Ms Eileen Bentley:

I thank the Chairman and committee members for the opportunity to address it today. I am the entrepreneurship manager in Bord Bia, and I am joined today by my colleagues Mr. Declan Fennell and Mr. Mark Zieg from the Bord Bia meat and livestock division. Over the course of the next ten minutes we will share with the committee Bord Bia’s activity within the organic sector on the Irish and export markets, with a specific focus on the meat sector.

Bord Bia’s role is to drive, through market insight and in partnership with industry, the commercial success of a world class Irish food, drink and horticulture industry. In the organic sector our focus is to establish markets for organic produce rather than the recruitment of new producers into the supply base. This role is undertaken through the creation and execution of the annual organic marketing plan which is overseen and funded by the organic unit of the Department of Agriculture, Food and Marine. In addition, there are over 40 active organic companies on Bord Bia’s client database, all of which can benefit from the many marketing and business development support services that are provided by Bord Bia on a daily basis.

I will give the committee a brief overview of current market performance of organic products. The value of the Irish organic retail market is just over €110 million. The organic market is approximately 1% of the overall food and drink market in Ireland and, like all aspects of the market, has had significant challenges at retail level in the years of the economic recession. However, in 2014 and 2015 the organic market has returned to growth and although not yet back at pre-recession value, year to date growth in 2015 is plus 9%. According to Kantar’s Worldpanel data, this growth is being driven by more shoppers buying more products more often.

With regard to market share, the three categories of vegetables, yoghurt and fruit make up over half of the market for organic sales at retail level in Ireland. It is always interesting to understand who is purchasing organic products and, again through Kantar data, we can see the key segments are the pre-family group, the over 45s with family and households with older dependants. Appeal is greatest in households with highest level of disposable incomes. The majority of retail sales for organic are through the established multiple retailers. Super Valu has performed strongest for organic sales in 2015 but Tesco is the most important retailer in volume. Interestingly, the biggest share growth for organic in 2015 was in Aldi, an indication of the importance of the discounters to the future growth of the sector in Ireland.

Internationally, the market for organic food and drink is valued at £40 billion according to recent figures from the Soil Association. There was a slow-down and in some markets a decline in organic growth over recent years but, similar to the market here at home, there has been renewed growth in the 2014-2015 period.

The United States accounts for almost half of this £40 billion and is by far the leading organic market in the world. Germany, France, UK, Italy and Switzerland are the top five markets for organic sales in Europe with a combined value of approximately €17 billion euro.

I will now turn to how Bord Bia supports the organic sector on the domestic and international markets. I remind members that in both cases Bord Bia’s remit is to act as the link between suppliers and potential new customers, providing market and consumer insight, route to market, brand communication and one to one support. In addition to the Origin Green programme, these are the strategic pillars under which Bord Bia operates.

On the domestic market, in addition to a market development role, our role is also to increase the awareness and understanding of organic products with the Irish consumer. Through research, we can get under the bonnet of organic with consumers and use this information to help us target messages and advertorials across the right media to the right audience. Importantly, this research is also a powerful tool in our meetings with buyers and retailers as we showcase the potential of the sector and the value of an organic offer to their customers.

The bi-annual National Organic Awards are another powerful means by which to showcase the sector to consumers and retailers alike and are used by the winning producers to raise their own profile and generate new business. The annual Bloom festival is the ultimate shop window for organic producers to meet more than 100,000 current and prospective consumers and over the last number of years, the sector has been well represented within the Bord Bia food village at Bloom while also educating the next generation of consumers via the organic schools garden initiative.

A programme of retail mentoring support specifically for organic producers large and small was introduced by Bord Bia in 2014 and feedback to date from participating companies has been overwhelmingly positive as they look to gain a stronger foothold in the retail market. Not surprisingly, with a size of prize of over £40 billion pounds, making inroads into export markets is the ambition for many organic suppliers. Bord Bia supports the identification of potential new markets and customers for the organic sector through a joined up process of market study visits and the research and publication of organic market reports. In 2014, the focus was Germany, in 2015 it was France and next year it will be the UK market. This year’s French market activity included research of the organic consumer in France and their awareness and expectations of organic products and brands from Ireland. This is critical information for companies intending to export to that market and gives them a headstart versus international competitors in the development of market specific products and communications. From a trade fair perspective, the annual Biofach fair in Nuremberg, Germany is the key event for organics on the European market. Each year approximately eight to ten Irish producers participate on the Ireland stand across a range of categories. The estimated value of new business to participants on this stand in 2015 was €2.5 million.

Looking at two export focused sectors in particular, I will now ask my colleague Mr. Mark Zieg to share a brief insight into how Bord Bia supports the development of the organic beef sector internationally. He will be followed by Mr. Declan Fennell who will focus on the opportunity and supports for the organic sheepmeat sector.