Speaking ahead of Gulfood 2017, where Bord Bia will be promoting the Golden Irish eggs brand from February 26 at Dubai World Trade Centre, spokesman Brian Eivers said its campaign would focus on the country’s clean and green pedigree.
“We‘re focused on offering customers a range of high-quality, 100 per cent Republic of Ireland BRC Grade A eggs. With a strong customer based across both retail and foodservice industries, we’re well placed to service the needs of a growing market,” Eivers added.
Present in the Gulf since 2014, Bord Bia is a state agency that acts as a link between Irish food producers and their customers worldwide. It was the first marketeer to introduce Irish eggs to the market, and is now moving into the supply of boiled and liquid egg to enhance their stronghold. It is about to launch of a new, bilingual Golden Irish Organic 10-pack designed for the Middle East.
“We’ve seen significant growth in our organic offering and created this product to offer customers greater options adding to our range of beautiful colour coded retail packs,” said Eivers.
Irish dry-aged grass-fed beef producer John Stone Beef, which will also be present at Gulfood, is one of the companies looking to cash in on Ireland’s marketing strategy.
Allan Morris, its managing director, said Ireland’s standard, yet stand-out beef-rearing processes gave it an edge with increasingly quality conscious consumers:
“Our beef is sourced from suckler farmers, which means the calves stay with their mothers to suckle until they are independent and can forage for themselves,” Morris said. “This system is quite unique but is the normal standard in Ireland, ensuring sustainability and grassland management is achieved.”
He said that consumer desire for sustainable, safe and natural foods in Middle East countries had been growing, and to tap into this demand, John Stone Beef had become the first meat company in Europe that has been granted a national halal mark.