Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Bord Bia works on that on an ongoing basis with the companies concerned. There has been a change in dynamic, that is, a significant increase in domestic supply and a preference in China for domestically produced infant formula in recent years. As the Deputy pointed out, a few years ago, the preference was for imported infant formula. That has been a change in dynamic. The level of market share of infant formula we had developed in China reflects the esteem in which our milk is held, and rightly so, given how we produce the milk through grass feeding and its health, nutrition and safety credentials, but other factors in the market have evolved in recent years. Bord Bia, with its companies, is working to make sure we maintain and maximise our share of the market there and look at developing new opportunities. It is fair to say we will probably not see the infant market grow in any significant way. The pressure is otherwise in China, but there is significant potential for growing other nutrition products, such as adult and elderly nutrition products and cheeses. There is very strong potential there for other strong products and it is important for us to work on all of those strands.

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