Ireland uses carbon data to win beef export business

Speaking at the National Ploughing Championships, Bord Bia agri-sustainability manager Mick Houlihan said sustainability and carbon data are now central to conversations with major international customers.

“For us, we link it all back to sustainability and grass-fed production,” he said.

“When we get into more detailed discussions with customers, ambitions around carbon regularly come up high on the agenda. That’s music to our ears because of the structure we have, where we have a carbon footprinting process on farms.”

The strength of that proposition lies in scale.

Bord Bia offices on Pembroke Rd, Dublin. (Image: Getty Images)

Houlihan said Bord Bia has accumulated more than half a million farm-level carbon footprints through its quality assurance schemes over the past 12 years, giving Ireland one of the most extensive livestock emissions databases in the world.

Every audit of a beef or dairy farm generates emissions data, allowing Bord Bia to build a national picture of environmental performance and demonstrate progress over time.

That increasingly matters because some of Ireland’s biggest customers are no longer just asking whether beef is sustainably produced.

They are asking for hard numbers.

“The more sophisticated customers have their own targets set, and they’re challenging targets,” said Kinsella.

“They’re very interested to know what the figure is and what emission factor they can apply to the volume of beef they may be buying from Ireland.”

In practical terms, retailers and foodservice firms can compare the carbon footprint attached to Irish beef against supplies from competing origins when assessing progress towards net-zero commitments.

“If we’re in a position to say, ‘You’re sourcing X thousand tonnes of Irish beef, and the associated emission factor for that is Y,’ they’ll stack that up against beef they’re sourcing from another region,” he said.

That capability gives Ireland a selling point at a time when sustainability reporting requirements are becoming stricter across global food supply chains.

Bord Bia’s Origin Green programme, launched in 2012, is the backbone of that strategy.

According to Bord Bia, the programme now includes more than 77,000 primary producers and over 300 food companies, while companies participating in the scheme account for around 90% of Irish food and drink exports.

Data published by Bord Bia shows more than 367,000 farm carbon assessments had already been completed by 2023, with beef farms in the Sustainable Beef and Lamb Assurance Scheme recording an average 8% reduction in carbon emissions per unit of beef produced.

The programme was created to provide proof of sustainability claims, but it has increasingly become a market access tool.

Carbon audits are helping to export Irish beef according to Bord Bia (Image: BOMBAERT Patrick)

Bord Bia openly states that pressure from customers is growing as major retailers and food manufacturers implement science-based emissions targets and require suppliers to provide verified emissions data.

The organisation says suppliers able to demonstrate and share that information are better positioned to build long-term customer relationships.

That focus reflects the reality of Ireland’s export-dependent food sector.

Houlihan noted that more than 90% of Irish food production is exported.

“We’re exporting over 90% of what we produce annually, so that reputation is hugely important,” he said.

The commercial stakes are significant.

Bord Bia estimates Irish primary beef exports were worth €3.4 billion in 2025, with continuing strong demand from Britain and mainland Europe despite tightening supplies.

Trust is critical if carbon data is to influence purchasing decisions, and Bord Bia has invested heavily in independent verification.

Audits are conducted by independent inspectors rather than Bord Bia staff, while international customers increasingly scrutinise the methodologies behind emissions calculations.

“They’ll say, ‘We want to see your methodology,’” said Houlihan.

“They’ll pull it apart and ask questions about how it all works. Generally, once they understand how we’re doing it, why we’re doing it and how the data flows, they have confidence that the systems and structures are there.”

The approach illustrates a wider shift in how livestock-producing countries are marketing beef. For years, Ireland’s pitch centred on grass-fed production.

That message remains important, but carbon measurement is becoming the next layer of differentiation. Rather than simply claiming environmental benefits, Bord Bia is attempting to quantify them and present customers with verified emissions data that can be incorporated directly into corporate sustainability reporting.