on brands where a small proportion of the product range is in fact Irish?

The right to use the branding that demonstrates the integrity of production should be earned by the retailer and forfeited if their branding or promotional material in any way gives the impression that the product they are offering consumers is something that it isn’t.

Alternatively, it is time for farmers to tackle the issue directly. Should the IFA consider establishing a logo based on a charter that delivers fairness for farmers and honesty for consumers? Such a logo would only be available to retailers that sign up to a charter covering below-cost selling, labelling and indeed how our product is presented on the shelf.

Such a move would be met with intense resistance among retailers. However, in an industry where market share is everything, there will also be an acute recognition of the desire among Irish consumers for retailers to do the right thing. For the logo to be successful, the focus therefore would need to be on educating the consumer and influencing their buying decisions.

While it will still be a slow process, we should not underestimate the power of social media in quickly influencing consumer habits.

Perhaps the first step should be for farmers to ask for their images to be removed from retail stores that are engaged in practices designed to confuse the customer as to the origin of the product.