Pictured with An Taoiseach are Dutch Michelin star chefs Erik van Loo, Rogier Raissin, and Alain Alders. All of the chefs are members of Bord Bia's Chef Irish Beef Club.
An Taoiseach, Enda Kenny, today had the opportunity to discuss the merits of Irish beef and the sustainable nature of Ireland’s agri-food industry with some of Holland’s top Michelin star chefs and key Dutch media at a special luncheon organised by Bord Bia. The event took place at the Irish Embassy close to The Hague on the first afternoon of An Taoiseach's three-day trade visit to The Netherlands and Germany. The Dutch market is Ireland’s fourth largest market for Irish food and drink, with exports valued at over €650 million last year. Ireland’s key exports to the market include beef, dairy and prepared foods.
Ahead of An Taoiseach’s arrival, Bord Bia’s Chief Executive, Aidan Cotter, briefed local Dutch media on Origin Green, the Irish food and drink industry’s national sustainability programme. Launched by Bord Bia in 2012, Origin Green sets out the agri-food sector’s ambition to be a world-leader in sustainable food and drink production. It is the world’s first sustainability programme for a country’s entire food and drink sector. Since Origin Green was established, more than 90,000 carbon assessments have been carried out on 55,000 Irish farms and 128 food and drink companies have become fully-verified members of the programme. These farms account for 90% of Ireland’s beef production and half of its milk output, while the companies are responsible for 85% of the country’s food and drink exports.
As part of the Origin Green programme, the food and drink manufacturers have committed to over 800 sustainability targets around raw material sourcing, manufacturing processes and social sustainability. The targets provide for reductions of €12 million and €17 million in energy and water usage respectively by 2017, and seek to reduce general waste generation by 14,000 tonnes.
Sustainability and animal welfare are key topics of interest to Dutch retailers, food buyers and consumers alike and as such the Origin Green has been well received in the market. At a consumer level, one of the more visible Irish products in the Dutch market is Irish beef, which is well recognised for its high quality, environmental and animal welfare standards. Irish beef exports were valued at €165 million last year, a total of approximately 38,000 tonnes. According to Bord Bia, Irish beef is available in over 3,000 Dutch stores, with an 85% penetration of Dutch retail channels, making the Dutch the highest per capita consumers of Irish beef on Continental Europe.
Since 2012 Bord Bia has been promoting Irish beef to Dutch consumers via a campaign entitled Honest By Nature. The comprehensive promotional activity spans TV, radio, digital, social and print media.
Within the Dutch foodservice sector, Irish beef enjoys an equally reputable position and is the beef of choice for many of Holland’s top chefs. Today’s media briefing was followed by a luncheon prepared by members of Bord Bia’s Chefs Irish Beef Club (CIBC). The CIBC is an exclusive network of world renowned chefs who work with Bord Bia to promote the premium, sustainable image of Irish beef across our key export markets. Today’s lunch menu included Irish cured beef and oysters prepared by three Michelin starred members of the CIBC - Erik van Loo**, Rogier Raissin*, and Alain Alders*.
Over the coming days, as part of An Taoiseach’s itinerary, Bord Bia will host two further Irish beef promotional events in Munich and Dusseldorf.