Protecting the status of Ireland's famed food and drink products
The high standard is certainly recognised globally. In 2022, food and drink exports reached a record high of €16.7bn. But how is Irish food and drink distinguished from its competitors formally, and its uniqueness proven?
The EU has a quality policy that aims to protect the names of specific products, “to promote their unique characteristics, linked to their geographical origin as well as traditional know-how”.
A "geographical indication" (GI) can be granted to a product name, if there is a specific link to the place where it is made. Names of products registered as GIs have legal protection against imitation and misuse within countries where a specific protection agreement has been signed.
Food and wine can be granted a protected designation of origin (PDO) or a protected geographical indication (PGI). There can also be a specific GI of spirit drinks granted. Famous examples of geographically-protected foods include Kalamata olive oil, Feta cheese, Parma ham, and Champagne.
Despite Ireland’s global reputation for the quality of its food and drink products, it has a low number of protection statuses compared to other EU countries. Currently, just 15 Irish foods and drinks are protected. This compares with Italy’s 891 protections, France with 767, and Spain with 394.
Ireland’s registered PDO/PGI food product names include Clare Island Salmon (PGI), Timoleague Brown Pudding (PGI), Connemara Hill Lamb (PGI), Waterford Blaa (PGI), and Sneem Black Pudding (PGI).
Three spirit drink names — Irish Whiskey, Irish Cream, and Irish Poitín — enjoy GI status.
Ireland is currently seeking PGI status to be granted for another important product for the agricultural industry.
In August, the European Commission published the all-island application for a PGI for Irish Grass-Fed Beef, the stage at which it had finalised its scrutiny of the application. This followed the amendment of the application to extend the geographical area to include Northern Ireland.
According to Agriculture Minister Charlie McConalogue, this application is a “reflection of the truly unique product from this island and a solid step towards recognition of that fact”, while Bord Bia’s chief executive Jim O’Toole said achieving PGI status “would help strengthen our ability to directly promote the advantages of Ireland’s Grass-Fed Beef production system with consumers and cement its position as a premium product”.
Irish Farmers’ Association livestock chairman Brendan Golden said that Ireland’s grass-based system “sets us apart from most of our competitors” who have large indoor systems with animals finished on feed.
“Our system gives us that edge, and our smaller family farms, and lower stocking densities,” Mr Golden said.
He hopes the PGI status for Irish Grass-Fed Beef would “add value” which is much needed for the sector, with many farmers “under serious pressure” with the costs of production, according to Mr Golden.
“It will be a key thing that we get a higher return from the market if it comes through,” he said.
“I would be very positive towards it strengthening our place in the market and especially in the higher-value market.”
The GI for spirit drinks protects the name of a spirit drink originating in an area where the product’s particular quality, reputation, or other characteristic is essentially attributable to its geographical origin.
For most products, at least one of the stages of distillation or preparation takes place in the region. However, raw products do not need to come from the region.
Irish Whiskey GI is a key example of such a product; it has been brewed, distilled, and matured in Ireland since the 6th century, but the raw materials do not exclusively come from Ireland.
Earlier this year, Drinks Ireland launched a campaign to address the growing threat of imitator Irish Cream Liqueur products. The Ibec trade association said that despite the GI status safeguarding the product, there are a number of non-Irish cream products in the marketplace that aim to imitate authentic Irish Cream Liqueur.
According to Drinks Ireland, deceptive marketing and misleading labelling are commonly used by imitators and non-Irish producers to mislead the consumer into thinking that their product is genuine Irish Cream Liqueur, or of Irish origin. This can include the use of symbols such as shamrocks, Irish harps, and Celtic crosses.
Carol Quinn is head of archives at Irish Distillers Pernod Ricard — and in fact, is the only whiskey archivist in Ireland. She told the there is an “ongoing commercial value” for businesses to understand, protect and use their own history and heritage.
A competitor may say they “make a product that’s equally as good as yours, but they haven’t been doing it where you’ve been doing it, in the way you’ve been doing it”.
“Today, we find consumers are very discerning and they want to know an awful lot,” Ms Quinn said.
“They want to know claims being made by brands are legitimate. That’s what a lot of Irish businesses are copping on to, that sharing their history and heritage gives the consumer a lot of confidence in their brand claims.”
Irish Distillers set up its corporate archive around 12 years ago. The company was formed in 1966, a merger of John Power & Son, John Jameson & Son, and Cork Distilleries Company. Those companies had roots going back to the 18th and 19th centuries, “so there was a lot of history”, said Ms Quinn.
Once hired as the archivist, Ms Quinn started cataloguing and communicating with other departments about the material she was finding and “their eyes lit up” as they realised it was a “real treasure trove”, with information about “brands that had existed before and that were now forgotten”.
“Knowledge about these brands inspired current teams to come up with a reimagining, perhaps, for today’s consumer,” Ms Quinn said.
“The archives have shown us that 100, 150 years ago, Irish whiskey was being sold all over the world. We have records that are showing it being sold in Buenos Aires, Uruguay, China, all over Asia; markets that we’re working really, really hard to get back in," she said.
“What it also proved was incredibly useful, because in certain markets, we’re coming up against things like counterfeit whiskey,” she added.
“It’s the same here in Ireland. I wouldn’t use the word counterfeits, but sometimes in popular supermarkets, you might see similar labellings.
“If you think that’s going to cause confusion for the consumer about your brand, then you can ask for that labelling to be changed. But you have to show proof.
“You can’t just say ‘that looks like my label, so stop it’ — you actually have to show that your label has been in circulation for a defined amount of time.”
That’s where the archive can step in: Showing sales of a product, both domestically and internationally, for well over 100 years.
