Bord Bia today announced that over 40 Irish food and drink suppliers will benefit from orders in the region of €2 million from the Ryder Cup's corporate hospitality and public catering companies. Orders started to be placed with Irish food and drink companies at the end of last week.
Bord Bia has worked closely with the event's corporate caterers, Compass and Sodexho, to ensure that the 8,500 corporate hospitality meals expected to be served every day showcase the best of Irish produce and build awareness amongst influential international visitors of the quality and capability of the Irish food and drink sector. Bord Bia are also working with Bensons with regard to the public catering offer. The 40 Irish companies selected by the caterers to supply produce during Ryder Cup include Connemara Fine Foods, Wrights of Howth, Dawn Meat Group, Kerrygold, Lilly O'Briens Chocolates and Clonakilty Black Puddings.
Making the announcement, Bord Bia Chairman Angela Kennedy said "We have seen immediate benefits from the relationship Bord Bia has developed with the principle Ryder Cup's corporate caterers – Compass and Sodexho –two of the largest catering firms in the world (combined global turnover in excess of €25bn). As a result Irish products were put on the menus at both Wimbledon and the British Open this year by these caterers and we expect to see further business development for Irish suppliers as a result."
She continued "Bord Bia's sponsorship of the Ryder Cup will grow business for the food and drink sector. This event presents an unparalleled opportunity to attract influential international buyers here, and build their awareness of the sector's capability. By demonstrating that Irish suppliers can cater for such a high-profile prestigious international event we reinforce the message that Ireland can truly justify its claim to be "the food island".
As part of Bord Bia's sponsorship, over 400 international food and drink buyers (with a combined purchasing power of €64 billion) will be guests of Bord Bia and the Irish food and drinks industry. These guests will be targeted to generate substantial new business for Irish exporters.
Overall, Bord Bia's sponsorship of the Ryder Cup is designed to support Ireland's €7.5 billion food, drink and horticulture export market and build business by promoting its "Ireland the Food Island" brand to the Ryder Cup's worldwide viewing audience and the influential international visitors that will be attending the event.
Other initiatives include an on-pack Irish meat promotion earlier this year involving 4,000 retail outlets on 10 million individual meat packs across Ireland and the UK that offered free golf lessons to consumers and resulted in a rise in sales of over €3 million during the promotion in May.
Details of the Ryder Cup corporate hospitality menus will be unveiled in September.