Belfast Briefing: Capitalising on North’s rich heritage in the agri-food sector

If Jane Harnett ever needs a drop of inspiration when she is hard at work helping to get her latest business venture off the ground, she only needs to walk around the family farm.

Harnett’s family has been growing oilseeds in Northern Ireland since 1656, when they were first used to make natural fibres such as flax and linseed for the local linen industry.

Today, 18 generations later, Harnett is one of a growing association of artisan producers in Northern Ireland helping transform the fortunes of family farms by exploiting new business opportunities on their doorsteps.

Crops such as rapeseed, hemp, linseed and sunflower are grown at the family farm in Waringstown and then cold-pressed, filtered and bottled on site under the brand Harnett’s Oils.

It is very much a family venture at the moment, but Harnett has ambitions to grow the enterprise and create a brand that will continue the spirit of entrepreneurship that has flourished on the family farm for more than 357 years.

Like many of the 60 other food producers who took part in the Balmoral Show last week, she is starting small. But she has big ambitions, a characteristic she shares with many of her fellow artisan producers at the North's largest agriculture and food show – from the Armagh Cider Company to Leggygowan Farm, which produces blue goat's cheese.

Showcase
According to Colin McDonald, the chief executive of the Royal Ulster Agricultural Society, the event provides the perfect showcase for the North's indigenous food and drinks industry.

This year, for the first time in its 145-year history, it was held at the site of the former Maze prison, which also provided a backdrop to the launch of an ambitious new action plan to transform the agri-food industry and create thousands of jobs in Northern Ireland.

The industry currently tops the manufacturing league table locally with annual sales of £4.4 billion. Research carried out for the Agri-Food Strategy Board (AFSB) – a think tank set up by the North's Executive – shows 27,000 people are employed in the food and drink processing industries, with a further 47,000 directly employed in farming.

According to the board, every job created in food processing generates another two jobs elsewhere in the regional economy. It has come up with an action plan which, it believes, could help generate 15,000 new jobs in the agri-food sector by 2020.

The plan centres on the premise that the industry should be considered as a “single supply chain” and be marketed and managed as one. According to the board, its strategy is simple: Northern Ireland food and drink producers need to earn substantially more from exports.

But its success also hinges on persuading the Northern Ireland Executive to back the plan with about £400 million and securing an investment of £1.3 billion by the existing agri-food industry. It's a lot of money to invest in a strategy particularly when, according to Richard Ramsey, chief economist with Ulster Bank in Northern Ireland, the North already devotes more public expenditure on agriculture than any other sector.

His research shows that £516 million of public expenditure was allocated for agriculture, forestry and fisheries in Northern Ireland for 2010/11 in the latest treasury expenditure plans . That’s equivalent to £287 for each man, woman and child in Northern Ireland, Ramsay says.

“The agri-food sector also has significant potential to grow further. The UK trade deficit in food of over £18.4billion represents a significant opportunity for growth in Northern Ireland’s food and drink industry,” he said.

But getting into these markets is another issue. It is one thing to start off as an artisan, but becoming a household name is where the profits are.