95% of consumers in Ireland would like to see ‘Country of Origin’ labelling on all grocery food and drink products. Only 11% of shoppers surveyed believe that country of origin on food is very clear. The research by Love Irish Food, was conducted by Ignite Research among 1,000 respondents across Ireland, in October. Respondents were wholly or partially responsible for their households grocery shopping.
87% of Irish consumers try to buy Irish with 74% of consumers also confirming that they make a deliberate effort to buy ‘Love Irish Food’ labelled products.
Apart from a minority of food products such as beef and fish there is no legislative requirement to show country of origin on made/processed grocery food products, unless its absence might mislead consumers as to the true origin of the product. As a result Irish shoppers are confronted by mis-directed information as they try to be confident in the food that they feed to their families. Brands that sound like they are produced in Ireland using for example Irish family names or old Irish brands that were once produced here but are now imported are causing confusion to Irish shoppers in their search to know where these products are produced. Lyons Tea, Cully & Sully soups and HB Ice Cream are examples of products that some people believe are Irish made. By using local Irish business addresses on such packs, shoppers may think that the brands that the are buying are produced here in Ireland.
In response to the research finding Kieran Rumley, Executive Director of Love Irish Food said “At a time when confidence in what you are buying and knowing where everyday grocery products are produced is critial to Irish households, Irish shoppers feel greater clarity on labelling is required. Made at an Irish or even English, French or Polish address would give shoppers the information that they need to decide if they want to continue buying from that source. However, in the continued absence of this information, the Love Irish Food website www.loveirishfood.ie provides information on all our member brands and their products that are being manufactured locally, here in Ireland”.
There are an estimated 300,000 people working directly & indirectly in the Irish agri food industry. Love Irish Food member brands employ approximatley 30,000 people directly & indirectly working with companies throughout Ireland. These jobs account for around €800m in wages and contribute over €250m per annum to the Irish exchequer.
Commenting on the research, Chairman of Love Irish Food, Jim Power said: “This research confirms for our members that having the Love Irish Food logo on the pack has a positive impact and enhances the motivation to purchase for the majority of consumers”.
“The bottom line is that this is an industry with serious potential. As well as making a very high value added contribution to the national economy, the food industry is now the key driver of regional economic activity and the mainstay of rural towns. The key to unlocking that potential is to support small indigenous producers so that they can continue to create new products and become strong local and global brands. The success of Love Irish Food member companies such as Glanbia, Britvic, Barry’s Tea and Cadbury shows how important the Irish food brand is.”
Love Irish Food was launched in 2009 with 29 brands from a small number of companies. Today, Love Irish Food has 100+ brands from over 70 companies. Love Irish Food promotes Irish produced food & drinks brands and we are encouraged by the positive signs we are seeing among Irish food and drink producers in 2014.
Over €3bn worth of food and drink products are imported annually, however Irish consumers are sensitive to imports from certain markets. 25% of consumers admitted that there are countries that they will not purchase food from, with 11% of consumers citing Israel as a country that they would not purchase food and drink from.
