OGI REPRESENTING ORGANIC GROWERS
National Organic Strategy update: oats, opportunity & organic momentum
The OGI joined the National Organic Strategy Forum in summer 2024. Internship Coordinator Una Wycherley provides an update on the most recent meeting of the forum group, and some activities and developments taking place under the implementation plan, including organics at Bloom and Bord Bia’s More-ganic campaign.
Organic Strategy Forum at Flahavans
The most recent meeting of the forum group took place in mid-April, when members gathered for a visit to Flahavan’s Mill in Kilmacthomas, Co. Waterford the oldest family-run food business in Ireland and now the largest organic oat brand in the UK.
The day kicked off with an invigorating cycle along Waterford’s greenway, a great way to energise and kick-off conversations and discussions! Newly appointed Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Martin Heydon, joined the forum for this latest meeting, recognising organic oats as a real success story for Irish farming families, pointing to strong demand in the UK and growing interest in East Asia.
This meeting included discussion on how to expand organic tillage to meet increasing demand from both food and feed markets, improve supply chain resilience for processors and how producers and processors can tap into new export markets through transparent labelling, strong provenance, and compelling storytelling.
Also at this meeting, a new Feasibility Study on Producer Organisations (POs) within the Irish Organic Sector was introduced. This study, conducted by IFAC last year, included input from the OGI as part of the wider stakeholder consultation process.
Bord Bia’s More-ganic campaign relaunched nationwide in spring, promoting Irish organic food through, national radio and billboard ads, video-on-demand platforms like RTÉ and Sky Player, social media and influencer partnerships along with a “hero basket” concept of Irish organic oats, dairy, lamb, beef, seafood, and horticulture produce.
Increasing organic representation at Bloom
Organics had a stronger overall presence at Bloom 2025. A new organic show garden feature, co-developed by Bord Bia and DAFM, will evolve over the next three years, to tell the story of organic principles and growing. This year, the Eat Well Garden polytunnel talk feature, and the Horticulture is Life area, featured an extensive line-up of expert-led talks covering practical advice and insights on organic growing over the weekend. Read more here>
Opportunities like Bloom and More-ganic show how we can better showcase organic growers directly to the public, and this is an area we’re eager to see expand. While these developments signal real momentum, there is much work to do. Through our work with the forum, the OGI will continue to advocate for grower-led engagement, including farm walks, marketing training, and stronger linkages between producers and policy, as well as targeted visits to farms and growers to ensure that the strategy stays grounded in practical needs.
Una