The importance of Ireland’s food and agribusiness sector

Ireland has long been renowned for the quality of its produce, and the longevity of our thriving food and agribusiness sector is testament to this. As the oldest and largest indigenous exporting sector, it accounts for 38 per cent of total indigenous exports and over 60 per cent of indigenous manufactured exports. According to Teagasc, it also employs around 167,500 people.

Central to the industry are almost 700 food and drinks firms across the country which export to over 160 countries around the world. Economic activity in the sector produces a bigger return than the equivalent in other traded sectors of the economy as 74 per cent of raw materials and services are sourced from Irish suppliers, compared to 43 per cent for all manufacturing companies. However, many firms are finding it difficult to fill vacant roles, which could be a threat to the industry.

David Leydon, head of food and agribusiness with Ifac (Irish Farm Accounts Co-operative Society), says employment opportunities in the sector are excellent.

“Our recent Ifac Food & Agribusiness [report] showed 61 per cent of companies are finding it difficult to recruit the right team and 42 per cent see this as a growth threat,” he said.

“These roles range from production on the factory floor to commercial, finance, technology and leadership positions. For those people with an interest in the sector, the opportunities are really significant both here at home in Ireland but also internationally with Irish companies. The sector is outward looking because the real prospect for growth is in international markets. This is the case for food, agribusiness and agritech companies.”

Leydon says that in terms of growth, companies focused on the future had their sights fixed on international markets and this was of ‘critical importance’.

“They need to look further afield to a much bigger international market, because of the slowdown in growth across Irish dairying compared to past years,” he said. “The red flag here though is the journey to international sales and our recent Food and Agribusiness Report showed that 41 per cent face sales and marketing challenges while 39 per cent say finding the right distributor is difficult. International sales take time, finance and people to really deliver.”

There are also other challenges facing the sector, not least that businesses are dealing with a “myriad of demands and external factors”.

“These range from recruitment challenges and rising interest rates to continued cost increases and, in some cases, some cashflow issues,” said Leydon. “In our recent Food and Agribusiness Report, 42 per cent of respondents are experiencing late payments from customers in part, leading to 33 per cent experiencing short or medium-term cashflow issues.

“Other challenges include adapting to new technology as, while a lot of effort has gone into digitalisation over the past decade, the role of artificial intelligence is now looming. This year’s report, which launched last month, showed that only one in five businesses were actively using AI – this must change quickly and the power of AI for marketing, translation, customer service and coding must be leaned into, in a careful manner, so that the companies in the sector do not fall behind.”

But it is not all doom and gloom and according to the industry expert. Enterprise Ireland is a really significant player for those food and agribusinesses which are client companies and have a dedicated Development Adviser (DA), while Bord Bia also offers plenty of support.

“There is a wide range of funding options and the finance which a company can draw down is substantial,” he said. “This is particularly the case for capital investment, but also for international market development or key senior hires where job creation and export potential is evident.

“For food businesses, Bord Bia is excellent in [offering] market insights space and building talent through education and training – and it has some marketing funding available as well. For smaller organisations, the Local Enterprise Office is a great place to start, while Leader, which will hopefully open by year end, has very good funding available for companies based in rural Ireland. Intertrade Ireland is another organisation which is helpful.

“Those companies which match the profile which Enterprise Ireland or Bord Bia are looking for, can benefit enormously from the relationship.”