The British and Irish dairy supply chains will remain interconnected and interdependent, a seminar had heard.
Estelle Alley told Bord Bia’s second annual dairy seminar that Irish dairy volume exports to the UK have increased by 25% since 2016.
The Bord Bia UK category manager said that Ireland is a key strategic trading partner for dairy in the UK.
“The UK dairy sector is facing its own reset moment where inflationary pressures now need to be passed on to the consumer,” Alley stated.
She outlined that energy and labor accounted for 50% of all non-milk related costs for butter, just under 40% for cheese manufacture and nearly 60% for skim milk powder and whey.
Alley explained that sustainability does resonate with the UK consumer. The UK dairy roadmap has an ambition to reach net zero carbon by 2050.
During COP26, several UK supermarkets chief executives signed a commitment to half the nature and climate impacts of food systems by 2030.
The seminar heard that UK consumers are open to choosing food and drink from Ireland and the customers for Irish dairy exports are aware of this.
Bord Bia research has shown that almost nine and 10 UK customers want suppliers to have strong sustainability credentials.
However, Alley noted that just four in 10 of those customers said that all or the majority of their suppliers have sustainability accreditations and this is even lower among those importing dairy products.
Based on senior level meetings with UK buyers, she believes that “Origin Green’s time has come”.
Providing programmes for farmers, producers, manufacturers and retailers, the Origin Green programme, devised by Bord Bia, is independently monitored and verified.
Verified Origin Green members account for 90% of Irish food and drink exports and over 70% of our domestic retail market.
“There is a heightened opportunity for Irish dairy to align their sustainability credentials and messaging to their UK customers.
“The sophistication of Origin Green’s infrastructure and framework has been commended,” Alley stated.
She said that data reporting on carbon emissions across the full supply chain is of particular importance to customers.
“They have acknowledged that Ireland and its food and drink supply base are significantly ahead of the UK in terms of reporting targets and that’s due to the Origin Green program,” Alley said.
Meanwhile, in his address to the Bord Bia seminar, Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Charlie McConalogue reminded Irish companies that export certification for dairy products to Britain is “fast approaching”.
The minister outlined that this will be carried out using the EU’s Trace NT sytem and he encouraged exporting companies to ensure that they are registered on the system.