The patriot game

Jim Power, the economist fronting the campaign, admits it is a commercial tactic by a food industry under pressure. “We are seeing moves from certain retailers about sourcing less product in Ireland. Exchange-rate movements, particularly against sterling, have been adverse for the last two years,” he says. “Disposable income is under pressure and consumer spending is down.

“There are economic advantages to buying Irish. You are preserving jobs and contributing to the exchequer finances of this country. People may talk about an all-Ireland economy, but it is not that. What’s spent in the north stays there. People need to realise the economic implications of what they are doing.”

Such patriotic appeals were rarely heard during the boom years, when Irish products became somewhat passé. Cash-rich Celtic tiger cubs affected discernment and fashion by choosing foreign goods.

“Ten years ago, at the height of it, no-one wanted to know us,” says Tom Rea, director of Guaranteed Irish, a scheme launched in 1975. “We found it difficult to survive during the Celtic tiger. Our symbol is now on 12 of Dairygold’s spreads but, a year ago, it wasn’t. This year has been one of the best we ever had in terms of inquiries and companies joining.

“The reason Guaranteed Irish was founded was the state of the economy, job creation, and to identify Irish products. And where the hell are we now? Back where we started. People are revisiting the symbol.” Wrap the green label round me, boys.

So, assuming that shoppers want to be patriotic, what exactly should they buy? Which, among the thousands of available products, are actually Irish?

Consider an iconic brand such as Jacob’s biscuits, makers of Kimberley, Mikado and Coconut Creams, beloved of homesick emigrants. None of these have been produced in Ireland since the closure of Jacob’s plant in Tallaght earlier this year with the loss of 220 jobs.

“We have had no relationship with Jacob’s in 10 years,” says Rea. “There are brand names synonymous with Ireland not made here any more.”

Another is Old Time Irish marmalade. It is manufactured in the UK, “to an Irish recipe”, according to the Jacobs Fruitfield group. It says so on the side of the jar, in tiny writing.

Siucra could more aptly be branded Zucker, since it is made in Germany. Irish Sugar’s plants in Carlow and Mallow closed in 2005 and 2006, and afterwards “all references to the Irish manufacture of the product were removed” according to the company. But the name Siucra remains.

The label on Lakeshore Irish relish states that it is “packed in the EU”. Asked to explain, a spokesman says the Lakeshore line of relishes and mustards “are made to original Irish recipes”.

Gem Pack Foods on Dublin’s northside sells sugar with a Guaranteed Irish label. Bobby Mulligan, a company representative, explains that they are “packing the product and adding value”, noting that the business employs 80 people, and that it does “the same with sultanas and raisins which are not naturally grown in Ireland”.

Rea, of Guaranteed Irish, defends this, pointing out that its membership rule is that 50% of the added value be created in Ireland.

DO shoppers know the difference between smoked Irish salmon, and Irish smoked salmon? With the latter, only the smoke may be Irish. The fish could be from anywhere. Labelling it Irish-smoked salmon would be both grammatically and ethically correct.

It is not legally possible to say a product is “Irish made” if it’s not, but opportunistic uses of “Irish” abound, as do variations such as Erin. It’s a source of annoyance to domestic companies. Máirín Uí Lionáird, director of Follain Teoranta, a jam producer in Co Cork, says brands masquerading as Irish make it hard for real Irish producers to compete fairly on the open market. “We should have our own independent food industry,” she says.

Power, who is not paid for his work with the Love Irish Food campaign, says shoppers are confused about what is Irish. “There is even confusion in my own mind about what is an Irish brand,” he says. “Take Bachelors beans — if you had asked me a couple of months ago, I wouldn’t have known that they are now manufactured in Ireland. The same with Gateaux.”

To qualify for a Love Irish Food logo, 80% of a product’s manufacturing must be done in Ireland and companies must use local ingredients “where possible”. Does this proviso allow some products to slip through a loophole?

“No,” says Power. “If the ingredients are available and the company doesn’t use them, the label will not be included.”

While he stresses that Love Irish Food is not a lobbying organisation, Power adds that stricter rules on labelling are needed. “I went to Tesco last Saturday and saw chicken with Irish flags on it, but its source was Northern Ireland,” he says. “The whole packaging regime here is mad. You can bring in a chicken from Thailand, package it, and suddenly it’s an Irish chicken.”

Other EU countries, he believes, handle this better. Ireland applies EU legislation too rigidly. “The potential for small, artisan food producers here would be enormous if there was less red tape,” says Power. “It’s prohibitive. We do not do it well.”

A spokesman for Siptu, the union, argues that “hundreds if not thousands” of jobs have been lost by Irish labels moving their manufacturing offshore. “It would help to protect jobs if the government ensured that products identified with Ireland, and believed by purchasers around the world to be Irish-produced, were made here,” he says. “The French would not allow their champagne to be marketed as French unless it was produced in France. Likewise the Greeks with feta cheese.”

Some governments make extensive use of protected geographical status to defend regional foods such as Parma ham, Gorgonzola, Stilton, Balsamic vinegar and Roquefort. According to Bord Bia, only four Irish producers have protected status.

Some Irish labels are, however, moving manufacturing back home. Galtee, the bacon producer, was recently acquired by the Kerry Group. Frank Hayes, Kerry’s director of corporate affairs, says production is returning from countries such as Denmark. “The majority of Galtee pork products is again produced in Ireland, in Munster,” he said. “There is a small proportion produced in Scotland, but this is in the process of relocating back to Ireland.”

This should reduce the 60,000 tonnes of pork imported into Ireland each year, a source of annoyance to farmers who have long claimed that less local pork is being used in brands that shoppers assume are Irish.

Hayes also promised that Galtee cheese would be back in Ireland within “two months”.

Meanwhile, Guaranteed Irish is also launching a marketing campaign this autumn. Almost 400 companies come under its label, and Rea hopes to add more.

The campaign was removed from Irish government control in 1984 after a ruling by the European Court that forbade countries from promoting their own products as better than others. This is why a state agency such as Bord Bia operates a quality assurance scheme rather than a “buy Irish” scheme.

After the ruling, Guaranteed Irish became a private not-for-profit group. But it was the reduction in unemployment numbers that removed its big selling point. Now there are other reasons why the scheme may flourish. Consumers are interested in reducing their carbon footprint — for example, by not buying Australian honey.

“We say to companies, ‘it will never be the same as it was in the past’,” says Rea. “But as long as the goods are what people want and are priced competitively, the Guaranteed Irish label at least gives them a competitive chance. And you will even see our symbols in Lidl — on yoghurts and confectionery.”

Surprisingly, you also see the green G with the I inside on products from Wyeth and Pfizer. “Our biggest supporters are multinationals,” says Rea. “When we were not having much luck with some companies in the good days, we had to look for markets for our business. Wyeth’s SMA children’s milk is made in Askeaton. And we have our symbol on the largest-selling tablet in the world for cholesterol — Lipitor — made by Pfizer in Cork. These companies are giving huge employment.”

THE biggest problem for those playing the patriot game is that consumers with less spending power suspect that Irish brands are overpriced. “I am sick of being ripped off by ‘the Irish’,” complains Jay D from Ashtown, Dublin, in an online debate on boards.ie. “So if something of equal or better value is German, French or whatever, why on God’s earth do they think I will buy their overpriced under-quality product?”

“Spoken like a guy that doesn’t have to worry about his job,” retorts Jack Russell. “Good for you. That’s all that matters, I suppose.”

As the season of cross-border shopping approaches, the argument takes on an added edge and an extra importance.

Power, who is already thinking about how to market the Love Irish Food logo abroad, insists that nothing less than the country’s economic prospects are at stake.

“I am passionate about the future of the Irish economy,” he said. “The food and drink sector can make a contribution while financial services and construction are going to be much less important.”