Bord Bia has predicted that Irish beef exports to France will grow strongly as consumption in the French market is now outstripping domestic production.
Bord Bia said Irish beef was now back on French supermarket shelves after an absence of eight years, and Bord Bia says Irish beef is currently being promoted in 12 outlets in the Paris region, though the full impact will not be felt until 2005 and beyond.
Minister for Agriculture, Mary Coughlan, is in Paris as part of a Bord Bia campaign to promote Irish food in France. Ten Irish companies are currently participating in a major food and drink exhibition which has attracted buyers from almost 200 countries.
Last year Ireland's food and drink exports to France were valued at over €350m, with meat accounting for almost half of this. Over half of the 135,000 visitors to the SIAL exhibition will be French buyers from the retail, food service and distribution centres.
