World Class Food & Drink Producers

Our green grasslands also play a crucial role in the success of our meat industry, with flavoursome Irish beef appearing on the menus of some of the world’s best restaurants. Exports of Irish meat and livestock reached over €3.5bn in 2021, a 7% increase on the pre-pandemic performance in 2019. Beef, sheepmeat, pigmeat and poultry products play an important role in our agri-food industry, accounting for a third of Ireland’s food and drink exports.

As an island on the edge of Europe, Ireland is surrounded by the cold, clear waters of the wild Atlantic Ocean and some of the richest fishing grounds in the EU. Our location puts us uniquely close to a diverse range of fresh, premium quality seafood including Irish mackerel, whelks, crab, oysters and langoustines. Exports increased by 6% to €485m in 2021 and our seafood is now enjoyed in many countries across the globe.

With a long and proud history of brewing and distilling, it is little wonder that our stout, whiskey and cream liqueur brands are among the most famous in the world. Irish whiskey – one of three GI protected spirits in Ireland – is now the fastest growing spirit internationally and there has been a resurgence in our gin industry with several exciting new premium brands emerging. Overall, Irish drinks exports increased by 19% to be worth €1.62bn in 2021, showing a strong recovery after the pandemic slowdown.

Exports of horticulture and cereals increased by 14% to €271m in 2021 and key Irish crops include mushrooms, potatoes, field vegetables, fruit and protected food crops. Mushrooms remain Ireland’s star performer, accounting for €151m of horticulture exports, a 31% growth on 2020. While most Irish cereal is destined for animal feed there is rising demand from other sectors, most notably whiskey producers who are using increasing portions of Irish grain. The value of cereals exports was €61.8m in 2021, a 9% increase year-on-year.

Ireland’s highly creative food producers work with the best natural ingredients from our island to create an exciting range of Prepared Consumer Foods. Operational excellence, long-standing category partner relationships and consumer-led innovation are contributing to the success of this sector. Exports were valued at €2.5bn in 2021, with strong sales across retail, most notably for the meal solutions category, but also bread and value-added pigmeat. While foodservice sales slowed in 2020 and 2021 due to pandemic closures, this channel is now showing signs of recovery.

Up to 30% of exported Irish food and drink products are sold into the business-to-business channel for further processing by manufacturers. Ireland has a number of manufacturing companies who service this channel and supply a range of products from technical ingredients to bakery mixes and prepared meat toppings.