Bord Bia in collaboration with Kepak, will develop an Irish beef project that will be rolled out across five European markets through Autogrill.

The campaign will see Bord Bia will support Autogrill with a communications campaign including key messaging on grass-fed production and sustainability produced beef.

In the course of the project, certified Angus premium burgers will be supplied across five markets including: Benelux, France, Spain and Italy.

As part of a trip to Italy to mark St Patrick’s Day, the Minister for Agriculture Simon Coveney visited the Irish pavilion for the World Expo which takes place in Milan from May this year.

The Minister said that the Expo theme ‘Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life’ has a special resonance for Ireland. “The Ireland Pavilion will allow us to showcase Ireland as a vibrant, creative and attractive country.

“Ireland’s theme of participation is Origin Green – which encapsulates our quest to become a world-leading producer of verified sustainably-produced food and drink. We are committed to increasing food production in a way that respects the environment – the Ireland Pavilion will show the world how we are promoting sustainability with the support of the food and drink companies that have signed up to the Bord Bia Origin Green programme.”

Autogrill is the market leader in the Italian consumer foodservice sector and Autogrill Italy has launched its sustainability programme with a new store on the A8 motorway on the outskirts of Milan. The store has futuristic volcano-shaped architecture and uses renewable energy thanks to its rainwater harvesting system.

The building is constructed from recyclable building materials and the entire skeleton of the approximately 2,500 m2 building is constructed of PEFC-certified glued laminate timber from sustainable forests.

Autogrill is the world’s largest provider of catering services in the travel sector. On average, it serves 1bn customers per annum across four different continents.