A revolution in marketing Irish food and drink aims to give the sector an edge among discerning consumers worldwide

On April 18th, 1894 250 people attended a meeting in Dublin which ended with a resolution to found the Irish Agricultural Organisation Society.

The meeting culminated many years of assiduous work by Horace Plunkett and a few dedicated associates who had travelled the country trying to organise support for a more modernised and co-operative approach to Irish agriculture.

Plunkett addressed the meeting for an hour under the banner “Better Farming, Better Business, Better Living” and ended to rapturous applause with the following verse;

If what seemed afar so good

turn to nothing in your hands

On again, the virtue lies

in the struggle not the prize.

Plunkett, exhausted but elated, left the meeting feeling that he had started “an industrial revolution”.

On June 21st, 2012, 250 people attended a meeting in Dublin and were introduced to a new revolution in Irish agricultural marketing; the launch of a sustainability initiative for Irish food and drink which will give Ireland the most comprehensive and verifiable commitment to sustainability of any country of origin in the world.

The meeting culminated many years of work under the auspices of Bord Bia, whose chief executive Aiden Cotter introduced a new brand Origin Green which will be used by Irish food and drink producers to proclaim that Irish farm produce is the best in the world.

Plunkett and his associates were motivated in the late 19th century by the fact that Irish produce was being shut out of its main market, Britain, by the more efficient and organised Danes who had reorganised their agricultural sector in the 1860s and had over 600 co-operatives by the 1890s. In Ireland at the time “production methods were still primitive and the marketing system, if such it could be called, was deplorable”.

The problems faced by the sector in the early 21st century were equally daunting.

David Bell and Mary Shelman from the Harvard Business School were engaged to advise on a new marketing strategy for Irish agriculture and identified the main issues:

Fragmentation: Ireland’s production system is inefficient with too many small producers who lack the scale and capital required to adopt better technology;

Lack of consumer orientation: most Irish food exports are sold as commodities or on a business-to-business basis, producers therefore lack contact with the end consumer;

Low confidence in the future: resulting in lack of investment in the future and lack of talent entering the industry.

From his grave Horace Plunkett must be proud that his initiative ultimately led to one strong Irish brand, Kerrygold, visible in the world’s supermarkets, and to global food giants, Kerry and Glanbia, which arose from the co-operative movement. But he would also be disappointed that the three problems identified by the Harvard team in the 21st century were equally familiar to him in the 19th century.

Business strategy

If Plunkett’s main solution to the problems of Irish agriculture was co-operation, the Harvard team proposed “co-opetition” – a business strategy where firms compete in some areas and cooperate in others. A number of Irish food businesses are now actively engaged in this practice.

On a wider level it was noted Irish agriculture was potentially in a very favourable position to capitalise on global lifestyle trends. Ireland is at an enviable starting point in the race to produce the type of food growing numbers of consumers are demanding, it is universally associated with the colour green and its grass-based production system scores on sustainability and advanced nutrition.

The most radical proposal to address the problems and capitalise on the opportunities of Irish agriculture is the creation of a brand – Origin Green – based on a sustainability promise to consumers.

Origin Green is an umbrella brand that positions “Irish” at the heart of the brand promise in a sustainability charter that will permit participants to engage directly with the challenges of sustainability; reducing energy inputs, minimising carbon footprint and lessening environmental impact.

The objective is to make Ireland a world leader in sustainability by 2016 and a world leader in high quality sustainable food production which will be recognised by international retailers and food service providers and in the process help to provide more secure prices for Irish producers.

Branding

Origin Green will work in three main ways to enhance the return on Irish agricultural produce.

Firstly, by enabling existing and new Irish brands to capitalise on the sustainability positioning. Secondly, to encourage global brands using Irish ingredients to do the same and, thirdly, to encourage retailers using Irish ingredients for their own brands to make their customers aware of their Irish origin.

Origin Green provides a solution to a problem that has plagued Irish agriculture, and therefore Ireland, for hundreds of years; the vicious circle of insufficient resources to develop strong brands that leads to a weak bargaining position.

Bord Bia executives are travelling the length and breadth of the country explaining the benefits of this initiative and signing up farmers and food and drink businesses to a new sustainability agenda and charter.

Although their journey will be no less important than that of Plunkett and his associates prior to the establishment of the IAOS in 1894, let’s hope it is a little less arduous. R A Anderson (Plunkett’s main organiser) travelled by train, sidecar, horseback and bicycle, holding meetings in all kinds of buildings and addressing all manner of suspicious and sometimes hostile audiences.

In a month he slept in 30 different places – he was threatened in Clare by a group with drawing knives ready to “cut the livers” out of him and escaped in the guards van of the West Clare Railway.