THE MARKETING OF IRISH FARMHOUSE CHEESE

Production of Irish farmhouse cheese (IFC), valued at less than 40 000 Pound in 1982, had grown to a value of over Pound 2 million by 1993. An increase in consumer demand for speciality products has been the ma in factor facilitating this growth. Most of the output goes to the hom e market but there are some exports, mainly to the United Kingdom. Les s than half of IFC producers operate on a commercial basis. Individual production is relatively low with most operators producing less than 10 tonnes per year. Producers tend to be 'individualistic'. The indust ry has problems of fragmentation, variability of product quality, lack of consumer information and promotions and lack of product support. T he possibility that a corporate entity could, at this stage of its dev elopment, significantly improve the industry's marketing performance w as explored and the opinions of IFC producers were sought in this rega rd. Reactions were mixed but most consensus existed regarding the need for a corporate entity in relation to export markets and in relation to market research, promotions and trading. The opinions of distributo rs and various types of retailers were sought in relation to IFC and i ts marketing. There was general agreement that the average quality of IFC has improved substantially in recent years but improvements are re quired in areas such as creation of consumer awareness, packaging, som e quality attributes, training and education of cheese handlers and co ntinuity of supply. It is likely that the problems and development pat h of this fledgling industry are similar to those of farmhouse cheese, and indeed farmhouse food production, irrespective of geographical lo cation.