Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture Food and the Marine, Andrew Doyle T.D., today officially opened the Irish pavilion at BIOFACH, the major global event for the Organic food sector in the calendar.  The event is held each year in Nuremberg, Germany and this year there were nine Irish companies on the Ireland stand, organised by Bord Bia. This year`s event is expected to bring together up to 2,500 exhibitors and up to 52,000 trade visitors from 134 countries.

Minister Doyle commented, "Biofach is the marquee global event for the Organic sector and it is essential that Irish companies in this sector are present to showcase their offering. Our Irish farmers continue to impress the discerning food consumer internationally through the quality and sustainability of their produce. The fact that we were once again able to increase the export figures to Germany in 2017 shows that the German consumer attaches great importance to this quality and sustainability.”

The Minister continued “We are serving this trend towards sustainable food with our premium Irish products.  The Irish Government is committed to further investing and growing our organic sector and I will be shortly announcing more details of a High Level Organic Strategy group for the development of the sector up to 2025.”

Minister Doyle also undertook some engagement with buyers of Irish organic food including an in-store Organic Irish Beef promotion at leading German Organic retailer, denn’s Biomarkt. At this event the Minister was joined by Bord Bia manager, Donal Denvir; Good Herdsmen Managing Director, John Purcell, and Irish Organic Beef farmer, Jane Shackleton. The delegation discussed further business opportunities for Organic Irish food suppliers with denn’s Regional Director..

The Minister also acknowledged the work of Bord Bia in preparation for this year’s Biofach,  which included a number of seminars, workshops and market missions to deliver insights and market knowledge to exhibitors. Bord Bia recently published an in-depth local report in to the Organic Sector in Germany, Europe’s largest market for Organic food and drink.

BIOFACH

The following Irish companies are exhibiting at Biofach’s Origin Green Ireland pavilion:

•  smRt Seaweed Ingredients www.smrt.ie/

•  Ethica Planet Foods www.facebook.com/ethicaplanetfoods/

• Glenisk www.glenisk.com

• Good Herdsmen www.goodherdsmen.ie

• Irish Seaspray www.irishseaspray.com

• Solaris Botanicals Tea www.solarisbotanicals.com

• The Good Fish Company www.goodfish.ie

• The Little Milk Company www.thelittlemilkcompany.ie

• This Is Seaweed Ltd. www.thisisseaweed.com

ENDS

Date Released: 15 February 2018