The aim is to establish a multi-label Quality and Origin Scheme for Irish suckler beef produced in a traditional fashion on family farms. It will designate the production and processing standards to create unique-to-Ireland, premium products with unique selling points to sell into niche markets.

‘Traditional Irish Beef’ will be the Scheme’s primary label.  It will be focused on the Irish way of producing beef with a grass/forage-fed emphasisand an allowable use of concentrates. Suckler-reared calves will be a defining aspect of the 'Traditional Irish Beef' Quality and Origin Scheme.

The Scheme will also promote the use of one or more optional labels. These may relate to ‘100% grass-fed beef’, localities and/or managing high-nature-value land, ‘Heritage breeds’, lower fat/cholesterol beef and/or eco-friendly farming [with ‘Organic’ being a 3rd party certification].

Top-of-the-market products typically means artisan, small-scale and local. It rarely means factory-processed. It often requires more direct marketing to consumers. The aim is to develop the Irish Rural Foods Network to reconnect farmer to consumer via small-scale supply-chain intermediaries.

The above is suited to the domestic market but Irish farmers also have to export.  The Quality and Origin Scheme is designed to standardize volumes for export. To compliment this a proposed premium-foods export hub to support product sales, consolidate volumes and provide logistics.

The Project will also investigate the availability of independent local abattoirs  to provide needed slaughtering and processing facilities.  Creating new facilities will be evaluated as necessary.

Please contact us for a more detailed presentation of the Project.

The goal is to establish a multi-label Quality and Origin Scheme for Irish sheep meat produced in a traditional fashion on family farms. It will designate the production and processing standards that will create unique-to-Ireland, premium products with unique selling points to sell into niche markets.

‘Traditional Irish Lamb’ will be the Scheme’s primary label. Production will have a grass/forage-fed emphasis with an allowable use of selected concentrates.  In the longer run, the target will be to register ‘Traditional Irish Lamb’ under EU designated-origin-product laws.

The plan is also to develop the Irish Rural Foods Network to reconnect farmer to consumer via smaller-scale supply-chain intermediaries.  This is discussed at length in the Suckler Beef Project.

‘Traditional Irish Lamb’ will be a label for promoting premium lamb into the domestic and export markets. A second label under the Quality and Origin Scheme will be Irish Hill Lamb. This will be from farms in qualifying hill zones and produced in accordance with a set of Q&O Scheme rules.

Further optional labels may designate that the lamb is produced by individual producer groups in particular locations.  These locations may be defined by a special landscape and/or by having farms that manage high-nature-value land. In addition, the Scheme will promote the use of other labels that may relate to ‘100% grass-fed’, ‘heritage breeds’, producing meat from older sheep and/or eco-friendly farming techniques [with ‘Organic’ being a 3rd party certification].

Please contact us for a detailed presentation of the Project.