Ireland’s Place on a Plate is about Local Sourcing

The ‘Place on a Plate’ concept is aimed at celebrating local food and hospitality and to make local food easily available and recognisable for the visitor, be it in a café, restaurant, pub, cookery school or hotel.

‘Place on a Plate’ is a simple concept whereby any food service outlet offering fresh, locally sourced, seasonal food on their menu can participate. For consumers, it will provide a true sense of the locality they are visiting by experiencing quality, seasonal, fresh, local food traditional recipes and regional specialities sourced from local producers passionate about ensuring the quality of their products.

For businesses it is an opportunity to appeal more to both domestic and international visitors helping to sustain your business and drive profitability.

In 2009 2 billion euro was spent by visitors on food and drink in Ireland. In fact 2 euro out of every 5 euro was spent on food by visitors. These same visitors found that quality and service of the Irish food experience highly however they didn’t necessarily feel they were receiving the best value for their money. This new program reminds everyone that emphasis on locally produced fresh and organic products are a tremendous selling point for consumers.

‘Place on a Plate’ will create a platform for producers and providers to work together, which will raise the profile of their locality and bring increased business to their area which will ultimately benefit the local economy.
‘Place on a Plate’ is an opportunity to capitalise on the growing trend of consumers looking for local sourced produce whilst on holidays and research has found that these consumers are willing to spend more on locally sourced food.

Any food service business can participate in ‘Place on a Plate’; a cafe, bar, restaurant or hotel by delivering one or more dishes from their menu that reflects their individual locality and regional food traditions.
This concept is to make Irish food vendors and Irish restaurateurs to think differently about their food offering and utilizing the business supports available to help them to achieve this. It will also give them an opportunity to shout about all the great things that they do in their business already.