Bord Bia and the Local Enterprise Development Unit in Northern Ireland (LEDU) will take a joint stand at the important Fancy Food Show in New York next month to promote food and drink products from the whole of Ireland.
This was announced yesterday at the IFEX 2000 food exhibition in Dublin by the chief executive of Bord Bia, Mr Michael Duffy, following the success of their complementary stands at IFEX.
Some 30 Irish food and drinks manufacturers are represented on the Bord Bia stand at IFEX, while 19 companies in the food and drinks area from across Northern Ireland participated in the LEDU exhibit.
Many of the companies represented on the Bord Bia and Northern Ireland stands will take part in the joint exhibit in New York. At IFEX, Mr Peter McArdle, manager of LEDU's consumer products team, said the New York fair would be the first time there had been a joint North-South venture at a food exhibition abroad.
"The Northern Ireland exhibitors are showing a tremendous range of high-quality, innovative and exciting products. I am confident they will be attracting new business from Ireland and beyond," he said.
A significant number of the 26 new products on display at IFEX come from Northern Ireland companies.
At a joint reception at the exhibition in Dublin yesterday, Mr Duffy said that exports of the 60 or more speciality food companies that Bord Bia works closely with had doubled between 1996 and 1999.
"Their turnover has grown 35 per cent since 1997. This is proof of the dynamism of the speciality food sector in Ireland. There are about 200 small companies involved, employing 1,500 people and with a combined turnover of approximately £100 million (€127 million) each year.
"Their significance lies not only in their importance to rural economies but also in the high quality, premium and natural image they portray for Irish food and drink in general," he said.
The Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture with responsibility for food, Mr Ned O'Keeffe, commended Bord Bia and LEDU for their joint efforts on behalf of Irish food.
Mr Duffy said Bord Bia had developed a small business programme to continue assistance to speciality and organic food companies. However, at the exhibition, Mr Hans Weiland, development adviser at the Organic Centre, in Rossinver, in Co Leitrim, complained that Irish farmers and food producers were missing out on the market for organic foods because they were not producing enough to meet consumer demand.
"Organic foods are reaching growth rates of 20-30 per cent per annum on the production side but an even bigger increase on the demand side," he said. Only about 0.5 per cent of the agricultural area in the Republic is under organic management. "This represents a tremendous opportunity for farmers, as the unprecedented growth in the organic sector will take many years to fill," he said.
Durrus Farmhouse, in Bantry, Co Cork, won the supreme championship for cheese at the exhibition yesterday. The Durrus soft cheese was also the winner of the best overall farmhouse cheese.
The Kerrygold cup for the best mature cheddar produced in Ireland went to Wexford Creamery for its Irish mature cheddar, while Carbery Milk Products won the best hard cheese category for its Dubliner cheese. The prize for the best imported cheese went to St Ivel Provisions for its mature cheddar.
