The Irish Farmers Journal sat down with recently appointed Bord Bia CEO Jim O’Toole ahead of the publication of the Export Performance and Prospects Report for 2022-2023.

While the board is rightly proud of its performance during what it describes as a “profoundly challenging period” in 2022, the outlook for this year is not necessarily a cause for optimism.

“We’re in a very unusual position at the start of 2023, as there is so much uncertainty,” Jim said.

“We don’t know how the war in Ukraine is going to go. We don’t know where energy prices are going to be. We have seen volatility in almost every aspect of the economy.”

The main outcome of the volatility in 2022 was a huge jump in inflation, which hit the highest level in a generation. Jim pointed to the pressure this inflation is putting on consumers across the main markets for Irish agricultural products.

We’re in a very unusual position at the start of 2023, as there is so much uncertainty

“There’s this huge balance we have to think of regarding costs for consumers, affordability, and how producers can maintain margins. In many cases, the food and drink sector has not been able to achieve the price increases needed to maintain profits.”

The outlook for global growth is also concerning Bord Bia, with Jim noting that prospects for the EU, US, and China are not great, while the key UK market is facing recessionary headwinds.

“We are cautious about the outlook, realistic about the challenges that are there and very cognisant of the support the food and drink sector will need considering the economic landscape in the year ahead.”

He made the point that some of the biggest successes Bord Bia had in 2022 came from being agile in the face of a rapidly changing economic environment, and said that agility would certainly be a feature again as it navigates the uncertainty in the year ahead.

There’s this huge balance we have to think of regarding costs for consumers, affordability, and how producers can maintain margins

Looking back at 2022, there is plenty that Bord Bia can put in its “success” column.

The headline figure of €16.7bn of Irish food and drink exports is a record high and a 22% increase on 2021. While it is true that much of that increase has been driven by pricing, volumes were also higher, with beef and dairy ending the year 9% and 5% higher respectively. Another bright point in the report is the diversity of destination for Ireland’s food exports, with 32% going to the UK, 34% to the EU and 34% to the rest of the world.

There were some disappointments, including developments in China, where COVID-19 policies and the rebuilding of the country’s pig herd meant a shrinking of that market.

Jim was quick to defend Bord Bia’s performance in the face of these challenges, saying: “We were able to increase exports of pigmeat to other international markets by being agile and taking advantage of opportunities.”

In fact, growth in value of food and drink exports to the Philippines, India, Malaysia and Japan more than offset the slowdown in China, meaning exports to Asia as a whole increased 9% last year.

Having key strategic objectives - markets and sectors to target - as well as being able to stay agile in the face of whatever challenges arise was the key lesson from 2022

He also pointed to other strong performances that may have gone somewhat below the radar, such as cheese exports to Japan surpassing €80m and the doubling of the value of Irish whiskey sold in India.

Speaking of whiskey, the US was the standout market, representing 52% of overall Irish drinks exports.

Overall, looking back on 2022 and looking forward to 2023, Jim said that having “key strategic objectives - markets and sectors to target - as well as being able to stay agile in the face of whatever challenges arise was the key lesson from 2022 and how Bord Bia will face 2023.”