Britain the key market for Northern Irish food and drink

Great Britain remains the most important destination for sales of Northern Ireland food and drink, according to a new report from the region's Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA).

Customers in Britain purchased 47 percent of the total output of Northern Ireland food and drink in 2015, while the Republic of Ireland remained the biggest export market at 14 percent.

Customers in Britain spent over £2 billion on Northern Ireland food and drink in 2015. The industry's total output was £4.4 billion, down three per cent on the previous year.

Sales to the Republic over the period were down 11.3 percent from £704.3 million in 2014 to £624.8 million in 2015.

However, DAERA said that provisional figures for 2016 - when the sector was celebrated in a year-long campaign led by Tourism Northern Ireland and Food NI - put sales at £4.423 billion compared to 2015's £4.424 billion.

Despite the fall in sales for 2015, the sector was responsible for an impressive share in output or gross value added at 2.3 percent in 2015, up from 0.2 percent. The industry employs upwards of 22,000 in food and drink processing and a further 80,000 across the 'field to fork' supply chain.

The key subsectors of beef and sheep meat, milk and dairy products, accounted for close to 50 percent of turnover in 2015 and 2016.

However, beef and sheep meat suffered the largest decrease in sales at £29.6 million, while pig meat sustained the next biggest fall at £12.2 million.

But the subsectors of drinks, bakeries and fruit and vegetables all added sales of £16.6 million, £13.9 million and £11 million respectively.

The statistics continue to show the continuing importance of food and drink processing to the economy and in particular the important of the GB market to all sectors.

Food and drinks processing sector, in Northern Ireland contributed 23 percent of external sales, 21 percent of export sales and 25 percent of total sales in the manufacturing industry in 2015. The sector's proportion of total manufacturing employment increased to 26 percent, while the share contributed to the value added of the manufacturing industry was 18 percent.

Within the sector, the beef and sheep meat and milk and milk products sub sectors continue to be the largest sub sectors in terms of gross turnover for both 2015 and 2016. Together, they account for 49 percent and 48 percent of the sector's total gross turnover.

In both 2014 and 2015, the size of value of the Northern Ireland domestic market was smaller than those markets outside of the UK. In both 2014 and 2015 all sub sectors traded profitably.