Irish grass-fed beef lands on Italian shelves

The much-lauded Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) Irish grass-fed beef landed on Italian supermarket shelves last week.

Agriculture Minister Charlie McConalogue, Bord Bia CEO Jim O’Toole, IFA President Francie Gorman, ICMSA President Denis Drennan, along with representatives of the exporter ABP Group, all travelled to Milan for the official launch.

Irish grass-fed beef was awarded PGI status last year and this is the first product to be rolled out on to European supermarket shelves.

It is hoped within industry the PGI status will help create a premium market for Irish beef.

In a statement, Bord Bia said the first Irish grass-fed PGI product went on sale in Italy in mid-March.

“Taking into account all the steps involved, the process of PGI product reaching the market has been swift, with one cut currently available across 170 Esselunga stores — one of Italy’s leading supermarket chains, positioning itself as a premium retailer focussing on high quality, sustainable products and has an existing range of branded premium Irish beef products available, on which the Irish grass-fed PGI product builds.”

Bord Bia also confirmed that the eye of rump steak on offer was selling for €32.33/kg, including a 20pc discount, which it said is “a feature of Italian retail — many meat products will frequently carry a discount”.

It said it would continue to work with the industry to bring more PGI product to the market.

“We will run trade and consumer promotion in Italy over the coming months, with Italy being used as the flagship tier one market before launching into the tier two markets of Switzerland, Belgium and France.”

In one of two press releases issued around the launch, Mr McConalogue thanked ABP, Bord Bia and the farmer organisations, who were pictured at the launch on Lake Como, and said the launch “demonstrates the collective determination to drive value for the Irish beef sector”.

Milestone

He added: “Today marks an important milestone for our producers and processors of Irish grass-fed beef.

“It was only last December that Ireland secured this PGI status by the European Union (EU), so seeing product with the PGI mark available to consumers so soon is testament to the hard work of everyone involved in achieving this recognition.

“It takes an enormous effort to successfully get a PGI application over the line and only the best and highest quality products can reach that standard.

“Having Irish grass-fed beef on that exclusive list should be an immense source of pride to everybody involved in the Irish beef sector.”