National Organic Week 2006 in Ireland

National Organic Week 2006 took place during the first days of November. It was the first initiative aiming to establish a clear organic message and increase sales of organic food in domestic market channels, but also aimed to establish the market potential for Irish organic food in other EU markets.

On the first All-Ireland organic food conference in Carrick-on-Shannon it was stated that the € 66 million per year consumers spend on organic food was set to grow significantly over the next five years. Food Minister Brendan Smith mentioned that the organic sector in Ireland was still very small in relation to agriculture as in whole. There were presently little more than 1,100 organic operators and 37,000 hectares of land was under organic production methods, representing less than 1 % of agricultural land.  Over 70 % of organic produce sold in Ireland is still imported.

A study, conducted by Bord Bia, revealed that over 60 % of organic products were purchased in multiple supermarkets, 22 % in retail outlets and the remaining 16 % through direct organic sellers as farmers markets, farm shops, health food stores, box schemes and butchers. Only 40 % of consumers, however, agreed that it was easy to find locally produced organic food. Bord Bia has developed a National Organic Marketing Plan in consultation with the Organic Market Development Group for the development of the sector over a three year period.

Irish Examiner