Bord Bia, or Irish Food Board, expects to wrap up the pitch for its consumer PR account by Christmas.
Incumbent FTI Consulting faces five competitors including Slattery Communications, Drury, Edelman, WHPR and Elevate.
Bord Bia promotes overseas sales for Ireland’s agri-food sector, which employs 160K people and accounts for eight percent of GDP.
CEO Aidan Cotter is positioning Ireland’s agricultural business as a global leader in sustainability.
Irish agri-food/drinks exports rose two year last year to $12B. Dairy is the No. 1 export, accounting for 29 percent of the market.
Beef ranks No. 2 with 21 followed prepared consumer foods (16 percent), beverages (14 percent), seafood (six percent) and pork (six percent). Sheepmeat, live animals, poultry and edible horticulture round out the list.
The U.K. (42 percent) is Ireland’s No. 1 market with Continental Europe second at 31 percent.
The Bord has targeted emerging nations such as China Russia, India, United Arab Emirates and Libya for development.
The Dublin-based promotional body has offices in London, Amsterdam, Stockholm, Dusseldorf, Paris, Madrid, Milan, Moscow, Shanghai and New York.
The PR account could run for up to three years.
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