Bord Bia has won the contract to promote EU beef, lamb, dairy and horticulture across Asia, Europe and the U.S in three campaigns valued at €13.4 million for the next three years.
This comprises €9.7 million in EU funding and €3.7 million from Bord Bia and industry funding.
The first campaign: ‘European Dairy – the sustainable choice for Asia’, will see dairy promoted in Japan, Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand and the Philippines while the second campaign – ‘Working with Nature – European Beef and Lamb’ will be targeting trade buyers in China, Japan, South Korea and the U.S.
The third promotional campaign: ‘Life is better with fruit and vegetables’, will be rolled out in France and Belgium with partner agencies Interfel, Freshfel and Association Interprofessionnelle de la Banane along with Bord Bia Ireland and is aimed at promoting fruit and vegetables for millennials (25-40 year olds).
Bord Bia said that this campaign is significant in that, along with educating millennials on increasing their consumption of fruit and vegetables as part of a healthy and balanced diet, the campaign will, for the first time, also provide information on sustainable consumption methods such as waste reduction.
Irish food and drink exports
Since 2016, the value of Irish food and drink exports to Asia has increased 14% to €1.4 billion.
Tara McCarthy, Bord Bia chief executive, welcomed the funding and said that Bord Bia`s imprint on the campaign will widen the recognition of Ireland as a secure supplier of safe and sustainably produced beef, lamb and dairy.
This is at a time when market diversification in response to the joint impact of Brexit and Covid-19 is strategically important.
“This is the biggest sustained investment we’ve made in dairy and meat across species in third country markets, and it’s the first EU funding of its kind for the dairy sector,” McCarthy said.
“A key element in securing this funding is how Bord Bia’s new three-year strategy aligns so closely with the EU’s Farm to Fork Strategy, in that it allows us to focus on linking sustainable production with sustainable nutrition and consumption.
“This campaign affords us the opportunity to deploy each of these to the benefit of Irish and EU producers.”
Bord Bia campaigns
Starting in 2022, the three EU campaigns will be rolled out across a total of nine market territories between Asia, Europe and the U.S, each of which will have a specific target audience, product focus and tailored promotional activities.
Targeting importers, retailers, foodservice providers, chefs and media outlets, the campaigns will concentrate on digital media, PR, trade fairs, seminars and inward visits to Ireland.
Bord Bia has already identified the growth potential of Asia for Irish food and drink exports in Japan, with the opening a Bord Bia office in Tokyo in 2019 to add to its presence in Shanghai and an office in Singapore.
The Singapore office is focused on the South and East Asian countries of Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, The Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand and Vietnam.
The Business to Business (B2B) campaign will run for three years (2022-2024) and will build awareness and understanding of food safety, quality assurance and sustainability of European grass-fed beef, lamb and dairy.