The quarterly IEA Food and Drink Council meeting will take place in Teagasc Ashtown on Wednesday August 10th. Click here to see agenda. We will be returning to the theme of cost competitiveness and how Ireland is performing.  Dr Constantin Gurdgiev gave his views on this at the February meeting and it will be interesting to see if Grant Thornton share his views. We will also get an overview of Enterprise Ireland's Lean Business Offer which is very popular in the current climate with companies seeking a competitive advantage in every thing they do.   Finally, we will hear from Investec about how companies can manage risk in the currency markets.   

Thursday, 14th July 2011 (Source: IEA)

An Irish Exporters delegation met with Minister for Transport Leo Varadkar T.D. last week, to urge him to immediately address a number of transport issues affecting the cost and efficiency of exporting goods to overseas markets.

Please click here to access a copy of the memo sent to the Minister following the meeting on July 7th.

If you have any queries on the matters arising, please contact John Whelan, Chief Executive, Irish Exporters Association on tel: 01 661 2182 or email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

The Irish Exporters Association is delighted to invite you to the “ The Irish Exporters Association -Top 250 Exporters Publication” launch event.

Today (27th June 2011), the IEA announced that the successful development of a Craft Butcher export cluster , as part of it’s Channel Clusters programme with the global distribution partner, Scobie and Junor.

The successful food businesses in the cluster are ; Lawlors Butchers Ltd, Martin Carey Meats Ltd, Orielglen Trading Ltd, Hugh Maguire Ltd and Tuite’s Butchers Ltd. All are members of the Associated Craft Butchers of Ireland (ACBI), which, in total, comprises over 500 members in Ireland.

Thursday, 16th June 2011 (Source: Dept. Agriculture, Food and the Marine)

The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Simon Coveney TD, today emphasised the “need for the development of a strong, recognisable, national brand for Irish food and food products.” Minister Coveney was opening the inaugural National Food and Agribusiness Summit at Croke Park, where he addressed the conference on a range of issues. The Minister presented a positive assessment of the prospects for the Irish food and agribusiness sector and referred to “Ireland’s competitive advantage, based on the country’s pre-existing global image of a ‘green’ island, as well as a sustainable, grass-based, year-round production system with its associated low-carbon footprint.”

To read the full press release click here.

Tuesday, 14th June 2011 (Source: IEA)

On Thursday 9th June the Irish Exporters Association offered members a free 60 minute one-to-one market entry clinic with our new strategic partner, Gateway Baltic.

Friday, 10th June 2011(Source:IEA)

Today (10th June) the IEA announced that the latest cluster of five SME food companies on the Channel Clusters Development Programme, have achieved strong sales growth and listings with Ireland’s leading foodservice supplier, Pallas Foods.

To read the full press release click here

Monday, 6th June 2011(Source: Bord Bia)

Bloom, Bord Bia’s gardening, food and family festival finishes today and the fifth year of the event has been its most successful yet. Bloom attracted almost 90,000 visitors to the 70 acre site at the visitors centre in the Phoenix Park Dublin over the June Bank holiday weekend.

For the full press release click here

Friday, 3rd June 2011. (Source:Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine )

The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Simon Coveney TD, today (Friday 3rd June 2011) announced the creation of 158 new jobs in the Seafood Processing Sector. The Processing Scheme provides state investment aimed at generating efficiencies in the processing sector. 18 companies have been approved for grant aid of €1.7 million representing a total investment of €7.4 million in the sector. The jobs will be created over a three year period.

To read the full Press Release click here

Tuesday, 31st May 2011 (Source:IEA)

 Today (31st May 2011), the IEA announced that the latest five food entrepreneurs, who recently completed an Irish Exporters Association (IEA) specialist food business training programme, have secured valuable new sales listings with the PRM Group – one of Ireland’s largest retail distributors. The successful food businesses were: Natasha’s Living Food, Coolattin Cheddar, Clinton Foods, Safa Food and Kush Shellfish.

To read the full press release click here

Saturday, 28th May 2001 (Source: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine)

Chinese Market Offers Great Opportunities for Irish Agri-Food and Seafood Exports

The Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Simon Coveney TD, today described the visit to Ireland by the Chinese Vice-Minister as “very successful” and confirmed that, as a result of the visit, the two Ministers were today signing “an action plan on mutual co-operation between the two countries in the agri-food and fisheries sectors.”

To read the full Press Release click here.

Friday, 27th May 2011 (Source: Enterprise Ireland)

 Enterprise Ireland is working with SuperValu to help entrepreneurial local companies take the first step to retail success. The programme has delivered €16m in sales for participants to date Friday, 27th May 2011 – Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Richard Bruton TD, today launched the 2011 Enterprise Ireland SuperValu Supplier Development Programme. The programme will see ten young Irish food start-up companies receive customized training and one-on-one mentoring support.

To read the full Press Release click here.

Friday, 27th May 2011 (Source: Bord Bia)

Bord Bia’s Pathways for Growth Food & Drink Summit Friday May 27th 2011 The strong growth in Irish food and drink exports, which saw values increase by 11% in 2010, is continuing in 2011 with exports for the January to May period estimated to have increased by €400 million, or 13%, to total €3.44 billion. The new figures were released today at Bord Bia’s “Pathways for Growth Food & Drink Summit”, which took place at the UCD Smurfit School, Blackrock, Co. Dublin.

To read the full Press Release click here.

Terry O'Driscoll, Tax Partner with PwC, gave the May Council meeting a macroeconomic overview of the Tax landscape for Irish exporters. He started his presentation by covering the area of corporate tax. He stated that Ireland moved to a single Corporate tax rate for trading profits in the early 2000s, which is very attractive and gives Irish companies a lot of advantages.

Thursday, 26th May 2011 (Source: Enterprise Ireland) 

Enterprise Ireland is calling on companies that are successfully trading in Ireland to apply for funding to explore the potential to export their services and internationalise their business. The competitive €1m 'Going Global Fund ' is specifically designed to support domestically-focused companies to explore and validate market opportunity in a new market or to introduce a new service or product to an existing market.

To read the full Press Release click here.