More than 70 representatives from the Irish meat industry, including independent butchers and processors, gathered at the Radisson Blu Hotel in Dublin to hear from Niall Browne, CEO of Dawn Meats, on the challenges and opportunities within the UK and Irish beef processing sector.
Tara McCarthy CEO of Bord Bia welcomed the Meat Business Women initiative to Ireland and gave delegates vital insight to trade flows, the need to be actively ready for change and the need to innovate to have impact. She also spoke about the importance of networking and taking more time to actively explore new opportunities with new connections.
McCarthy explained how Bord Bia has been heavily involved in the Diversity and Inclusion agenda and welcome further engagement from the meat sector which she said is, “the most exciting industry to work in”.
Noelia Garcia, area vice president of Ecolab and Aida Cierco, global sustainability manager for KP Films also addressed the audience and gave insight to their roles and how their businesses were developing a sustainability agenda.
Lisa Hand of Dawn Meats and Meat Business Women committee member said, “We are delighted to have brought Meat Business Women to Ireland. The feedback has been fantastic and we are already planning next steps as strong networks will become more important than ever as we edge closer to Brexit.”
Laura Ryan, chair of Meat Business Women, added: “To launch in Ireland had been hugely exciting for us. The UK and Ireland are such close trading partners already, but Meat Business Women extending its operating model to Ireland will help to strengthen that connectivity. This is another step in what I fully intend to be a global programme, following recent Meat Business Women launch events in Australia and New Zealand. It’s so important to attract and support female talent into our sector around the world. It was great for Tara and Niall to headline the session and bringing valuable learnings to the session”