Celebrity Chef Catherine Fulvio today announced the arrival of New Season Lamb to the market – a favourite dish for Easter Sunday. Bord Bia is encouraging consumers to choose lamb with the Bord Bia Quality Mark this Easter to be sure it has been produced to Bord Bia’s highest standards. In a consumer study 51% of those surveyed said lamb was the tastiest of all meats and so Bord Bia has created a range of tasty Bord Bia Quality Assured lamb recipes which are available on www.bordbia.ie
Teresa Brophy, Ireland Market Manager, Bord Bia said “Lamb is a hugely popular dish at Easter time in Ireland and new season lamb is both delicious and easy to cook. Thanks to our mild temperate climate, abundance of lush grass and natural production systems our lamb has a distinctive sweet flavour. So it is not surprising that a Bord Bia consumer study indicates that 51% of those surveyed said lamb was the tastiest of all meats”.
Ireland’s sheep sector is valued at €250 million and there are approximately 32,250 farmers in the sector. In 2011 the total value of the export market rose by 10% to €180m. The majority of exports were destined for customers within the EU with France and the UK representing 76% of exports. This illustrates the growing popularity of lamb in these markets again due to its unique and distinctive flavour.
James Murphy, IFA Lamb Chairman said "We have developed a strong export market within Europe and further afield based on the high quality and distinctive flavour of our lamb. The processing industry has been increasingly innovating their product offering to consumers with the result that there has also been year on year growth on the volume of value-added sheep meat exports".
A range of dinner recipes featuring Bord Bia Quality Assured Lamb can be found on www.bordbia.ie/lamb