Dairy: Food for Life Annual Report 2009 - The National Dairy Council

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6 consumer audience. As of early 2010, the trade mark is now used by ten Irish dairies and appears on over 740 retail milk and cream products. Feedback on the campaign, from both consumers and participating dairies, indicated, as early as January 2010, the strength of positive feeling it had engendered. Some 72 per cent of consumers surveyed commented favourably on the television advertisement while 55 per cent stated that milk with the NDC mark is now either the only milk they would consider or the milk they would look out for first. Meanwhile, all dairies rated the campaign around the trade mark as positive and 60 per cent were able to provide concrete evidence of specific customer accounts that had benefited from the trade mark. While the trade mark can be viewed as a marketing initiative, underpinning it is a comprehensive and robust audit programme, designed to monitor and verify that it features on milk farmed in the Republic of Ireland. No small credit for the success of the launch can be attributed to the choice of Paul O’Connell as spokesperson. A national sports figure who speaks convincingly to urban and rural, and younger and older consumers, Paul carried out his role as ‘voice’ of the campaign with great conviction and it is the first promotional activity he has undertaken outside the sporting arena. In a short period of time, we can speak confidently of the trade mark playing an important role in safeguarding the livelihoods of dairy farming families. Looking to 2010 and beyond, the NDC believes it will continue to grow in significance. Though it was certainly a centrepiece of NDC’s Marketing & Promotion activity, the ‘Farmed in the Republic of Ireland’ trade mark was not the only significant output in the programme in 2009. A calendar of promotional events has now evolved with highlights including our Pancake Tuesday promotion with the Irish Osteoporosis Society. In 2009, the assistance of Ryan Tubridy and Derry and Sally Anne Clark of the renowned Dublin restaurant L’Ecrivain, helped the NDC promote the importance of dairy in the diet and received widespread media coverage, including a number of radio interviews. Meanwhile, participation at key farming events, such as the National Ploughing Championships, the Tullamore Show and National Dairy Show, has proved extremely successful as a means of communicating directly to our farming stakeholders and, in 2009, to further develop our links with the farming community, we were delighted to engage in a partnership agreement with Macra na Feirme. National Dairy Council Annual Report 2009 Advocacy & Communications Further evidence of the NDC’s determination to engage as directly as possible with the farming community was the launch of the NDC Quality Milk Awards in October, as part of its Advocacy & Communications programme. The Quality Milk Awards represented a concerted new initiative, recognising the realities of modern farming and of the need for greater lines of communication between farmers and consumers. The quality of the award nominees received through our member co-ops was outstanding and the media profile generated through the supporting PR campaign confirmed a huge opportunity to build awareness among consumers of the values of Irish dairying. The award also benefited from an expert judging panel, which included Professor Paddy Wall, Associate Professor of Public Health at UCD, Dr David Gleeson, Milk Quality Research, Teagasc and Jack Kennedy, Dairy Editor, Irish Farmers Journal. At the awards ceremony, which was held in early October in Citywest, Co. Dublin, Ireland’s top dairy farmer for 2009 was named as Brochan Cocoman from Kilwarden, Kill, Naas, Co Kildare. A supplier to Glanbia, Brochan was presented with the NDC Perpetual Cup and a cheque for €5,000. A national category award was also presented to manufacturing milk supplier Michael O’Donovan from Gurranes, Ballineen, Co Cork, who supplies milk to Lisavaird Co-op. Singled out for special commendation were: • Richard Claxton, Colt, Ballyroan, Portlaoise, Co. Laois (supplying Glanbia); • Gordan Kingston, Tawnies, Clonakilty, Co. Cork (supplying Clona Dairy Products); • Sean and Goretti Leahy, Corran, Waterfall, Co. Cork (supplying Bandon Co-op); and, • Cathal Moran, Curraghlane, Skeoughvosteen, via Borris, Co. Kilkenny (supplying Glanbia) Commending the finalists at the awards ceremony, Dr Gleeson noted: ‘The winners stand out for their attention to detail. Their record keeping is excellent and knowledge and enthusiasm for their work was obvious.’ Advocacy must have at its core accurate and up-to-date sciencebased information. To strengthen its credibility in this regard, the establishment of the Scientific, Nutrition & Technical Committee (SNT) was an important milestone of NDC activity in 2009. This Committee now provides expert guidance on the organisation’s science-based communications and will play a pivotal role in ensuring the highest standards underwrite all our health-care communications.
Recognising the important role of healthcare professionals as advocates for healthy lifestyle choices, DN Forum, a science newsletter which presents the latest peer-reviewed research findings on dairy, was published for the first time in early 2009. Three editions were produced over the year, reaching almost 5,000 Irish health professionals. The broader opportunity to communicate to consumers through the healthcare channel by providing attractively presented and targeted information has also been actively pursued and, by early 2010, three quarters of GP surgeries nationwide were distributing NDC nutritional guides. The NDC Dairy Den Programme developed this highly successful Guide to Toddler Nutrition in 2009, the first of a developing series of booklets on nutrition for mothers that will be enhanced in 2010. The NDC’s approach to reaching out through practical and effective means was further demonstrated by the highly successful Health & Wellbeing Evenings, which were pioneered in 2008 and rolled out further in 2009. Four separate events, co-hosted with North Cork Co-op in Kanturk; Arrabawn Co-op in Claregalway; Wexford Creamery in Wexford; and Connacht Gold in Westport, were extremely well attended and gained excellent feedback from the audiences. Proceeds raised were donated to a local charity of the co-ops’ choice. Effective advocacy strategies should have an international as well as national dimension and, during 2009, the NDC strengthened its involvement in fora such as the Global Dairy Platform, European Dairy Marketing Forum and the Utrecht Group. Formal links were also developed with The Dairy Council, Great Britain through the GB Alliance. Covering a number of areas of strategic interest, this alliance formally allows for information sharing between the two bodies and was pivotal to the securing of EU funding for the ‘Milk in Action’ Programme, as a strong transnational element is a prerequisite of such funding. At home, the NDC’s partnership with the Irish Osteoporosis Society (IOS) remains a highly productive and mutually beneficial relationship. A radio campaign involving television presenter Craig Doyle increased awareness that osteoporosis is a disease affecting both men and women. Central to the campaign was the new 3aday.ie website, which acts as a gateway to both the NDC and Irish Osteoporosis Society’s websites. School Milk Programme The School Milk Programme is central to the Dairy: Food for Life strategy and the nationwide launch of the ‘Fresh Milk Club’ to the country’s 3,300 national schools in September 2009 was a highpoint of activity last year. With 14,807 students enrolled in the programme in the months September-December 2009, across 500 targeted schools, the goal of raising participation by 12% on the year earlier figure (9,967) was well exceeded and this success points to further opportunities for growth National Dairy Council Annual Report 2009 7
Page 1: Dairy: Food for Life Annual Report
Page 4 and 5: 4 Chairman’s Statement INTRoDuCIN
Page 8 and 9: 8 ahead. The concept of the ‘Fres
Page 10 and 11: 10 REPORTS AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
Page 12 and 13: 12 The National Dairy Council State
Page 14 and 15: 14 National Dairy Council Annual Re
Page 16 and 17: 16 FIXED ASSETS National Dairy Coun
Page 18 and 19: 18 1. ACCOUNTING POLICIES National
Page 20 and 21: 20 6. DEBTORS: (Amounts falling due
Page 22 and 23: 22 Eamonn Bray (National Milk Agenc
Page 24 and 25: 24 Dr. Pat Dillon (Head of Centre,
Page 26: 26 PA/Admin Issues Management & Nut

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