Twenty Irish food companies are with Bord Bia in Germany this week at the world’s largest trade food fair in Cologne.
Bord Bia is organising and coordinating the Irish presence at Anuga, a biennial event which attracts more than 160,000 trade buyers from 187 countries.
Germany represents Ireland’s fourth largest export market for food and drink, valued at €565 million in 2014. The best performing sectors are dairy, beef and prepared foods.
At Anuga, the Irish food and drink industry will participate under Bord Bia’s Origin Green stands within the Meat, Dairy, Frozen Food and Bakery halls. The Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Tom Hayes, will visit Anuga today (Monday) to officially launch Ireland’s presence at the show.
During his visit to Germany, Minister Hayes, accompanied by Bord Bia Chief Executive Aidan Cotter, will also meet with senior representatives from REAL Hypermarket, part of the Metro Group, the world’s fourth largest retailer with an annual turnover of €67 billion.
Speaking in advance of his visit, Minister Hayes welcomed the Irish industry’s strong presence at what is widely regarded as the most important trade event in the international food and drink calendar.
Key Buyers
Aidan Cotter, Chief Executive of Bord Bia, said it had undertaken a major pre-event trade marketing and awareness campaign to promote the Irish industry’s presence at the event, including targeting more than 1,000 key influential buyers to visit the Origin Green stand.
“It is encouraging that Irish food and drink exporters continue to grow their business in an increasingly competitive European marketplace. Ireland’s main food and drink exports to Germany are dairy (Kerrygold), alcoholic beverages (Baileys, Tullamore Dew, Kilbeggan, Jameson) and meat.
“Kerrygold is the brand leader within the butter category, while Germany is also the largest continental market for Irish pigmeat.
“The German market continues to offer significant growth potential for premium, sustainable products. It has a long history of environmentalism and interest in sustainability and Bord Bia’s Origin Green sustainability programme is being very well received by key stakeholders in the German food industry.”