Introduction · • Nurture constructive co-operation and active participation by all members of the Board based on a partnership approach Louth County Development Board Louth Economic

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Introduction

Louth County DeveLopment BoarD chaired by Cllr. Frank Maher was

established in 2000 for the integration of Local Government and Local Development.

The County Development Board is central to the overall integration process at

county level with a focus on social, economic, cultural and community development.

The Board brings together various strands involved in Local Government, Local

Development, the State Agencies at local level and the Social Partners which includes

the community and voluntary sector.

The broad functions of the Board are to:

• Implement a comprehensive County

Strategy on Social, Economic and

Cultural Development

• Identify gaps and duplication in local

service delivery

• Nurture constructive co-operation

and active participation by all

members of the Board based on a

partnership approachLouth County Development Board

Louth Economic Forum

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L o u t h E c o n o m i c F o r u m 1 0 P o i n t P l a n

Louth eConomiC Forum was

established in 2009 under the auspices

of the County Development Board

chaired by Padraic White, former

Managing Director of the Industrial

Development Authority [IDA Ireland]

and currently small and medium

business entrepreneur. Overseas

companies secured for Ireland during

Mr White’s tenure with IDA include

Microsoft, IBM Software and Intel

while he was also central to the

establishment and marketing of the

International Financial Services Centre

(IFSC) in Dublin.

The Forum comprises of the business

sector of County Louth, the local

authority management and all of

the State agencies that interact with

those generating economic activity in

the county and is a one stop shop for

potential investors. A study entitled

Louth County Economic Development

Strategy (2009 - 2015), commissioned

by Louth Local Authorities from

Indecon International Economic

Consultants, provides a blueprint for

the Louth Economic Forum and its

recommendations have shaped the

work of the Forum.

The Louth Economic Forum has devised

an overall 10 point pLan identifying

10 specific areas to be addressed

within its work programme over the

next 3 years. A task group has been

established for each of the areas, the

seventh one being agriculture, Food

and Fisheries which is the subject of

this document.

The purpose of this document is to

outline Louth’s joined up approach

to achieve world-wide recognition

for Louth and the region as a

centre of excellence for sustainable

agricultural practice and specialised

food production resulting in significant

increase in output, exports and

employment in the food and food

related sectors.

Padraic White

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Foreign Direct Investment

Sustainable Energy

Indigenous Industry

Tourism and Heritage

Age-Friendly Business

Education and Training

Agriculture, Food & Fisheries

Broadband

Making Louth the Best County to do Business

Drogheda, Dundalk, Newry Economic Corridor

12

34

56

78

910

The Established Task Groups are


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Louth Economic Forum MembershipIndependent Chairperson Padraic White

Business

Drogheda and District Chamber

of Commerce

Padraic Kierans Graham O’RourkeSimon McCormack

Dundalk Chamber of Commerce

Paddy Malone

Declan Murphy

Paddy Matthews

Ardee Business Community

Jim Malone

John Hennessy

Age-Friendly Business Forum

Gavin Duffy

Tourism & Heritage Forum

Ray Carroll

Agriculture, Food & Fisheries Forum

Jim Mulcahy

State / Development Agencies

Enterprise Ireland

Paschal McGuire, Regional Director

IDA Ireland

Breda O’Toole, Head of Regional Business Development

Louth County Enterprise Board

Ronan Dennedy, CEO

SEAI

Declan Meally, Head of Department

Emerging Sectors

FÁS

Peter Egan, Regional Director

TEAGASC

Niall O’Lamhna, Agricultural Adviser

Fáilte Ireland

Kevin Moriarty, Head of Enterprise and Management Support

Dundalk Institute of Technology

Denis Cummins, President DkIT

Local Authority

Louth Local Authorities

Philomena Poole, County Manager

Michael Curran, Director of Economic and Cross BorderDevelopment

Frank Pentony, Dundalk Town

Clerk and Director of Services

Joan Martin, Drogheda Town

Clerk and Director of Services

Michael McCabeBusiness Support Unit

Edel O’Mahony, European and Economic Development Unit

The Process

The agriculture, Food and Fisheries Forum

was established by the Louth Economic

Forum and is chaired by Jim Mulcahy, former

Consumer Food Manager with Enterprise

Ireland. In preparing this Action Plan, the

Forum carried out a swot analysis identifying

key market drivers and where the market

and product opportunities are while

consulting with relevant stakeholders at local

level, including State agencies, the education

sector, industry leaders and local food

producers.

In particular a meeting took place in October

2012 in Enterprise Ireland’s head office where

the draft plan was presented to and discussed

in detail with senior officials in Enterprise

Ireland, Teagasc, Bord Bia and BIM. Their

feedback and comments have been reflected

in the final action plan. The draft was then

presented to and discussed with members

of Louth County Council and Louth County

Development Board at the subsequent monthly

meeting and their feedback and comments are

also reflected in the document.

The Plan was officially launched on 8th July

2013 by Kevin Lane, CEO of the Irish Dairy

Board in An Grianán, Termonfeckin, Co. Louth.

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Members of the Agriculture Food & Fisheries Forum

Paddy CallaghanFounder & Chairman, Nature’s Best Ltd

John McLaughlinGroup Financial Controller, ABP Food Group

Noel SweeneyMaster Distiller, Kilbeggan Distillery

Anita ThomasGlyde Farm Produce, Oriel Food Group

Bronagh ConlonManaging Director, Consultant in Food Development, Branding and Marketing

Jim MaloneChairman, Ardee Community Development

Company (Ardee Business Park)

Michael O’DowdDevelopment Advisor, Enterprise Ireland

Dr. Edel Healy Head of School Health and Science, DkIT

Dr. Breda BrennanHead of Department of Applied Sciences,

DkIT

Dr. David MeredithSenior Research Officer, Rural Economy

Development Programme, Teagasc

Niall O’LamhnaAgriculture Advisor, Teagasc

Denis BrennanLouth Vice Chair, Irish Farmers Association

Michael MurphyDirector of Markets, Bord Bia

Cllr. Colm Markey Chairman, Louth Leader Partnership

Michael Curran Director of Economic & Cross Border Development, Louth Local Authorities

Michael McCabe Business Support Unit, Louth Local

Authorities

Edel O’Mahony European & Economic Development Unit,


Jim mulcahyChairman

Former Manager, Prepared Consumer Food Products,

Enterprise Ireland

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Louth Economic Forum’s vision for agriculture, Food and Fisheries, in

Louth and the North East Region, is to be recognised as a premier producer of

fresh, natural, safe, quality food products for domestic and export markets by

entrepreneurial and skilled personnel in a strategically advantageous location,

using sustainable methods,

processes and resources.

As Ireland recovers from

recession, all the sectors

in this Action Plan, namely

agriculture, Food

and Fishing, represent

outstanding opportunities

for growth in incomes

and jobs as demonstrated

in the harvest 2020

national Strategy – A

vision for Irish agri-food

and fisheries.

The Vision

north east region’s extensive Catchment


Corridor Business

&

Her

itag

e

Ind

ust

ry

E

nergy

FDI DDN Doin

g B

road

band

Tou

rism

Ind

igen

ous

Su

stainable

AgricultureFood & Fisheries

Learn from best practice and new technologies

from overseas companies in the food

sector. Vigorously promote the

region to attract FDI

Assist

the re

gion to be

at the fo

refront o

f

susta

inability. E

xplore

the use of w

aste

food and

altern

ative cr

ops

to energ

y

Skill

s d

evel

op

men

t an

d

the

use

of

new

sm

art

tech

no

log

ies

fro

m

the

pro

du

cer

to

the

cust

om

er

Pro

mo

tio

n o

f lo

cal

arti

san

fo

od

pro

du

cers

and

fo

od

tra

ils

thro

ug

h r

ecru

itm

ent

of

a fo

od

cham

pio

n

Further develop education and

training programmes for the

AFF sector

Education& Training

Agricultu

re

Food & Fish

erie

s

Business

Age-Friendly

Encourage food producers to

practice smarter

business through the use of ICT

Encourage food

producers to work

together & establish

an AFF cluster to

share resourcesDevelop the East Coast

as the sustainable

development region

for food and

nutritional

products

Assist the region

to be at the

forefront in

development of

health and

nutritional products

for older people

Integrated Development: Assisting other key action areas

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The Challenge

Food Long Term Market Drivers

The global food market is characterised by volatility and increasing uncertainty due to climatic variations and rising commodity prices. In addition, factors such as the following are strongly influencing the market:

Scarcity

The world population is increasing

by an estimated 200,000

inhabitant’s per annum and arable

land is reducing by some 600

acres per day. Production of bio

fuels particularly in the US is also

impacting on supply and the cost

of commodities such as soya bean,

rapeseed oil and cereals.

Reliability

The need for reliability of supply and

security, especially in Brazil, Russia,

India and China, the so-called (BRIC)

countries.

Safety

Demand for disease free,

unadulterated and fully traceable

products. There are a range of product

quality assurance schemes in place

which are all independently audited.

Health and Well Being

Health conscious and demanding

consumers increasingly recognise the

part played by food in promoting and

sustaining health and well being, (you

are what you eat!).

Increasing Affluence and Demand

for protein in developing markets to

include Brazil, Russia, India and China

(BRIC), Asia and Africa, as a rising

middle class seek more meat and dairy

based products.

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Sustainability

The need to reduce green house gas emissions, spurred on

by climate change, as well as the requirement to conserve

scarce and dwindling resources, are now major issues for the

global food industry.

Succession Issues

The need for an ageing profile on Irish farm families. One

of the biggest threats to the Harvest 2020 Strategy is the

ageing profile of Irish farmers.

monaghan mushrooms

Bellingham Blue Cheese

mc Closkeys Bakery

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Market Opportunities have been identified in sectors that include high value products:

Health and Well Being

Including seafood (Omega 3 oils)

Food Ingredients

Including natural colouring &

additives

Speciality Segments

Including age-friendly products,

infant products, as well as offerings

for coeliac sufferers, diabetes, etc

Specialised Sectors

Including artisan products and products with

recognised provenance

EU Potentially Designated Protected Products

Including lamb, oysters, honey and

rapeseed, etc

Pet Food

Is a growing added value product market

Produce accepted as being ‘local’ and

traceable for the UK market

Including beef products

Ferdia Fine Foods

hilton Food Group

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Food related manufacturing and

service products

Food processing equipment

manufacturing and agri-tourism

based on high standard cuisine from

local produce

Food based probiotic or pharmaceutical products

Where the boundaries are becoming

increasingly blurred between food

production and pharmaceutical

products, e.g. neutroceuticals, food

process engineering

Emerging

The linking of ICT to Agriculture

& Food production (SMART-Ag

or SMART-Farm) creating a new

business opportunity. This will

lead to improved food safety,

traceability, enterprise performance,

crop & animal monitoring etc.

Early recognition of this by Louth

could give it first mover advantage.

Drogheda Enterprise Centre

recognises a key strategic role in this

arena.

Louth’s Value Proposition

A strong and highly successful

background in indigenous industry,

which is due to a combination of the

regions culture of entrepreneurship,

its spirit of creativity and innovation,

a highly educated and productive

labour force, excellent educational and

training facilities and, of course, the

excellent location.

Its unrivalled location between

Dublin and Belfast at the heart of the

Eastern Economic Corridor brings with

it numerous advantages. The region

benefits from high quality road and

rail infrastructure running north/south

from Dublin to Belfast through the

county. The M1 motorway is part of

the strategic Euroroute 1 connecting

the ports of Larne, Dublin and

Rosslare providing convenient access

to the UK and other EU markets.

The UK is the biggest growing market

in Europe with a population of an

estimated 64 million.

Louth and its neighbouring counties in the North East Region possess some strategic

production, logistical and marketing strengths, including:

unrivalled Location between

Dublin and Belfast

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The M1 also provides rapid access to

international airports at Dublin and

Belfast. The M1 serves Drogheda,

Dundalk and the N2 Ardee link road

providing high quality road access

to each of these towns. In addition

Louth has three commercial freight

ports in the county, namely Drogheda,

Dundalk and Greenore. Close proximity

gives the location a low carbon

rating for exports.

The overall population of Louth

and its hinterland is set to grow to

almost 133,000 by 2016 providing

a strong skills set to employers. The

population within a 60-kilometre

radius of Drogheda is 1.7m while

the equivalent figure for Dundalk is

over 764,000. This sees Drogheda

and Dundalk ranked as the 1st

and the 3rd largest population

catchment areas in the country

respectively.

Population within

60km catchment

(1 hour commute)

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The regions location also means it is within commuting distance to six

universities in Dublin and Belfast, as well as being within easy reach of

R&D centres. Within the county itself, Dundalk Institute of Technology has an

established track record in the delivery of programmes in the Agriculture and Food

area. Through its links with Ballyhaise Agricultural College, Cavan, it provides a

number of Agriculture programmes including a Level 8 programme in Sustainable

Agriculture. It is hoped to develop an Agri-Food undergraduate programme and

the Institute can provide part time programmes to support the Agriculture and

Food Sector. DkIT also carries out research and development and can provide

enterprise support through the work of the Regional Development Centre.

School of hospitality, Dkit

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The Region has a long tradition in food and drink production dating back to

18th century. This is testament to the local availability of raw materials.

Excellent cold storage and warehousing facilities are available,

while food standard units

combined with flexible

outsourcing opportunities

exist in the region.

County Louth has a long and

accessible seaboard, ideal for

production of marine based

products and fresh fish. It also

has quality, well drained and

generally fertile land, very good

quality water supply and general

absence of flooding (which limits

the consequences for crop loss,

pollution, contamination, etc).

Food & Tourism synergies to include top class restaurants promoting local produce and food trails.

Cooley Distillery

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Proven Track Recordof Existing Companies located in the North East Region

Oriel Food GroupFINE FOOD PRODUCERS

Fine Food Producers

orie

lfoodgroup.ie

Fine Food Producers

orie

lfoodgroup.ie

Fine Food Producers

orie

lfoodgroup.ie

Fine Food Producers

orie

lfoodgroup.ie

Lannléire

HoneyMALONE’S

Specialty Meats∫ ∫

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Strategic Focus

The development strategy for the

Agriculture, Food and Fisheries

industry sector in Co. Louth and

it’s economic hinterland of Cavan,

Meath, Monaghan, and north Co.

Dublin is based on five pillars, or

action areas.

The strategic focus is centred on

exploiting the region’s unique location advantages in the east coast’s Dublin-Belfast economic corridor

to attract foreign and domestic food and

related mobile investment.The value proposition of the north east

will also be used to facilitate new food

small business start-ups, in particular high

potential start-ups.

With the assistance of our strategy

partners – the State Agencies, County

Enterprise Boards (Local Enterprise Offices),

Third Level Colleges, Local Authorities and

the Community, industry competitiveness

and expansions will be driven by

programmes including leadership and

management development, innovation in

product and process development, lean

business practices as well as aggressive

marketing initiatives, to help local

businesses penetrate new export markets,

emphasising the region’s green and

sustainable primary processing credentials.

Fyffes plc

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Action Areas

1

2

3

4

5

The proposed plan of action to further develop the Agriculture, Food and Fisheries sector in the region is based on the following five pillars:

Increasing competitiveness, leading to company expansions

and new business start-ups

Attracting new Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) to the Region

Enhancing leadership and management skills in the

existing industry base

Pursuing new product and service opportunities through

interaction with the educational, development, marketing and research

establishments

Employing new marketing initiatives, in particular highlighting

the sustainability, provenance and traceability of food and

seafood products from Louth and its neighbouring counties in the North

East Region

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Increasing Competitiveness, Leading to Company Expansions and New Business Start-Ups1

• Utilise the excellent network of local and state development agencies, large

companies and educational infrastructure to assist new business start-ups

• Promote and market the food standard units and kitchens in An Grianán and

Ardee Business Park which are available to assist start-ups. Achieve the target

of two new start-ups per annum

• Assist Ardee Business Park in establishing Ardee as a ‘Food Hub’ for the

region. This food hub will provide potential to add value to farm produce

before it leaves the region

Ferdia Fine Foods

• Tap into the font of goodwill and

assistance from larger existing indigenous

and overseas food producing companies

in the region which have offered

mentoring and other forms of assistance

to new company start-ups

Lannleire honey

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• Designate Drogheda Enterprise

Centre as the regions enterprise

‘node’ for commercialising / road

testing R&D which is related to

Smart-ag

• Assist Drogheda Enterprise Centre

to develop a competency in the

training of and marketing support

(especially market research and

promotion) for early stage food

enterprises and entrepreneurs

• Develop international

collaborations that can benefit

the region award Winning mcCloskeys Bakery

Derrycamma Farm

Boyne valley Group

aBp Food Group

Page 22


Attracting New Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) into the Region

• Vigorously promote the region

as the best location for new

foreign direct investment

• Assist existing overseas

companies to win new or

expansion projects

• Highlight the region’s high

value proposition, including the

success of local prize-winning

products

• Target two new significant

investment projects by 2017

The Region has a proven track record

of successful foreign owned food

companies located here such as H.J

Heinz Company in Dundalk which

produces Weight Watchers ready

meals and Hilton Food Group which is

a specialist meat packing company.

Louth itself has also recently

enjoyed significant success in the

attraction of new non-food foreign

direct investment, confirming it’s

attractiveness as a location for new

inward investment.

2

h.J. heinz Company

nature’s Best

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Enhancing leadership and management skills in the existing industry base

3As outlined in the Food Harvest 2020

strategy, desired growth will depend

on improved productivity, increased

scale, targeted research, and enhanced

skills and organisational capabilities.

• Increase competitiveness through

leadership and management

development, employing lean

business practices and total quality

management systems that ensure

a robust and safe supply chain

• Encourage intercompany

cooperation and co-opetition,

to build efficiencies and scale, in

particular logistics, making use of

spare capacity and outsourcing of

manufacturing

• Enhance process efficiency

through the employment of

modern technology such as I.T.,

robotics

Global giants such as Walmart,

Unilever, Nestle and McDonalds

have put sustainability on top of

their agenda.

• A critical component of

Louth’s marketing strategy will

be to highlight the region’s

green credentials. This will

entail employing Bord Bia’s

origin Green initiative in

partnership with industry, where

companies will be encouraged

to participate in a unique

accredited quality assurance

scheme and sustainability

programme

Such a strategy will serve to

provide demonstrable proof of the

commitment of farmers, fishermen

and food producers to meet the

needs of the present without

compromising the capacity of future

generations.

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The Dundalk 2020 initiative has since 2006 led to sustained reductions in carbon

emissions in the participating households, businesses and institutions and has created an

appreciation of sustainable development in the county. The objective set out in this action

plan of establishing the region’s green credentials will envolve full support for the Teagasc

programme with farmers to reduce carbon emissions at farm level. It will also entail

actively supporting Bord Bia to:

• Assist Louth and the region to be at the forefront in conservation, diversity and

sustainability, in terms of the reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, energy

conservation, water management, community initiatives as well as health and nutrition

• Encourage farmers in the region to participate in the Teagasc/Science Foundation

Ireland Future Agriculture Food programme

A smarter way of making better use of data by designing better management packages

for farmers. There is a shortage of maths and science students in the education system and

there is potential in food science research

• Encourage farmers to avail of the government tax incentives which encourage long-

term leasing, farm partnerships and land transfer

This would help counter one of the main threats to the attainment of the Harvest 2020

expansion plans, namely, the ageing profile of our farmers

• Encourage farmers to participate in Bord Bia Quality Assurance Schemes

• Encourage farmers to join the Beef Technology Adoption Programme (BTAP) and the

Sheep Technology Adoption Programme (STAP) administered by the Department of

Agriculture Food and the Marine to improve efficiency and profitability.

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Pursuing new product and service opportunities through interaction with the educational,

development, marketing and research establishments

4

• Encourage third level and business collaboration to develop new products and

move up the value chain into the food ingredient or pharmaceutical sectors.

(Innovation Vouchers could be of particular assistance)

• Investigate opportunities to develop new and innovative added value products

in the region

• Design a dedicated interactive website giving information on the food and

drink database in the region

• In collaboration with the various national development agencies such as

Enterprise Ireland, Teagasc, the Marine Institute and Bord Bia, constantly scan

and monitor global markets to identify new and emerging product and service

opportunities

Carlingford oyster Company


• Establish a Smart Agri/Food/Fish

cluster of innovation companies

in the North East Region for the

development of new products,

added value products and new

markets, where technology can

foster increased productivity and

quality

• Develop a Regional Innovation

Partnership for sustainable

development in food and nutrition

products (health and wellness/

living longer). This will encourage

better collaboration between

Industry, Educational Institutions,

Local Authorities and Development

agencies in the region

• The fact that the global market for dairy

products is growing, particularly in the

so-called BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and

China), at 2%-3% p.a. coupled with

the abolition of the E.U. milk quotas

represents an attractive opportunity for

the dairy sector

• In the absence of current restrictions,

farmers are now gearing up for

expansion, and key players in the

processing sector in the North East such

as Lakeland Dairies and Abbott are now

well placed to benefit from the increased

demand and anticipated higher prices

for products such as UHT milk and infant

formula.

Page 26

Aruna Sauces

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Employing new marketing initiatives, in particular highlighting the sustainability, provenance and traceability of food and seafood products from Louth and its neighbouring counties in the North East Region

5

• Highlight the ‘local’ aspect of

the region’s food produce for

the UK market. The UK market

is the world’s ninth largest

grocery market and a market

with characteristics very similar to

those of the Republic’s. (Bord Bia)

• Seek Protected Geographical

Indication (PGI) or Protected

Designation of Origin (PDO) for

selected regional products e.g.

Cooley lamb, honey, oysters etc.

• Emphasise the region’s agricultural

and marine standards of

sustainability, product freshness

traceability, and other safeguards

• Highlight and exploit the region’s

longstanding traditional skills, e.g.

in brewing, distilling and food

processing

• Highlight its many prizewinning

products, particularly in the artisan

sector. e.g. Oriel Food Group

• Highlight the health giving properties

of Louth’s natural seafood including

shellfish

• Build on the regions reputation to

include a recognisable regional brand

• Recruit a high profile ‘Food

Champion’ to promote the region

Bryan Lynch Finest Salads


Implementation of the Action PlanThere are many proposed developments

set out in this Action Plan. Success

will require a sustained and coherent

approach to implementation.

We propose the establishment of an

Implementation Steering Group to

oversee its implementation over the

initial three years. We would see its

membership reflecting the different

stakeholders who in partnership can

make a difference in achieving the

income and job potential of the Action

Plan. We would welcome participants

from other counties of the North East

region as well as Louth.

The Implementation Steering Group

should have the services of an

Implementation Executive to assist it

during the initial three year period.

The sourcing and funding of such an

Executive should be explored urgently and

imaginatively, including on a secondment

basis.

Cooley Lamb

For More Information Contact


County Hall

Dundalk

Co. Louth

T +353 42 9324230

F +353 42 9334549

E [email protected]

W www.louthcoco.ie

L o u t h E C o n o m i C F o r u m

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Documents

Introduction · • Nurture constructive co-operation and active participation by all members of the Board based on a partnership approach Louth County Development Board Louth Economic