Bord Bia's stand at the centre of this week's National Ploughing Championships in Screggan Co. Offaly will focus on Origin Green, the national sustainability programme for the Irish food industry, and the framework it provides to farmers and food producers in the challenging trading environment brought about by Brexit.
Bord Bia CEO Tara McCarthy will be joined by colleagues from the Origin Green, Quality Assurance and consumer insight teams as well as overseas offices and sector experts to outline to visitors the key role of the Origin Green programme in the Irish food industry’s coordinated response to Brexit .
Speaking from the Ploughing, she said, “Origin Green’s success story is one of farmers, processors, exporters and government working together to deliver quality food that is independently verified for its sustainability impact. Farmers are critical to the success of the programme, providing the “proof points” on-farm which are demanded by our food buyers and their consumers, who increasingly want to know where their food comes from and how it is produced.
Proving our sustainability was never more important than it is today. Origin Green provides farmers with a structure within which to increase their competitiveness by lowering their carbon footprint and thereby cut the running costs of their enterprises. It is also creating new opportunities for exporters in traditional and emerging markets where the demand for sustainably produced food from buyers and their customers continues to increase”.
Opportunity
The Origin Green initiative, now in its fifth year, is one of the lynchpins of Bord Bia's Brexit strategy along with consumer insight and development of new routes to market. Its credibility among international buyers provides Irish food and drink exporters with opportunities to engage and develop new business relationships driven by Bord Bia's overseas offices through information seminars , media campaigns and inward visits to meet at first hand with farmers and processors.
Critical role of farmers
The Bord Bia stand will feature the achievements of Origin Green farmers who have joined the programme and reduced their costs as they lowered the carbon footprint of their enterprises. Origin Green staff will be on hand to respond to questions on joining the programme or its operation.
There are over 50,000 farmers participating in the newly launched Sustainable Beef and Lamb Assurance Scheme and over 15,000 in the Sustainable Dairy Assurance Scheme. These represent more than 90% of all beef produced and 85% of all dairy farms in Ireland.
Origin Green for food businesses
At present, Origin Green includes over 270 companies with independently verified and annually monitored sustainability plans. These members represent 90% of total Irish food and drink exports. A further 160 companies are preparing plans for verification.
Ireland’s food business members commit to a mandatory mix of target areas specified by the Origin Green Charter. The mandatory areas from which targets are set form the basis of a business’s 3-5 year sustainability plan include raw material sourcing , manufacturing processes and operations and social sustainability.
New Public Awareness Campaign
Bord Bia is now bringing the message of Origin Green to national attention through a public awareness campaign aimed at driving momentum among the Origin Green members and to prepare the ground for the Irish public to understand the value of sustainable food systems. While Origin Green was launched some five years ago at trade level, this is the first time the initiative has been advertised and promoted to Irish people.
The campaign will alert consumers who are sustainability- aware that Irish farmers and food producers in the Origin Green programme are responding to their needs by producing food in a way that respects the environment through lowering their carbon footprints and making a social contribution to their locality.
Visit by Chinese Delegation
Bord Bia also welcomed 20 Chinese government officials to the stand and outlined to them the Irish food industry's commitment to meeting their requirement for Irish food and complying with their demanding food safety standards, highlighting the role of Origin Green plays in achieving those targets.
The visiting group included delegates from the Chinese Food and Drug Administration (CFDA), Administration of Quality, Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ), Certification and Accreditation Administration (CNCA) and the Ministry of Agriculture.
The Bord Bia Stand at the Ploughing
Bord Bia will organise presentations each day on the issues affecting farming and food businesses including the challenges and opportunities of overseas markets through the eyes of the managers of some of the 13 Bord Bia locations, Quality Assurance, beef, sheepmeat, pigmeat and consumer insight.
Bord Bia's Consumer Insight Centre's personnel will outline the role that consumer and market insight plays in finding the right markets and food buyers for Ireland's food and drink and matching Irish exporters with the products in demand in those markets. They will explain how the intelligence they are collecting will be made available to Irish companies along with advice on how to apply it to their particular businesses.