Consumers favour buying Irish products, but value is still key, according to 100 grocery retailers surveyed by Checkout magazine ahead of the upcoming trade show, Food & Hospitality Ireland.
The survey focused on retailers’ opinions on the importance of buying Irish, and revealed that 94% think it's of importance to their customers, with 75% of respondents saying that the trend has increased in importance over the past two years. In response to this, 80% of retailers make conscious efforts to source Irish products for their stores.
Overall though, price was the core factor for consumers – 83% of retailers thought ‘price’ was more important, than the 17% who thought ‘provenance’ was. 73% of retailers also thought that Irish brands are perceived as more expensive than international brands.
The most important category for Irish provenance was shown to be Fresh Meat, with 82% of retailers of such an opinion. However just 9% agreed provenance was ‘most important’ for Fresh Fruit & Veg.
Food & Hospitality is held on 18-19th September at the Industries Hall, RDS, Dublin 4, and includes the Restaurants Association of Ireland’s Chef’s Table and the Spotlight Stage, where Checkout editor Stephen Wynne-Jones will be elaborating on the findings of this survey. Other speakers include Norah Casey, Retail Ireland’s Frank Gleeson, The Marker Hotel’s Charlie Sheil and Paula Donoghue from Bord Bia. Food & Hospitality Ireland is free-to-attend and trade visitors can pre-register attendance at www.foodhospitality.ie
© 2013 - Checkout Magazine by Genna Patterson
