Vol. 573 No. 4
155 Mr. Gilmore asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food the objectives of the Prepared Consumer Foods Strategy 2003-2006; his views on whether these objectives can be achieved; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25583/03]
The overall objective of the Enterprise Ireland Prepared Consumer Foods Strategy 2003-2006, which was launched on 9 October last, is to assist the sector to continue its dynamic sales growth. The prepared consumer foods sector has performed exceptionally well in the past ten years, with sales and exports almost trebling over the period. Sales in 2002 reached €2.6 billion, of which half were exports. The sector contributes significantly to the economy at national and regional levels, employing 15,000 people directly and supporting more than 32,000 people, when the indirect jobs, which it helps to sustain are factored in, and is forecast to continue to be the main area of growth in the food industry over the next decade.
The strategy sets out a vision for a strong performing sector, with continued emphasis on increasing export growth in Britain while, at the same time, providing support towards developing sales in continental Europe. The emergence of a number of high performance food start-up companies is a key element of the plan. The key targets for the period to 2006 are to increase total sales in the sector by 30% to €3.42 billion, representing annual compound growth of 6.8%; increase exports in the sector by 38% to €1.83 billion, representing annual compound growth of 8.5%; and increase job numbers in the sector to 16,600 people, an overall increase of 9%.
The strategy outlines the key features driving rapid and radical change in the food industry. The main feature is a continuing market-led move away from basic products towards prepared food products, driven by changing consumer buying behaviour, the changing marketplace and technology advances. The challenges facing prepared consumer food companies, including problems of scale, the need for innovation and new product development, and the need to invest in communication technologies are then addressed and finally the initiatives to be taken by the State agencies, in partnership with the sector, are comprehensively set out. While the targets set for the sector are ambitious and the operating environment is more competitive than ever, we are confident that by 2006 the prepared consumer foods sector will have developed to be stronger, more dynamic and capable of achieving the objectives of the strategy.
