Bord Bia plans worldwide promotion for St Patrick’s Day
Print14 March 2016
As the world prepares to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day and all things Irish this week, Bord Bia will maximize the opportunity to promote Irish food and drink to a global audience. From Abu Dhabi to Zagreb, through its network of international offices, Bord Bia is coordinating over 100 promotional activities and events aimed at consumers, retailers, trade and foodservice operators. Currently, Irish food and drink exports reach over 175 countries around the world and were worth €10.8 billion in 2015.
As part of the celebrations, An Taoiseach Enda Kenny will present a hamper of Irish food and drink products to the Obamas and Dr. Jill Biden during his visit to the White House tomorrow (Tuesday, 15 March). The Bord Bia hampers represent Ireland’s food and drink exports to the US including Irish beef, confectionery, oatmeal, tea, coffee, seafood, butter, whiskey, relishes and preserves, craft beer, crackers, bread and farmhouse cheese.
‘Invaluable opportunity’
Aidan Cotter, Bord Bia’s chief executive emphasized the importance of the celebration to the agri-food industry stating, describing it as offering “an invaluable opportunity to highlight the quality and sustainability credentials of our produce” and “engage with new and existing customers to tell the story of Origin Green, our industry and its producers”.
From Stockholm to Shanghai, over 100 events will highlight #Irishfood. Other major cities involved in Bord Bia’s plans include Paris, Munich, Hongzhou and Moscow.
UK activity
At Bord Bia’s Irish Food Market in Trafalgar Square were chef John Relihan, Minister for Justice, Frances Fitzgerald, Ambassador of Ireland to Great Britain, Dan Mulhall, Jason Smyth, paralympian and Grand Marshall for the London parade, Michelle Butler, Bord Bia’s UK manager and Gretta Mulhall
Meanwhile in the UK, Ireland’s largest export market, Bord Bia is coordinating major in-store Irish food promotions across 100 retail stores. Products such as prime Irish beef, Kerrygold Dubliner Cheese, Irish pork sausages, Cully & Sully and Irish drinks will be given prime positioning. The in-store activities will be boosted by an online promotion and social media campaign featuring chef Paul Foster from GreatBritishChefs.com, the fastest growing food website in the UK.
Yesterday marked the start of Bord Bia’s UK events with over 80,000 Londoners sampling dishes ranging from slow cooked Irish beef stew and to Irish farmhouse cheeses at Bord Bia London’s ‘Irish Food Market’. The market was a central part of the Mayor’s St. Patrick’s Day Festival which took place on Trafalgar Square. In addition, almost one million UK consumers tuned into Channel 4’s Sunday Brunch programme to hear more about Irish food and drink, most notably Poitín.
Drinks trade reception and embassies
Bord Bia will host a trade reception for 90 targeted drink buyers and distributors, highlighting Irish whiskey and craft beers in particular. Although import sanctions are in place, Bord Bia continues to maintain and develop relationships with key buyers in this market.
Finally, Bord Bia has distributed samples of Irish salmon, farmhouse cheeses, beef and air dried lamb to embassies across all continents, to ensure that influential guests attending official St. Patrick’s Day events experience the best of Irish food and develop a taste for more.
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