Irish love their farmers, why don’t Kiwis?

This is in sharp contrast to what’s happening 20,000km away in Ireland, where the people are proud of what their farmers do. Peter Burke reports.

In Ireland the public are proud of what their farmers are doing, says Padraig Brennan, director of markets for Origin Green.

Run by Bord Bia (the Irish Food Board), Origin Green is a highly successful quality assurance programme that most of Ireland’s dairy farmers have signed up to;

so have the nation’s major food

and drink manufacturers, some

beef farmers and even major retail outlets such as McDonalds restaurant chain.

The programme seeks to assure buyers of Irish food and drink about the quality and sustainable way the nation’s food products are produced and is the envy of many other nations, including NZ.

Since it was launched in 2012, Origin Green has essentially been a business-to-business initiative targeting wholesale buyers of Irish food products. However, Brennan says they are now about to launch the idea of the programme to the wider public and are confident it will have their support. A simple information campaign will make the public aware of food and drink makers’ sustainability.

“Our research shows consumers in Ireland think a farmer is a good person; consumers have sense of pride in what the people on the land do, especially in the areas of sustainability and climate change,” he told Rural News.

“Consumers are becoming increasingly informed about this and are aware of the challenges globally. They realise that everyone has a role to play and are proud to see the Irish food and drink industry making an effort to improve. I suppose most Irish consumers still have a close link to agriculture and so they understand the nature of the message and are well disposed to it.”

Brennan says even in large cities such as Dublin there is strong support for farmers and food and drink producers.

“The farmer is central to the communication and telling the story about how a product is produced,” he explains. “Irish consumers like to put a face to a product because it links them back to the land. If anything, that is getting stronger as time goes on.”

About 16,000 of Ireland’s 17,500 dairy farmers are signed up to Origin Green. Some of these are very small farms (12 - 20 cows) of a size now disappearing from the industry anyway. Brennan says the scheme is now being rolled out to Ireland’s 49,000 beef farmers and he’s confident they will quickly sign up.

Under the Origin Green scheme, farms are audited to make sure they comply with its strict conditions. The various elements in the scheme are subject to evidence-based science audits.

Green ambassadors

Padraig Brennan says Origin Green was set up to help support Ireland’s exports of food and drink products.

As part of this proposition they have sought to get to know their customers and the challenges they face and to make Origin Green part of the solution for them.

Collaboration is a huge part of the ethos of the scheme.

“We run an ‘ambassadors programme’ in which we fund top people to complete a master’s degree in sustainability,” Brennan explains. “As part of that programme, they undertake three six-month work placements with leading food and drink companies around the world.

“That has helped us understand the challenges these organisations are facing and are trying to address. This in turn allows us to explain what we are trying to achieve through Origin Green. By building those relationships and discussions we are getting traction and influence in the market.”

Brennan says by getting alongside major global companies and understanding their needs, Origin Green helps pave the way for Irish food and drink exporters to develop new markets and to better meet the needs of existing ones. Part of the message is that any Origin Green brand represents all facets of Irish food production and has strong government support.

Origin Green is not a generic product, and has to be flexible to meet the needs of specific markets or countries.

“What sustainability might mean to someone in China can be very different from what it might mean to a customer in, say, France,” Brennan said.

“We are trying to work out which elements of Origin Green are most relevant to different markets and make adjustments accordingly. There is no point is saying ‘this is Origin Green, take it or leave it’.”