BORD BIA SUSTAINABLE HORTICULTURE ASSURANCE SCHEMEThe revision of the current Bord Bia Producer and Pre-packer standard for horticulture is near completion. The updated standard will see the introduction of a modular structure with growing activity covered by the new M1-Grower module and Produce Handling and Packing covered by the M2 module. The new standard will operate under the banner of the Sustainable Horticulture Assurance Scheme (SHAS) which is aligned with the Origin Green programme. Origin Green is the only sustainability programme in the world that operates on a national scale, uniting government, the private sector and food producers across the entire Irish food, drink and horticulture industry. More information on Origin Green can be found at www.origingreen.ie. Turn to page 32 for a full review by Andrew Mahon. ✽ |
POTATO PROMOTION CAMPAIGN
The most recent burst of promotional activity has been rolling out from the end of September into November. For the first time in this campaign, this activity included outdoor advertising in key urban locations in Dublin including bus shelters, DART stations and selected retail store locations (75 locations in total). ✽ |
The three year EU and industry-funded potato promotion campaign “Potatoes: More than a Bit on the Side” commenced in 2015 and continues to be rolled out in 2016. The promotional activity includes print, outdoor and digital advertising, promotion on the campaign social media channels and through PR activity. The key outcomes from year one of the campaign include:
AMENITY EXPORT PROGRAMMEBord Bia provides support to exporters in the amenity sector through the amenity export programme. This includes reviewing market strategies, advising on potential market opportunities and developing a strategy to engage with buyers where relevant. UK based consultant Neville Stein is providing ongoing one-to-one support for exporting nurseries who request and require it. There will be two days of one-to-one mentoring meetings between Bord Bia/Neville Stein and exporting nurseries on the 21 and 22 November. If you have not been contacted already and would like to participate in these mentoring sessions, please contact Gary Graham at gary.graham@bordbia.ie Brexit will also be covered in the context of any impact it may have on exporters. ✽ |
TOP FRUIT SEMINAR
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The date for the Bord Bia Top Fruit annual seminar is 8 December 2016. The programme will include a presentation of Bord Bia’s current research on consumer behaviours and attitudes to purchasing and using apples, a presentation on the apple retail market, and a sector update from the Irish Apple Growers Association. For further information contact Michal Slawski at
SALAD PROMOTION
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The first Summer Salads Week took place from 18 to 24 July. It was a joint initiative between Bord Bia, the Irish Farmers Association and salad producers. July is the time of the year when the widest range of Irish salad crops is available. A logo was designed for the campaign which helped to give it an identity. The activities undertaken included the sponsorship of a popular radio show, a competition in the Irish Farmers Journal and advertising on the MyKidsTime website with over 650,000 young subscribers. In addition, the week was promoted across the Bord Bia social media channels (including a promoted Facebook competition). The campaign also got good support from Agriaware and | GROMΌR
As the year is coming to a close, the GroMór gardening promotion campaign will continue, with main activity focusing on continuing to encourage consumers to engage in seasonal gardening and growing activities via the social media platforms of Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. This has been a seminal year for the campaign, building on the work and learnings from year one, as well as continuing to evolve the programme activities. As at the end of September, key outcomes of the campaign to date include: The social media channels have been a key communications aid for the campaign this year. Two Social Media Masterclasses were facilitated by Bord Bia with social media guru Greg Fry. A Whatsapp group was set up for GroMór participants to facilitate the sharing of photos with the campaign’s digital agency IDEA and has worked extremely well. Bord Bia, REI Garden Group and the IHNSA are currently in discussions and canvassing the industry to participate in the campaign in 2017. The ultimate aim is to build on the momentum the GroMór campaign has generated to date and collaborate further with a view to submitting a bid for EU funding in the near future to promote gardening and the use of garden plants. ✽ |
DAVID ROBINSON MEMORIAL LECTUREBord Bia organises the annual David Robinson Memorial Lecture in conjunction with third level colleges for horticulture students. This year’s event took place on the 27 October in Croke Park. The speaker was Richard Barley, Director of Horticulture at Kew. In addition, there were tours with the groundsman, presentations from past students |
MUSHROOM PROMOTIONThe final phase of activity in the three years EU and industry-funded “Just Add Mushrooms” campaign took place in May. Over the period of the campaign, activity included press advertising, digital advertising, promotion on the campaign social media channels and PR activity. The “Just Add Mushrooms” campaign has seen an increase in the cumulative volume of sales in the combined markets of 30,000 tonnes since the campaign began (22,500 tonnes in the UK and 7,700 tonnes in Ireland compared to the baseline figures in 2013). Other achievements were as follows: Social media: |
BREXITAs the impact of Brexit starts to percolate down it is clear that it is having and will have an impact on exporters to the UK market. In the shorter term currency volatility is the key issue of concern, particularly for the mushroom sector where over 80% of production is marketed. The mushroom industry has been engaged with marketers, composters and input suppliers to take measures that will assist to negate some of the impacts of the currency volatility which becomes more challenging when Sterling weakens further. Bord Bia has organised currency workshops for exporting companies and has carried out some recent market research with UK consumers on their behaviour and attitude to purchasing mushrooms and their origin to assist marketers in their discussions with buyers. Bord Bia is also engaging in the UK market with senior retailers. Bord Bia will be supporting promotional activity in the UK market between now and the end of the year as well as promotional activity on the home market. Bord Bia has recently announced a new marketing intensification programme to assist companies (with turnover between €1m and €30m) who have at least 20% of their turnover generated in the UK market. The support covers key marketing activities. For more details go to bordbia.ie or bordbiavantage.ie. To keep up to date on developments and discussions on Brexit go to the Brexit section on bordbia.ie ✽ |
NATIONAL POTATO DAY
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The fourth National Potato Day took place on 7 October. It was organised by Bord Bia in conjunction with the Irish Potato Federation and the Irish Farmers Association. The key promotional activity included the production of a 12 page potato promotional supplement in the Irish Independent (over 600,000 readers per day), two segments on the TV3 AM morning programme (on 5 October) in the run-up to and one on National Potato Day (7 October) featuring life on a potato farm, conversation on the health and nutritional benefits of potatoes with nutritionist and campaign ambassador Aoife Hearne, and finally on National Potato Day our second and newly recruited campaign ambassador Chef Mark Moriarty cooked some potato recipes on air. Also on the day, there was a strong online campaign across the Bord Bia social media channels which provided exposure to a huge audience, with the key campaign message being the health-giving properties, convenience and versatility of potatoes. National Potato Day was the number one trending item on Twitter during the day. There was also PR activity with national and regional press releases. The industry was involved through organising activities locally and engagement on social media across the day, which helped to
