'Brexit threatens food and drink sector more than any other industry'

What's your name?

Kevin McPartlan.

What position do you hold?

Director of Prepared Consumer Foods, Food Drink Ireland.

How long have you held the position?

Just six months. Before that I was Director of the Irish Beverage Council.

What are your day-to-day responsibilities?

I work with a great team to advocate on behalf of the prepared consumer foods sector. This includes value-added food and drink sold in Ireland and Irish products sold internationally. We engage with government, statutory agencies and other stakeholder on such issues as food safety, labelling, discriminatory taxation and marketing regulation while encouraging development of the sector through increased access to finance, supporting research and development and facilitating access to new or broader markets. We also run Food Drink Ireland’s annual Workplace Wellbeing Day and were very excited to launch the Ibec Wellbeing Mark recently. This will recognise and celebrate employers making a serious commitment to protecting and improving the health of their staff.

What is your professional background?

Though I trained to be a barrister, I never intended to practice. I was always far more interested in a career in communications and public affairs. I have worked in corporate affairs, media relations, crisis communications, lobbying and strategic campaigns for companies, organisations, agencies and governments. Immediately before I joined Food Drink Ireland, I spent a number of years advising sovereign states on managing their global reputations.

Tell me about yourself away from work?

Predictably for someone in my job, I fancy myself as a bit of a foodie. I love both cooking at home and eating out.

I usually have a decent boxset or two on the go - currently I am obsessed with Billions and OJ: Made in America.

Tell us something very few people know about you?

I used to play drums in a Pogues tribute band

You are speaking at theforthcoming National Food Industry summit. What is the focus of your talk?

How the changing of recipes by food companies positively impacts on diet. I’ll share results of FDI’s reforumlation research which shows how our members’ efforts have dramatically cut the salt, fat, saturated fat and sugar consumed in Ireland and give details of ongoing research into fortification of foods, changing package sizes and continuing to reduce fat, salt and sugar.

What will be the main impact of Brexit on the Food and Drinks sector?

With 41% of food and drink exports from Ireland going to the UK and a highly integrated supply chain across ROI and UK, we are more exposed to Brexit threats than any other industry. The weakening of sterling already had a serious impact on the food and drinks sector but other significant consequences will now become far more obvious. We need to ensure regulatory divergence is minimised and that Irish companies are given support in seeking growth in markets other than the UK

What changes do you see in 10 years time with regard to customer preferences?

Consumers will pay more attention to the relationship between their diet and health. They will think not only about weight, but also how fortified and functional foods can help meet particular health needs and concerns.

Kevin McPartlan will be speaking at the2017 National Food Industry Summit at the Aviva Stadium on May 18. For more information and to book ticketsclick here.