Twenty Irish companies this week exhibited at Anuga, the world’s largest trade food fair in Cologne, Germany. More than 160,000 trade buyers from 187 countries were exposed to Irish dairy, meat and prepared food companies.

Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture Tom Hayes said such trade shows offer a key opportunity to build relationships with new and existing buyers.

Germany is Ireland’s fourth-largest export market for food and drink, valued at €565m in 2014. Beef makes up 20% of total food exports to Germany and so far this year exports are up 4%.

This year, Ireland will export 21,000t of beef worth €120m to Germany, according to new figures released by Bord Bia. This is up from €17m in 2009. However, Bord Bia chief executive Aidan Cotter said sales to Germany have not been as high as expected, with other markets returning higher prices. The UK has been the most lucrative market for Irish beef in recent years.

To help boost exports to Germany by a further 50% to reach 30,000t by 2018, Bord Bia will launch a new three-year promotional campaign, starting next year.

Real Hypermarket is the biggest customer for Irish beef in Germany.

Patrick Müller, director of food at Real, said the company has strategically chosen Irish beef on a price to value ratio. He said it sells at a 20% premium compared with German beef and accounts for about 10% of the supermarket’s beef sales.

Real aims to increase its sales of Irish beef by 20% to 6,000t over the next 12 months. Irish suppliers include ABP, Dawn Meats, Kepak, Liffey Meats, Dunbia and Kildare Chilling.