All the latest news from Bord Bia

POTATO PROMOTION

The consumption of potatoes has been in decline in recent years. From 2007 to 2014 the retail market for fresh potatoes declined by 19%. Bord Bia and the Irish Potato Industry are partnering with the British Potato Council in an application to the EU to secure matching funding to support three-year generic promotions of potatoes on the Ireland and GB markets from 2015 to 2018. The outcome of the application will be known in April 2015. If successful the promotional activity will commence in the second half of 2015. The value of the campaign in Ireland will be worth €1m over three years with the EU contribution matched with contributions from the Irish Potato Industry (IPF & IFA) and the Department of Agriculture, Food & the Marine. ✽

UK AND IRELAND -‘JUST ADD MUSHROOMS’ PROMOTIONAL CAMPAIGN

The ’Just Add Mushrooms’ campaign is worth €2.7m over three years and is co-funded by the EU and producers and marketers in Ireland and the UK. The campaign commenced in July 2013. It is an information and promotional campaign in the UK and Ireland which uses the power of recommendation to communicate the nutritional and culinary benefits of mushrooms to women aged 25-45 years, and also to health professionals, mass caterers and children in educational establishments. The most effective means of reaching the target audience is by advertising online and in women’s magazines. An on-pack text-in competition, with three prizes of €1000, was a strong feature of the October burst in sales in Irish supermarkets.

The strategy is to increase penetration and frequency of purchase among younger households in the UK and Ireland and is designed to take advantage of the progress made in the previous €2.4ml “More to Mushrooms” campaign. The campaign features celebrities promoting recipes that the general public will feel comfortable to try. For more details, go to www.justaddmushrooms.ie and visit the Facebook page at
www.facebook.com/MoreToMushrooms ✽

FOOD DUDES PROGRAMME

The intake of fruit and vegetables in Ireland is below international guidelines. The Food Dudes programme sets out to change children’s eating habits through taste exposure, modeling and rewards. Food Dudes has successfully encouraged children to consume more fruit and vegetables which has impacted positively on the sales of fresh produce. The national roll-out of the Food Dudes Programme which commenced in 2007 was completed in 2014 and has seen over 3,100 national schools and 475,000 school children participate to date. In 2015 a Food Dudes boost programme is being rolled out to a target of 800 schools and 160,000 school children. The implementation of the Food Dudes Programme in Ireland is managed by Bord Bia with funding being provided by the Department of Agriculture Food & the Marine and the EU School Fruit and Vegetables Scheme. ✽

EVERYTHING’S IN BLOOM – 28TH MAY TO 1ST JUNE 2015

Planning for Bloom 2015 is well underway for year nine of Bord Bia’s five-day event in the Phoenix Park with exhibitors, designers and nurseries focusing on how best to maximise both the selling and promotional opportunities at the forthcoming show. Last year 106,000 visitors attended Bloom and media coverage reached an all-time high with
over 250 journalists attending from TV, radio, print and online platforms. In addition to highlighting the joys and benefits of amenity horticulture and the health benefits associated with fresh produce, €6.8m was spent on food, plants, fresh produce and gardening-related products. For others in landscape design and contracting new clients were inspired to commission valuable gardening-related work after the show.

Improvements to the site and show in 2015 include an increase in both covered areas and hard standing for outdoor exhibitors with enhanced way-finding for newcomers to the show who have to navigate their way around an ever-increasing array of exhibits and features spread over the 70-acre site. 2015 plans include 25 show gardens, the highly successful Food Village, Budding Bloomers (children’s) area, Bistro Bloom, the largest marquee in Ireland housing our Floral Pavilion and Grand Pavilion, the Garden Expert Stage, fashion shows, the conservation zone and numerous other features including a new artisan catering area.

Many of the country’s favourite celebrity chefs are lined up for the Bord Bia Quality Kitchen stage and our top garden designers are finalising plans and sponsorship contracts to bring their latest ideas to fruition. The Plant Village introduced in 2014 will be relocated to a more prominent position and wholesale nurseries and their retail partners are encouraged to explore this selling and promotional opportunity. While Bloom is an ideal promotional venue for the best of a wide range of Irish food and drink, horticulture remains centre stage with plants and edible horticulture produce placed in highly visible locations throughout the show.

Horticulture companies interested in exhibiting at Bloom should start planning now. If you are a new exhibitor contact Bord Bia at your earliest convenience so that we can explore how best Bloom can be used to directly benefit your business. ✽

GRO MÓR GARDENING PROMOTION

Bord Bia is supporting the REI Garden Centre Group to launch a gardening promotional campaign to Get Ireland Growing in 2015. With financial support from Bord Bia, along with the Garden Centers, nurseries and the wider industry, this campaign can be of great benefit to the industry. Turn to page 12 for detail. ✽

RETAIL MARKET FOR FRESH PRODUCE – VOLUME UP BUT VALUE DOWN

Recent research from Kantar Worldpanel indicates that the fruit and vegetable category continues to be the most important segment of the retail grocery market with a 14% value share. The fresh produce category is valued at €1.2bn per annum. This total includes fruit, vegetables and potatoes valued at €549m, €505m and €147m respectively. Research for the year ending September 2014 shows that the frequency of purchase for fresh produce is 151 times per year which is up 0.7% year on year. The trip volume is also up by 5% over the same period. Two possible reasons for this volume increase include an increasing awareness by consumers of the role fruit and vegetables play in a healthy balanced diet and the overall lower price per unit of produce on the retail shelf over the last year which was back by about 10%.

In relation to the range of vegetables purchased the traditional favourites are still a key purchase choice for consumers (eg carrots, tomatoes, cabbage, cauliflower etc). However, more recently despite coming from a smaller base, the sales of other alternative vegetable products are increasing (eg kale, spinach, beetroot, sweetcorn etc). Over the last year, the value of prepared vegetable and fruit category has remained relatively static at €84m, indicating that convenience of format is still an important consideration for consumers buying fresh produce.

GARDENING MARKET IN 2014
Bord Bia has been carrying out a measure of the gardening market (consumer purchases) in Ireland every two years since 2001 with Ipsos MRBI. The most recent market measure was carried out during 2014.

NATIONAL SOFT FRUIT & PROTECTED VEGETABLE CENSUS
The National Soft Fruit & Protected Vegetable Census was carried out by the Department of Agriculture, Food & the Marine (DAFM) with analysis of the results carried out by Bord Bia and DAFM. The census was conducted in 2013 (relating to the 2012 season) among growers of soft fruit and protected vegetables. The census found that there were 137 growers of soft fruit and protected vegetables in Ireland, with a total production area of 523 hectares. The production value of the sector was estimated to be €53m, of which €31m was from protected soft fruit, €21m was from protected vegetables and €1m was from outdoor soft fruit. The soft fruit and protected vegetable sector were found tobe supporting 503 full-time jobs and 843 part-time jobs.

SOFT FRUIT
The key trend found in the soft fruit sector was the increased production value of soft fruit grown under protection. The value of soft fruit grown under protection in 2012 was €30.8m, representing a 17% increase since the last census (€26.3m in 2008) and a 57% increase since 2004 (€19.6m in 2004). The value of outdoor soft fruit production was €1.1m, bringing the overall value of the soft fruit sector (outdoor and protected) to €32m. Total soft fruit production area (outdoor and protected) in 2012 was 333 hectares (a 9% decrease since 2008), while the number of soft fruit growers in 2012 was 77 (a 10% increase since 2008). 76% of protected soft fruit production area was found to be under polythene structures and 24% was under glass.

PROTECTED VEGETABLES
Protected vegetable production included vegetables such as tomatoes, lettuce, peppers and other vegetables grown under glass and polythene protected structures. Overall, production area in 2012 was 190 hectares, a 14% increase since the last census (166 hectares in 2008). Grower numbers had increased slightly, from 67 in 2008 to 73 in 2012. The production value of protected vegetables had, however, decreased 17% since the last census, from €25.2m in 2008 to €21m in 2012. 92% of protected vegetable production area was under glass and 8% was under polythene structures. 69% of protected vegetable production area was in county Dublin. ✽