The Irish food and drink trade body has secured €6.7 million (£6 million) worth of funding to support companies in dealing with the market difficulties posed by Brexit.
Minister for Agriculture, Food & the Marine, Michael Creed has announced the support which will drive market diversification and help horticulture companies and producers identify export opportunities.
A trade mission to Japan and South Korea is also planned for next month and follows others to China, Singapore, the Gulf States, North Africa, the US and Mexico.
The funding is additional to the €1.6 million (£1.4million) provided to Bord Bia last autumn for grants to assist food companies which are highly dependent on the UK market and also follows €2 million (£1.8 million) provided earlier this year for increased expenditure on programmes.
“This programme of activities draws on analysis of data from the Bord Bia Brexit Barometer exercise which was completed by 139 food, drink and horticulture companies and follows my request to Bord Bia to undertake a major market prioritisation exercise to identify the best prospects for sustainable growth in individual sectors,” said Minister Creed.
“The programme is wide-ranging, well thought through and ambitious. It is, in my view, an appropriate element of our response to the marketing challenges presented by Brexit in terms of business development and diversification.”
