Bord Bia’s global programme of events for St Patrick’s Day
As St Patrick’s Day approaches, Bord Bia is preparing to bring Irish food and drink to an international audience with a series of promotional activities across 18 countries.
From Lagos to London, through its network of international offices, Bord Bia has scheduled events aimed at growing business in established markets and creating awareness of Ireland’s food and drink offering in emerging markets.
Quality Irish food and drink
The St Patrick’s themed global programme will include events for consumers, retailers, trade and foodservice operators to highlight the range, quality and supply capability of Irish food and drink.
Launching this year’s programme of activity, Bord Bia CEO Jim O’Toole said:
“St. Patrick's Day is a globally renowned festival and provides the industry with a wonderful opportunity to maximise the excellent reputation of Irish food, drink and horticulture and to showcase Origin Green - Ireland's national food and drink sustainability programme - abroad. Through opportunities with existing and new customers Bord Bia will engage in senior level trade meetings, online campaigns, retail and restaurant promotions, in-store tastings, cookery demonstrations, media briefings, and on-the-ground Irish food festivals, all with an aim of increasing the global footprint of Ireland’s food and drink industry.”
Planned promotional events:
In the UK, Irish produce will be showcased to over 30,000 people at the Lord Mayor of London’s official St. Patrick’s Day consumer event at Trafalgar Square. This is a public event with over 30,000 people in attendance annually.
In China, where online retail sales exceed $1 trillion each year, Bord Bia’s team in Shanghai is partnering with high-end imported supermarket CitySuper to promote Irish cheese, butter, and whiskey, with a weeklong promotion covering e-commerce and four physical stores in Shanghai.
On 17 March in France, Bord Bia CEO, Jim O’Toole, will welcome Minister of State for Trade Promotion, Digital and Company Regulation, Dara Calleary T.D. at a trade event hosted by the CEO of Carrefour France, Rami Baitiéh, connecting 15 Irish food and drink suppliers with 17 members of Carrefour’s senior management and purchasing team.
In Italy, Bord Bia is doing a takeover of public transport with Quality Assured beef advertising campaigns, tailored to St Patrick’s Day, displayed across trams in Milan.
Bord Bia is running a new Cook Like an Irishman consumer campaign across digital platforms in the Netherlands, showing how accessible and enjoyable cooking with Irish beef can be.
In Singapore, Bord Bia is organising two Irish beef butchery demonstrations for St. Patrick’s Day for foodservice customers from 5-star hotels and Michelin-starred restaurants. Bord Bia’s co-funded EU campaigns are also running across Malaysia, Philippines and Japan under the banner, “Sustainable European Dairy from Ireland”.
Minister of State with responsibility for Research and Development, Farm Safety, and New Market Development, Martin Heydon T.D., will visit Korea, to chair Bord Bia’s Meat Sector Roundtable discussion in Seoul with high potential beef and pork customers.
In Japan, Bord Bia represented Ireland at the FoodEx 2022 trade show in Tokyo which is the busiest trade show of the year in Japan and is expected to deliver opportunities for Bord Bia clients across the priority sectors of meat, dairy, seafood and beverages.
In the US, Bord Bia had an information stand at the Annual Meat Conference in Dallas, Texas as part of Bord Bia’s EU co-funded beef and lamb campaign in the US, launched in January.
And finally, Bord Bia is hosting Irish food and drink companies in Germany this month at the Internorga trade fair for the hospitality and restaurant Industry in Hamberg from 10 -14 March, and at Prowein, one of the world’s leading wine and spirits trade show, in Düsseldorf from 19 - 21 March. Both trade shows will attract in excess of 100,000 visitors.
Bord Bia wishes its clients, customers and all stakeholders a very happy St. Patrick's Day!
