Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 22 March 2023

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine

Strategic Direction of Bord Bia: Discussion

Ms Deirdre Ryan:

As Mr. O'Toole said, we do much research on consumers globally. In 2021 we did a deep dive on sustainability attributes consumers were interested in across the world in our key markets. A key learning for us there was sustainability means different things in different markets, so in the messaging we give our customers and consumers in those markets we dial up certain elements of sustainability, be it animal welfare or carbon. Carbon is more well-recognised in the German market and it is animal welfare in other markets. In Scandinavia, people are quite well informed about sustainability and environmental topics, whereas in the Middle East it is more about health and nutrition. It is a nuanced message we deliver to our customers globally.