Food & Beverage Asia February/March 2020

34
ON THE TABLE
on the roof of Butlers Chocolates’ factory
in Dublin accounts for approximately
14% of the company’s annual energy
needs.
(From left) Kieran Fitzgerald, European Beef and Lamb Campaign Manager, Bord Bia; Chef Yasuhiro Fujio; and
Ciarán Gallagher in Tokyo
Bord Bia is a state agency commissioned
by the Irish government to bring Irish
food and drink to the world. Besides
promoting Irish food and developing
business opportunities for Irish companies
in the international market, the agency also
works with a team of market specialists and
local professionals to identify opportunities
in different markets and build the networks
needed to make business happen.
Bord Bia is also a part of Food Wise
2025, Ireland’s national 10-year plan
for developing the agri-food sector. The
initiative is themed “Local Roots, Global
Reach” to reflect the importance of gaining
a deep understanding of what consumers,
often in distant markets, want, and
communicating those messages back to
Irish farmers and food companies.
Gallagher outlined the initiative’s ambition
is to grow the value of Irish exports to
19 billion euros by 2025, and elaborated,
“We foresee a major portion of the demand
to come from Asia, hence we are working
with local teams to explore opportunities
for Ireland’s food exports in this region.
This means being actively out there in
the field, getting to know who the key
stakeholders are, and building strategic
relationships.
“The success of Irish food and drink
exports which we have experienced in
Asia recently can be credited to the quality
and safety of our products and regulatory
systems. This encourages us to enter
new markets, and continue with efforts to
promote our sustainability credentials.”
The goal on sustainability
In 2012, Bord Bia launched Origin
Green, the food and drink sustainability
programme, to drive a further preference
for Irish food and drink. The Origin Green
voluntary programme is aimed at bringing
together the country’s food industry – from
farmers to food producers, retailers to
foodservice operators – with a common
goal of sustainable food production.
One member of Origin Green is Butlers
Chocolate, an Irish manufacturer of
luxury chocolate and confectionery, which
joined the programme to become “more
formalised and structured” in its plans
and initiatives in the area of sustainability.
In an interview with Origin Green, Aisling
Walsh, Marketing Director of Butlers
Chocolates, labelled energy and sourcing
as key focuses within the company’s
sustainability plan. On energy, Walsh
pointed out the installation of solar panels
Walsh continued, “In terms of sourcing,
there are two main items at the heart
of our business – chocolate and coffee.
For chocolate, we have signed up to
the Cocoa Horizons Initiatives, which
is an independently verified initiative
working to support the livelihoods of cocoa
farmers and their families in West Africa.
Butlers Chocolate Cafés use Fairtrade
Coffee, which is a badge of sustainability
and ethical sourcing. We are actively
looking at ways of reducing waste and
have introduced fully recyclable cups in
our cafés.”
To Bord Bia’s Gallagher, sustainable food
refers to the food that is produced in such
a way that conserves the planet’s natural
resources while also being respectful to the
community, as he explained, “The world
is facing a continuing human population
growth with a projected increase of 2 billion
by 2050. The big challenge is to produce
enough food to feed a growing population
without comprising on the environmental
impacts of food production.”
Through Origin Green, Ireland’s food
industry is able to set and achieve
measurable sustainability targets with the
goal of reducing environmental impacts
– in areas such as raw material sourcing,
waste management, energy management
and social sustainability – while serving
the community.
He added, “There is a clear shift in the
Asian consumer attitudes in sustainability.
Furthermore, there is another rising trend
among consumers who are not only healthconscious
but also concerned about the
environmental impact their food. These
demands are on the rise as consumers are
willing to pay more for sustainable offerings
and for the products they can trust.
FOOD & BEVERAGE ASIA FEBRUARY / MARCH 2020