One of Bord Bia’s primary objectives in the domestic market is to promote products from quality approved suppliers in the retail sector. There has been considerable investment in broadening the scope of the Quality Assurance Programmes to encompass all elements of the supply chain and establishing the Bord Bia Quality Mark as a brand with national recognition.
A nationally representative survey indicates that 93% of shoppers are aware of the Quality Mark and the majority of these say that seeing the logo on meat would make them more likely to buy them. (Source: Behaviour & Attitudes, 2012).
The Bord Bia Quality Mark assures the consumer that the food has been produced to Bord Bia's highest quality standards and that and that farmers, processors and packing houses have been independently audited. Also by purchasing food with the Bord Bia Quality Mark, you know where the food has been produced, processed and packed.
In March 2013, independent auditors conducted an instore assessment of the proportion of prepacked fresh meat, both own label and branded, carrying the Quality Mark in the retail sector. (Serve over products were not included in the survey).
Products covered in the audit are bacon, beef, burgers, chicken, cooked ham, duck, lamb, pork, rashers, sausages and turkey. Each product was assessed based on the percentage of "facings" (individual products on shelf) and SKUs (product lines)with the Bord Bia Quality Mark. (Note: In relation to cooked ham, only the percentage of facings with the Quality Mark are assessed. Quality assured beef and chicken products are recorded in summary format by cut). Results are presented in graph and spreadsheet formats (for actual % figures of facings with the Quality Mark). In total, the auditors visited 18 stores as follows:
- Aldi : 2 stores
- Centra: 2 stores
- Dunnes Stores: 2 stores
- Lidl: 2 stores
- Spar: 2 stores
- Superquinn: 2 stores
- Super Valu: 2 stores
- Tesco: 2 stores
The graphs illustrate the findings in terms of:
% of facings with a Bord Bia Quality Mark by retailer
% of facings of each product category with a Bord Bia Quality Mark across all retailers
% of SKUs for each product category with a Bord Bia Quality Mark across all retailers
% of SKUs with a Bord Bia Quality Mark by retailer
Total facings across all retailers
Total SKUs across all retailers
* The total number of facings for each retailer is based on a total from the number of stores audited. The % of facings and SKUs with Quality Mark is based on an average from across these audited stores.