Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 16 October 2012

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine

Review of Food Harvest 2020 Strategy: Discussion (Resumed) with Irish Dairy Board and Bord Bia

2:55 pm

Mr. Joe O'Flynn:

I will come back to that. How we go into markets is determined to a significant extent by the state of development of the market. In other words, if there is a formal retail structure established, one may be dealing directly with the retail trade. With many of the markets in sub-Saharan Africa, in the first instance one is dealing with distributors because it is a much less formal market. In many cases one does not have any significant retail structure and in some cases one does not even have a chill chain for products. This, in turn, influences the type of product that goes in there.

If we look at markets like the DRC or Angola, we have a partnership with an in-market distributor. As we evolve, going forward, we are looking at investment in terms of existing businesses within those markets, depending on the state of their development. Initially, it can be at arm's length through a distributor but, as the relationship evolves, we are looking ultimately to evolve to a situation where we are liaising directly with retail trade itself as it evolves.

Comments

No comments

Log in or join to post a public comment.