Bord Bia will be promoting EU beef, lamb, dairy and horticulture across Asia, Europe and the US by leading three campaigns worth €13.4m* over the next three years.

The campaigns will be funded by €9.7m from the EU and €3.7m from Bord Bia and industry funding.

The three campaigns are 'European Dairy', 'Working with Nature' and 'Life is better with fruit and vegetables'.

Bord Bia chief executive Tara McCarthy welcomed the funding and said that Bord Bia's imprint on the campaign will widen the recognition of Ireland as a secure supplier of safe and sustainably produced beef, lamb and dairy at a time when market diversification in response to the joint impact of Brexit and COVID-19 is strategically important.

Programmes

The first campaign, 'European Dairy - the sustainable choice for Asia', will see dairy promoted in Japan, Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand and the Philippines.

The second campaign, 'Working with Nature - European Beef and Lamb' will be targeting trade buyers in China, Japan, South Korea and the US.

The third promotional campaign, 'Life is better with fruit and vegetables', is aimed at promoting fruit and vegetables for millennials (25- to 40-year-olds) and will be rolled out in France and Belgium.

This campaign is significant, in that, along with educating millennials on increasing their consumption of fruit and vegetables as part of a healthy and balanced diet, the campaign will, for the first time, also provide information on sustainable consumption methods such as waste reduction.

McCarthy said: "This is the biggest sustained investment we’ve made in dairy and meat across species in third country markets, and it’s the first EU funding of its kind for the dairy sector.

“A key element in securing this funding is how Bord Bia’s new three-year strategy aligns so closely with the EU’s Farm to Fork strategy, in that it allows us to focus on linking sustainable production with sustainable nutrition and consumption. This campaign affords us the opportunity to deploy each of these to the benefit of Irish and EU producers.”

Roll-out

Starting in 2022, the three EU campaigns will be rolled out across a total of nine market territories between Asia, Europe and the US, each of which will have a specific target audience, product focus and tailored promotional activities.

Targeting importers, retailers, food service providers, chefs and media outlets, the campaigns will concentrate on digital media, PR, trade fairs, seminars and inward visits to Ireland.

Bord Bia has already identified the growth potential of Asia for Irish food and drink exports in Japan with the opening of a Bord Bia office in Tokyo in 2019 to add to its significant presence in Shanghai and an office in Singapore.

The Singapore office is focused on the south and east Asian countries of Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, The Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand and Vietnam.

The campaign will run for three years (2022-2024) and will build awareness and understanding of food safety, quality assurance and sustainability of European grass-fed beef, lamb and dairy.

*This figure represents the gross campaign spend, which includes VAT.