Bord Bia
| State Agency of the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | 1 December 1994 |
| Preceding agencies |
Córas Beostoic agus Feola - Irish Meat and Livestock Board An Bord Tráchtála |
| Jurisdiction | Ireland |
| Headquarters | Clanwilliam Court, Lower Mount Street, Dublin 2 |
| State Agency of the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine executive | Michael Carey, Chairman |
| Key document | Irish Food Board Act, 1994 |
| Website | Bord Bia website |
Bord Bia (English: Irish Food Board) is an Irish state agency with the aim of promoting sales of Irish food and horticulture both abroad and in Ireland itself.
It acts as a link between Irish producers and their customers worldwide. For that purpose it has several overseas offices in, amongst other cities, Amsterdam, Shanghai and New York.
Bord Bia is mostly known for its certification of Irish food products.[1] The logo connected to this scheme is used at home and abroad.[2]
Bord Bia works for both small and large producers; for small producers by promoting and certifying farmers' markets, and for bigger producers by offering a great range of international marketing services.
In 2008 Bord Bia received 30 million euros for an advertising campaign in the period 2008-2013.[3] In 2009 the "Oireachtas Grant-in-Aid" was 28 million a year. With other incomes (earmarked grants, levies and so on) the Bord has a budget of about 43,5 million euros.[4]
Part of the work is promoting better ways of producing, by innovation and setting "best practice" standards. According to the report Pathways for Growth, published by Bord Bia, Ireland should[5]
"adopt a strategy of developing a world-class agricultural industry by 2016 and set itself the goal of becoming the most efficient, most highly innovative food and drink country in the world."
In May 2011 Bord Bia published their goal of increasing food exports by 40% in 2020 compared with the 2010 level.[6]
History
Bord Bia was founded in 1994 as an amalgamation of the Coras Beostoic agus Feola (the Irish Meat and Livestock Board) and the food promotion activities of the Irish Trade Board. In 2004 it amalgamated with Bord Glas, which used to be responsible for the development of the horticulture industry. In 2009 Bord Bia took over the promotion of seafood from BIM (Bord Iascaigh Mharaigh).