Bord Bia - the Irish Food Board - hosted a consumer food and drinks industry day this week in Dublin. Entitled 'Paths to Growth', the conference was attended by representatives from more than 100 of Ireland's food, drink and ingredients manufacturing companies.
The event was designed to explore potential growth within the Irish food and drinks industry, in what is a rapidly changing environment. The marketing environment in which Irish food and drinks companies are operating has changed dramatically in recent years.
Fuelled by significantly raised disposable incomes, changing consumer lifestyles, demographics and purchasing habits, new competitors have been attracted into the marketplace; new supply channels have been created and significantly altered retail and foodservice structures.
This poses major challenges for Irish food and drink suppliers, but also offers major opportunities. Above all, the challenges at home serve to highlight the nature of the changing marketplace in which the Irish food and drink industry must compete, as a major exporter, on overseas markets.
"Irish companies are facing many challenges in established markets such as increasing concentration and the growing power of a small number of key customers in both retail and foodservice -not just in Britain but also across Europe as outlined in the presentation by AC Nielsen," said Bord Bia chief executive Michael Duffy.
The organisation believes there are plenty of opportunities across the £130 billion UK retail and foodservice sectors. The important thing, said Duffy, is that companies have a clear understanding of the dynamics of the consumer and marketplace they are targeting, and that their product proposition fits with the demands of consumers.
Penny Coates of Asda, the second largest multiple retailer in the UK and part of the Walmart family - the world's largest retailer -featured as the keynote speaker at the event. In her presentation, Coates highlighted the potential opportunities for Irish suppliers with Asda and outlined the scope for export opportunities through the Walmart network.
Brakes, the leading wholesaler to the UK foodservice industry, addressed the key elements of its growth strategy and the potential opportunities for Irish suppliers within this £24 billion sector. Both Asda and Brakes focused on the need for innovative and exclusive products that their customers want in order for Irish suppliers to secure listings within their businesses.
Innovaro, a leading consulting and research firm specialising in the area of innovation addressed Irish suppliers in a dedicated workshop on the topic of innovation. Innovaro reinforced the message that new product development is the lifeblood of food and drink companies, delivering higher than average returns and profitability than other firms.
The company also emphasised that to be successful in innovation, food and drink companies must exploit emerging consumer trends, adopting a consumer-led approach to new product development.
Bord Bia presented research into the changing attitudes of the Irish consumer to food & drink and comparisons with the British consumer, findings that will help companies formulate more effective marketing strategies tailored to the consumer dynamics in both markets.
The study confirmed that Irish consumers have an accelerated pace of life and busier lifestyles in 2003 and have turned to more convenience foods. Despite this however, there remains a larger proportion of Irish consumers having traditional attitudes to cooking and eating when compared with their British counterparts.
AC Nielsen, one of the world's leading market information companies, provided an overview of the retail sector across Europe, identifying areas of commonality across markets. Consumer and marketplace dynamics will be discussed, and the scope for transfer of export success from one market tothe next were explored during this presentation.