Agrifood business ‘on brink of golden age’: Irish farm minister

10-Jan-2014 - Last updated on 28-Sep-2021 at 11:40 GMT

Related tags Oxford farming conference Food Food industry

Agri-food businesses face “a golden age” Simon Coveney, Irish minister for agriculture, fisheries and the marine, told the Oxford Farming Conference, the day before Irish food board Bord Bia confirmed food and drink exports reached nearly £8.27bn (€10bn) for the first time last year.

In this exclusive video interview, Coveney told FoodManufacture.co.uk this new age for food businesses would bring both extraordinary opportunities and challenges. Surging global demand for food products was being driven by population growth, economic development and urbanisation, he said.

Europe should be become a world leader in championing the growth of sustainable food production – using all appropriate technologies, including genetically modified foods, Coveney continued.

World leader

Bord Bia revealed export values for dairy product and ingredients exceeded £2.48bn (€3bn) for the first time.

Exports of meat and livestock products totalled £2.73bn (€3.3bn) and prepared foods £1.36bn (€1.65bn).

The UK remains Ireland’s largest export destination for food and drink, accounting for 42% of total deliveries valued at an estimated £3.39 (€4.1bn) last year.

Aidan Cotter, chief executive Bord Bia, said: “Among the highlights of 2013 have been the double-digit growth in dairy and beef export values, the strong recovery in sales to euro-zone destinations, and the exceptional performance of the industry in China, now Ireland’s second largest dairy and third largest pork market.

‘Relentless growth in global demand’

“The industry is well positioned to exploit the relentless growth in the global demand for food, underpinned by its grass-based production systems and its ability to build its presence on both new and established markets.”

Coveney has been a member of the European Parliament and has served as human rights co-ordinator for the largest political group in the European Parliament, the EPP-ED – twice authoring the Parliament's Annual Report on Human Rights.

Meanwhile, don’t miss the second part of FoodManufacture.co.uk’s video interview with Coveney, on Monday January 13, in which he offers frank views of the effectiveness of the UK’s food and farming policy.

Also, speaking at the Oxford Farming conference, environment secretary Owen Paterson, for the first time, voiced long-standing food industry fears that the UK risked becoming “the world museum”, of food and farming if it continued to reject GM science.

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