All the latest news from Bord Bia

SEVEN A DAY FRESH PRODUCE PROMOTION

Earlier this year the Department of Health launched a revised version of the food pyramid which indicated that everyone should be consuming up to seven portions of fruit and vegetables daily, not five portions as previously recommended. This development is not only very positive from the perspective of the health of the nation but also presents a great opportunity for the horticulture industry to promote fruit and vegetables as an essential part of a healthy balanced diet at every meal. At Bloom 2017 Bord Bia undertook a major promotion of the new seven a day message through fresh produce crop displays linked to messaging around the nutritional value of various crops. In addition, a daily programme of talks and demonstrations provided hints and tips on how healthy fresh produce can be grown, prepared and cooked in simple and convenient ways. Well know TV dietician Aoife Hearne spoke about the nutritional content of fruit and vegetables and said that tasty and exciting meals do not need to be sacrificed to achieve a healthy and balanced diet. ✽

FRESH PRODUCE RETAIL MARKET

The grocery market in Ireland put in a strong performance for the year ending period March 2017 when it reached a value of €10.26bn, representing a growth of 2.6% on the previous year. Volume purchased was also up 1.9%. The key contributing factor to this growth was an increase in the purchasing frequency of 270 store visits per annum. Similarly, the fresh produce category performed well with its value increasing from €1.44bn to €1.5bn, an increase of 4% on the previous year though volume overall was back slightly. Fruit is the largest segment of this category making up 49% of the value, vegetables 38% and potatoes 13% of the value. The purchase frequency of fresh produce is 176 times per annum and fresh produce purchases now make up 15.7% of the value of all grocery purchases in store. For further information on the retail fresh produce market contact lorcan.bourke@bordbia.ie ✽

BLOOM 2017

Bloom took place over five days from 1 to 5 June in the Phoenix Park, Dublin. A record 120,000 visitors attended an increase of 5,000 over 2016 which was the highest attendance until this year. Bloom provides a high profile promotional showcase for the horticulture industry. It encourages spending on local produce carrying the Bord Bia Quality Mark as well as promoting increased spending on gardening and professional gardening services. Visitor satisfaction measured at the show was 97%.

It was estimated that over €8m was spent by visitors at the show. The floral and plant pavilion, show gardens and food village continued to be key attractions for visitors, many of whom had attended in previous years. You can read more about Bloom 2017 in this issue of Horticulture Connected. ✽

MUSHROOM PROMOTION

A mushroom promotion campaign for 2017 co-founded by Bord Bia and the Irish mushroom industry is underway in the UK and Ireland markets. The campaign focuses primarily on social media, PR and Google search word advertising. A new social media
account has been opened (Instagram), and potentially Snapchat will also be added. An application to secure further potential EU funding for mushroom promotional activity was submitted in April and if successful, promotions would start in December on a three-year programme. ✽

POTATO PROMOTION

Bord Bia’s joint industry and EU funded potato promotional campaign Potatoes: More Than a Bit on the Side, continues in 2017. Following the production of a 12-page recipe supplement with the Irish Independent to celebrate St Patrick’s Day, the next
major burst of promotional activity will commence in late June. This started with promotional activity at Bloom featured growing potato exhibits with messaging around the campaign and the contribution that potatoes make to a healthy balanced diet. The campaign potato character ‘Bud’ had a highly visible presence in and around the Bord Bia Food Village at Bloom, becoming a ‘selfie magnet’ for Bloom visitors, young and old. A new potato rainbow salad recipe optimising the nutritional intake of potatoes and vegetables was featured as the key take-home Bloom recipe. The promotional activity in June and July will feature print, out of home and digital advertising focused on driving consumers back to the campaign website www.potato.ie The out of home posters will include coverage on bus shelters, as well as DART and Luas lines in the Dublin area. The core messaging reassures consumers that potatoes are fat-free, gluten-free and a good source of dietary fibre, while always being delicious and easy to prepare. The campaign website now carries over 100 delicious potato recipes that are 300-500 calories per portion and take 25 minutes or less to prepare/cook. ✽

STRAWBERRY PROMOTION

2017 was the 10th year of National Strawberry Week, rebranded to ‘Celebrate Strawberry Week’ to be less formal and more engaging to consumers. A new logo was designed, as well as a version for Celebrate Strawberry Season, so that content generated can be used for the rest of the growing season. The focus this year was on social media, and content for this included recipes, recipe videos, infographics, and a grower video. Other activities included a schools competition and radio show sponsorship. Throughout the campaign, the high vitamin C content of strawberries was highlighted. The highlight of the campaign this year was a show garden at Bloom titled the ‘Strawberry Beds Garden’ designed by Maeve O’Neill which was used to launch the week, and which was a focus for PR activity at the show. The garden was featured on the front page of the Irish Independent on the opening day of Bloom, and was used throughout the show for the sampling of strawberries. It gave the public an opportunity to meet growers, and find out more about the health benefits of strawberries. ✽

FIELD VEGETABLE CENSUS

The Department of Agriculture, Food & Marine supported by Bord Bia has recently completed a census of the field vegetable sector. It shows that the area of field vegetable production is 4,267ha compared with the last census completed in 2008 when the area was
4,590ha. Grower numbers are now estimated at 166 compared with 212 growers in 2008. Further details on the census are carried in a separate article on the census in the edibles section. ✽

GARDENING IN IRELAND MARKET RESEARCH

Bord Bia has just completed a comprehensive research project on gardening in Ireland. The research included a national survey, an online survey of gardeners, on-site visit to gardeners, visit to garden centres with gardeners and conversations with garden centre managers. An overview of the outcomes of this research is detailed in a separate article in this publication. ✽

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