Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 22 March 2023

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine

Strategic Direction of Bord Bia: Discussion

Mr. Jim O'Toole:

It is a good question. There is probably still a long way to go in that story. In the past month, Bord Bia published a study across a number of markets that tried to understand consumer understanding around carbon in a number of different markets. Some of the headlines from that study show consumers are trying to understand what they need to do to reduce their carbon footprint and to behave more sustainably. In a recessionary environment, or certainly one where purchasing power is impacted, people are looking at what they can do themselves, such as reducing their food waste. They are also looking to food manufacturers to see what they can do. The demand we get from our customers around the world is that retailers and food service operators are trying to anticipate how consumers are going to behave. In some cases, consumers will pay a premium but again, in times where there are economic constraints that comes under pressure. Increasingly, in order to win our place on those consumers' shelves, we are just going to have to demonstrate we are producing food sustainably. That is what we are moving towards. It is quite a complex story and we do not know all the answers yet. Ms Ryan wishes to comment.