Ireland has its sights on Asia’s growing premium nutrition market, positioning its grass-fed dairy credentials to meet rising demand for quality dairy products.
All European dairy from Ireland is grass-fed — long regarded as premium, with studies showing higher linoleic acid (omega-6) and omega-3 fatty acids — and Ireland is now targeting Asia’s growing premium nutrition market, DairyReporter reports.
The EU chose the Irish Food Board (Bord Bia) to run the dairy part of its Asia promotional campaign, a €3.2m investment over three years.
Grass-fed credentials and the Asia focus
«Grass-fed dairy is essentially when the cows consume a diet that is at least 95% grass, and must spend an average of 240 days out on the pasture», said Bord Bia’s Maedbh Sheehan, noting Ireland is home to the world’s first grass-fed standard.
While Ireland has long exported to the UK, North America and Europe, it is increasingly focused on fast-developing markets such as Asia — Vietnam, Singapore and China — where consumer demands are evolving (Vietnam is among the biggest consumers of European-style cheese and butter), said client manager Tara Bane. Dairy is Ireland’s single largest source of export income at €7.3bn in 2025, up 14% year on year.
Premium and functional nutrition
«The milk produced here is very premium… made into even more premium products such as cheese, butter and protein powders», said Tirlan’s Aoife Herlihy.
Noting Asian consumers increasingly seek claims like «grass-fed», «natural» and «minimally processed». Beyond grass-fed, demand is shifting toward higher functionality and personalised benefits, visible in the growth of sports nutrition.
«Many of the raw ingredients required to make these products are dairy-based, such as whey proteins or casein, and as sports nutrition and protein demand move more and more into the mainstream, this is a major opportunity for us», Bane added.
Source: DairyReporter
