Ireland's food board, Bord Bia, has announced that it is increasing its investment in the German food and beverage market, as Irish exporters look beyond the UK.
The group says that the German grocery retail market was worth €234 billion in 2016, and it is forecast to be worth €259 billion by 2021.
Speaking at the Anuga trade fair in Germany, Bord Bia CEO Tara McCarthy said that the organisation has identified a number of initiatives in the region to exploit its potential for Irish food and drink exporters.
"Irish food and drink exports to Germany performed impressively in the first half of 2017, with a year-on-year increase of 24%, driven by significant growth in dairy, sheep meat, horticulture, seafood, prepared foods and beverages."
"It is a premium market – our sixth largest – with an estimated value of €600 million last year," McCarthy added.
Export Potential
Bord Bia says that Irish beef continues to perform well in Germany, with exports rising to €142 million in 2016, from €92 million four years ago. It plans to continue this trend with additional promotional activity from 2018 onwards.
The organisation is also planning to promote Irish lamb in the German market, which, it says, has a traditionally low consumption level per capita, but strong potential for growth.
The food board notes that private-label penetration in Germany is one of the highest in Europe, and so it is looking to unlock opportunities in this area.
Bord Bia intends to focus on ten private-label categories, including yoghurt, frozen chicken, ice cream and frozen desserts, functional meal replacements, superfoods, chocolate, and frozen pizzas/pies.
“We want to unlock opportunities by matching Irish suppliers to suitable retailer accounts, and to enable growth for Irish food and drink companies and those German retailers," added McCarthy.
© 2017 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Sarah Harford. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine.
