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With a drive towards a more balanced way of being emerging in a Covid driven world, it is no surprise to see people move away from stricter dietary regimes and adhering to a flexitarian lifestyle across the nine markets researched in our Dietary Lifestyle Study 2021.

This study was designed to understand how dietary lifestyles have evolved since 2018. The purpose of the study was to enable the food and drinks industry learn how people are approaching their diets, looking in particular at relationships with protein and alternative proteins.

Our partners in designing this study were Empathy Research. This multimarket study was conducted across 9 markets and involved over 18,000 participants

Below is an outline of some of the key findings.

Health, wellness and sustainability continue to take precedence

Health and sustainability continue to drive interest in following these dietary lifestyles with 81% of people deeming themselves to be very healthy and 65% of people making more of an effort to be aware of the environment around them. Both trends have been accentuated since Covid with 64% saying that eating healthily is a priority for them now and 47% of global consumers reporting that ethically and sustainably sourced ingredients are more important to them now than before the pandemic.

Dietary lifestyles are moving towards “balance”

70% of the population do not subscribe to any particular diet. Overall there seems to be a move towards balance, with 55% of people saying they are trying to eat a balanced diet, and don’t follow a specific dietary lifestyle (this is +3% since 2018). Only 4% of people say that they are STRICTLY following a specific diet or lifestyle (this is down 6% on 2018).

Stay tuned for our next insight into dietary lifestyles 2021. To learn more please contact your local market specialist and they can set up a time to take you through the reports in all its detail. Alternatively the global and local market reports are available to download at.

https://www.bordbia.ie/industry/insights/publications/dietary-lifestyle-report-march-2021/

The Irish Dairy Industry demonstrated its resilience in 2020, utilising a record 8.2bn litre milk pool to deliver an export value of €5.068bn, an increase of 1% on 2019. This increase in export value was achieved despite a challenging macro environment with strong global milk supply, constrained global oil prices and economic uncertainty driven by Covid-19, Brexit and other trade and supply chain issues.

From a product perspective, butter was Irelands flagship product with total exports valued at €965 million, driven for the most part by retail demand and consumers turning to home-baking and scratch-cooking during lockdown.

The closure of foodservice outlets across the globe has had a negative impact on cheese demand, however strong retail demand coupled with the ingenuity and agility of the Irish industry to pivot, including new sku formats limited the impact. Irish exports of cheese declined by 7% in volume terms in 2020, but export value remained close to the 2019 figure of €956 million as a result of strong global prices.

Irish dairy powders also had a robust year, with Fat Filled Milk Powder (FFMP) the most noticeable registering a 7% increase in export value to €834 million.

2021 performance year-to-date

Despite Irish milk supply registering a 9.5% year-on-year increase in milk supply in Q1 of this year, dairy exports were back year-on-year by over 16% in volume and 12% in value terms. The year-on-year decline can be attributed to 2 main factors; 1. Irish exporter’s forward moving stock to the UK, Irelands largest export market in 2020 in advance of Brexit deadlines which is exaggerating the decline and 2. Global trade logistical issues. Strong commodity prices have helped increase farm-gate prices, and it is envisaged as stock is used up that exports will come back in line with trends in the second half of the year.

Grass-fed update

The Bord Bia Grass Fed Standard has been launched and is in the process of being rolled out across the Irish dairy industry. The standard is the first of its kind to be operated at a national level, with all Irish processors expressing ambition to become certified to the standard. Currently, there are 12 processing sites certified to the standard with others currently undergoing the audit process.

A dispatch database for member plants and international packers as per the Logo Use Policy has been developed and is ready for use. Bord Bia have engaged with members who are interested in using the database for their products.

Bord Bia have also begun engaging with member processors regarding their priority ‘phase 2’ products which include mixed products ie flavoured cheese, fat filled milk powder etc. The feedback from this engagement will be used to shape the criteria in the Grass Fed Logo Use Policy for those products.

Brexit drew attention to the challenges it creates for Irish exporters to the UK. However, Brexit can also create opportunities for Irish food and drink exporters.

UK exporters to continental Europe were also going to face complexity. Bord Bia decided to examine what produce the UK had been exporting to the EU and the key markets where Ireland could compete.

A quantitative assessment of what the UK was exporting, to where and what export was in growth over the past number of years was conducted. The results were married with the depth of understanding of Irish industry capacity that Bord Bia has.

Key target categories and markets emerged:

Meat
PCF
Consumer dairy
Seafood

The research found UK exports in these categories worth €1.3bn in 2019. Other EU origin produce could challenge this.

Buyers of UK produce in these categories appreciated the UK suppliers NPD capacities in the PCF category in particular.

As supply challenges and cost implications for buyers sourcing from UK were imminent, Bord Bia’s client network had informed conversations with buyers around how they could solve these problems.

HMRC recorded a 40% decline in the value of UK exports of food and drink to the UK in the first three months of 2021. Significant declines in UK export were seen in exports of meat (-52%), dairy (-62%) and food preparations (-34%). In these areas, Ireland has world-class produce capable of fulfilling EU customers’ needs.

Irish suppliers stand ready to substitute UK produce supply by removing third country risk from your supply chain while delivering on taste and sustainable production systems.

To find out more please contact your local Bord Bia office.