Love Irish Food has announced that its members will showcase their positive stories of local and community investment at its Meet the Makers marquee at the Bloom festival, which takes place from 2 to 6 June.
Love Irish Food noted that it is ‘excited’ to bring back its Meet the Makers marquee to the Food Village at Bloom – Ireland’s premier food and gardening festival – when it returns this June bank holiday weekend, after a two-year hiatus.
“Irish food businesses are driving sustainability at a time when it is ever more critical. The Love Irish Food member companies at Bloom each have a sustainability story to tell, through investing in both the environment and community,” said Kieran Rumley, executive director, Love Irish Food.
Inflationary Pressures
Love Irish Food brands employ over 12,000 people in the food, drink and support industries throughout the Republic of Ireland.
“At a time when Irish food business are facing a host of challenges, including rising input costs and inflationary pressures, these businesses showcase not alone the strength and resilience in the Irish food sector, but also the commitment to Ireland’s environment and community development,” Rumley added.
‘Best-Known’ Food Brands
At the Meet the Makers marquee, Love Irish Food will host some of Ireland’s best-known food brands, with household names including Glenisk, Cuisine de France, Britvic Ireland’s Ballygowan, Club and MiWadi, and other mid-sized brands, such as Cork’s Spice O’Life and Folláin.
Love Irish Food noted that the 14 food producers at Meet the Makers are all drivers of sustainable business models, from Glenisk’s and Britvic’s local production (in substitution of imports) to O’Donnells’ crisps, made with Irish-grown potatoes, and Killowen yoghurt measuring its products’ travel journeys in metres, not miles.
While 90% of biscuits in Ireland are imported, East Coast Bakehouse produces a local product.
Cork’s Spice O’Life is investing in being carbon neutral, Plant-It is planting trees as part of its company’s mission, and the rapeseed grown by Wicklow’s Sussed puts nutrients back in the soil and encourages diverse wildlife.
© 2022 Checkout – your source for the latest Irish retail news. Article by Donna Ahern. For more A-brand news, click here. Click subscribe to sign up for the Checkout print edition.
