6.9 Prepared Consumer Food Imports

Prepared Consumer Foods (PCF) imports reached a record €4.2 billion in 2022, an increase of 19% on the previous year. Meat preparations accounted for €542 million (13%) of PCF imports, while waters, juices and soft drinks accounted for €505 million (12%), cereal-based products €472 million (11%), and fruit and vegetable-based products €465 million (11%).

The product categories that saw the largest increases in value imported between 2021 and 2022 were:

Meat preparations, which increased by €111 million (+26%) to €542 million. M

Water, juices and soft drinks, which increased by €106 million (+27%) to €505 million. M

Cereal-based products, which increased by €106 million (+29%) to €472 million. M

One product category of PCF imports decreased by value last year; frozen confectionery decreased by €7 million (-11%) to €56 million in 2022. This should be considered in the context of rising prices across most product categories, and that several product categories did see a fall in volume as detailed below.

Table 6.9 Value and Volume of Prepared Consumer Food Imports by Category, 2021 - 2022

2021 2022 2021 v 2022
Category	€000	Tonnes	€000	Tonnes	€000	Tonnes
Meat Preparations	431,164	92,681	542,446	99,145	26%	7%
Waters & Juices & Soft Drinks	398,421	525,952	504,564	550,694	27%	5%
Cereal based Products	366,812	360,926	472,434	432,260	29%	20%
Fruit & Vegetable based	387,116	254,689	464,818	283,798	20%	11%
Extracts, Sauces, Soups	362,276	114,354	434,219	118,768	20%	4%
Chocolate-based products	330,759	63,941	359,803	70,267	9%	10%
Other Food Preparations	298,192	84,930	300,404	71,471	1%	-16%
Sugar-based products	229,189	371,351	272,604	382,937	19%	3%
Dairy Preparations	165,216	88,572	208,131	72,593	26%	-18%
Biscuits	136,261	47,626	161,864	53,818	19%	13%
Breads	125,722	61,620	136,983	52,408	9%	-15%
Pizza/Quiche	96,600	28,584	122,828	33,714	27%	18%
Fruit-based bakery	87,050	25,145	94,539	24,363	9%	-3%
Frozen Confectionery	62,757	24,261	55,930	20,419	-11%	-16%
Savoury Snacks etc	37,781	9,156	39,914	8,879	6%	-3%
Grand Total	3,515,315	2,153,788	4,171,481	2,275,533	19%	6%

Source: CSO

The top five Prepared Consumer Food categories accounted for 58% of total PCF imports in 2022 and totalled €2.4 billion.

Figure 6.17 Prepared Consumer Food Imports by Category, 2022

Figure 6.18 Prepared Consumer Food Imports by Country of Origin, 2022

n Meat preparations 13%

n Waters & juices & soft drinks 12%

n Cereal based products 11%

n Fruit & vegetable based 11%

n Extracts, sauces, soups 10%

n Chocolate-based products 9%

n Other food preparations 7%

n Sugar-based products 7%

n Dairy preparations 5%

nBiscuits 4%

nBreads 3%

nPizza/Quiche 3%

n Other 5%

Source: CSO

The United Kingdom was Ireland’s largest trading partner, accounting for 46% of total PCF imports in 2022. Other significant trading partners include Germany (8%), the Netherlands (8%), Belgium (6%) and France (5%).

Figure 6.21 provides a detailed analysis of each category by percentage imported from the

n United Kingdom 46%

n Germany 8%

n Netherlands 8%

n Belgium 6%

n France 5%

n Poland 4%

n Italy 3%

n Thailand 2%

n Brazil 2%

n Other 19%

Source: CSO

Prepared Consumer Food imports from the United Kingdom accounted for 46% of total PCF imports in 2022. Categories of imported PCF products with a strong dependency on the UK market include 74% of savour snacks, 63% of biscuits and 62% of chocolate-based products. Figure 6.21 provides a detailed analysis of each category by percentage imported from the United Kingdom and from the rest of the world (ROW) in 2022.

Figure 6.19 Prepared Consumer Food Imports by Category and Origin, 2022

Waters & juices & soft drinks

Sugar-based products

Savoury snacks etc

Pizza/Quiche

Other Food Preparations

Meat Preparations

Fruit-based bakery

Fruit & vegetable based

Frozen confectionery

Extracts, sauces, soups

Dairy preparations

Chocolate-based products

Cereal based products

Breads

Biscuits

0% 10% 20% 30%

UK Only

Source: CSO

		7 CHAPTER		EU and International Policy
DAFM provided funding Global demand for agricultural Political agreement was €750,000 commodities for food use is reached between the EU of to a forecast to and New Zealand on a UN Food and Agriculture grow by 15% comprehensive and Organisation (FAO) project ambitious free trade to provide support to 1,000 over the coming decade. agreement vulnerable small-family farms in on 22 June 2022. Ukraine in December 2022.