What is Foreign Trade? Foreign trade is the sale of products and services from one country to another. It consists of importing and exporting: Importing: The purchase of goods and services from other countries for sale in Ireland. Exporting: When Irish goods and services are sold to other countries.

Why do we Import Food? We do not have a suitable climate to grow certain foods, E.g. bananas, oranges, coffee The Irish consumer wants variety. Skills and tradition that are needed to produce certain goods are only available in certain countries, so if we want these goods we must import them, E.g. French wine, tea

Why do we Export Food? Ireland needs to export goods in order to bring foreign currency into the country. This currency is used to pay for imports. Some countries are unable to produce large quantities of food products because their land or climate is unsuitable. This is not so in Ireland so we export to these countries. To increase the profit and sales of Irish companies.

Irish Dairy Exports Value: €3.06 billion Top 5 exports to: U.K. China Germany Netherlands USA Facts:Ireland supplies 10% of the global infant milk formula despite only having 1% of global milk production.

Irish Horticulture Exports Value: €230 million Definition: The export of fruit, vegetables and plants Facts: 50% of our horticulture exports are mushrooms. In 2013, 600,000 Christmas trees were harvested in Ireland, 200,000 of these were exported. 92% of horticulture exports were to the U.K.

Irish Beverage Exports Value: €1.2 billion Facts: 60% rise in exports since Irish whiskey is the fastest growing spirit in the world with 7 million cases exported annually. Alcohol account for 75% of beverage exports. Water accounts for 10% of beverage exports. We export beverages to 125 countries.

Irish Meat and Livestock Exports Value: €3.9 billion Facts: This accounts for 35% of all food and drink exports. 65,000 tonnes of pig meat exported annually. Irish beef is stocked in 82 supermarket chains across Europe. Poultry exports have increased by 20% percent since 2013.

Irish Prepared Foods Exports Value: €1.8 billion Definition: Prepared foods include baked goods, confectionary, snacks, chilled food, ready meals and cooked meats. Facts: 11% of exported prepared foods is chocolate. Prepared foods exports to Poland have increased by 60% since 2012.

Irish Seafood Exports Value: €540 million Facts: 70% rise in value of seafood exports since % of all seafood is to EU market. 11,000 employed by seafood sector. Ireland is the leader in organic aquaculture, producing 20,000 tonnes of organic salmon and mussels annually.

Annual Food Export Breakdown

Irish Food Imports 3.5 million tonnes of the food we consume each year originates somewhere else. That means half the annual consumer spend on food and drink is on foreign products. Food imports to Ireland soared by 50% between 2002 and 2007

Value of Irish Imports Irish annual imports include: €157m worth of beef €478m worth of dairy products 124,250 tonnes of potatoes, worth €75m €799m worth of cereals €958m worth of fruit and veg €282m worth of poultry €711m worth of drinks 13m tonnes of bananas

Are we Really Eating Irish Food? 80% of people who buy imported food believe it is made here. Companies use clever marketing such as "Ireland's favourite" can hide the fact that an item is imported. The average person eats €1,000 worth of imported products annually.

Famous Irish Food Products Produced in Ireland Produced abroad Barry's tea Cadbury chocolate Club orange Batchelor's Cidona Flahvans Brennan's bread Denny Tic Tacs Tayto Crisps Lyons tea Charleville Cheese Erin packet soup Heinz HB ice-cream Jacobs biscuits Cully and Sully Soup Fruitfield Old Time Irish marmalade Boyne Valley Honey

Food Brands Produced Here

Food Brands Produced Abroad

Irish Food Imports vs Exports 2014 (€ billion)

Import Substitution Import substitution is the purchase of Irish made goods instead of foreign imports. This will result in: A decreased amount of food imported An increase in profits for Irish food firms The creation of more jobs for Irish people