Our Progress - June 2026

The Disconnected Consumer: Campaign Update 

Launching later this summer, our Disconnected Consumer campaign has now moved into the media and production planning phase. 

Who we're targeting and how we'll engage them 
The campaign will focus on an 18–44-year-old audience with no direct connection to farming. Drawing on detailed audience insight analysis, the campaign has been designed to reach consumers who currently feel more disconnected from food production and the wider agri-food sector. 

Strong audience testing results 
Ahead of launch, the campaign creative underwent extensive audience testing with 18 - 44-year-olds, including consumers with little or no connection to farming. Results demonstrated strong performance across a range of key measures, providing confidence that the campaign can engage audiences not traditionally reached by the sector. 

The campaign significantly outperformed benchmark norms for clarity (83%), distinctiveness (79%), and stand-out (77%) among respondents. Further positive results included:

• 71% recognised it as a campaign about Irish food and farming

• 69% said it made them think differently about Irish produce and farming

• 66% reported that it helped them better understand the connection between farming and Irish produce

• 65% said it made them feel more positive about Irish farmers. 

If you would like to learn more about the campaign or discuss potential collaboration opportunities, please contact Rebecca Carter. 

Connecting with the Public: Bloom 2026

Bloom 2026 provided an important platform for Our Food Roots to engage with both public and industry audiences around the future of Irish food and farming. Through a combination of stakeholder engagement and public discussion, the event created valuable opportunities to strengthen understanding of food production and the role of communication in building trust across the food system. 

Connecting stakeholders and consumers

The weekend commenced with a stakeholder networking breakfast, bringing together media, industry representatives and supporters of Our Food Roots to strengthen relationships and continue conversations around public engagement with food and farming.

On Sunday, Our Food Roots participated in The Story of Food: Bridging the Gap Between Farm and Fork on the Sustainable Living Stage. Moderated by Suzanne Campbell, the panel featured Richard Cooper (Our Food Roots), Ciara Stanley (Coppenagh House Farm) and Catherine Kinsella (Saltrock Dairy), exploring the growing importance of transparency, trust and connection in modern food production.

Key themes discussed included:

• Strengthening the connection between consumers and food production

• Building trust through greater transparency and engagement

• The role of farmers, producers and communicators in shaping public understanding

These conversations remain central to Our Food Roots' mission of building greater understanding, connection and trust across Ireland's food system.

Equipping Sector Voices: Our food roots Member Workshop – ‘Communicating Food in a Time of Pressure, Scrutiny and Change’   

Our recent communications workshop with Dawn Meats brought together stakeholders from across the sector to explore practical approaches to public engagement, trust and communicating complex topics more effectively. The session formed part of a new flagship workshop series designed to help enable the sector to tell its story more effectively. 

Supporting more effective public conversations

The session explored a range of topics shaping the communications landscape, including the growing disconnect between consumers and food production, the factors influencing public perception and practical approaches to communicating with greater clarity, confidence and consistency.

The strong level of engagement throughout the session reinforced the appetite across the industry for practical thinking, honest conversations and more effective ways to communicate the complexity of modern food and farming.

You can find out more about the workshop here, or contact Tom Cronin or Rebecca Carter if you would like to discuss organising a session for your team.

Making CONSUMER insightS accessible: educational infographic series

Over the past month, we launched our Consumer Insights Infographic Series across LinkedIn and Instagram. The series translates consumer data and audience insights into clear, visual content that can support understanding of public attitudes and behaviours relating to food, farming and the wider agri-food sector.

Making insights easier to access

Understanding consumers is becoming increasingly important as the sector navigates changing expectations, evolving perceptions and growing public interest in topics connected to food production. Through this series, our aim is to make insights more digestible and easier to engage with, while supporting more informed conversations and decision-making across the sector.

Our latest insights on the Urban-Rual divide launched last week, with our final infographic on Food Prices going live later in June. All material is available on the Our Food Roots Learning Hub.

Developing Future Communicators: New UCD Agricultural Communications Lectureship Announced

Our Food Roots has announced its support for a new lectureship position in Agricultural, Food and Rural Communications at the UCD School of Agriculture and Food Science - the first role of its kind in Ireland. The initiative reflects the growing importance of communications capability within an increasingly complex and rapidly evolving agri-food landscape.

Following an open recruitment process led by UCD, Dr. Claire McCormack has been appointed to the role, bringing experience across journalism, agricultural communications and public engagement with food systems. Claire has also begun supporting delivery of Our Food Roots' Communications Capability Programme. 

Strengthening communications capability across the sector

The lectureship will support teaching, research and professional development designed to strengthen communications capability and public engagement across the wider industry. It also builds on Our Food Roots' broader programme of work to support member bodies and representative organisations in communicating more effectively on complex sector topics.

This collaboration between Our Food Roots and UCD represents an important long-term investment in strengthening communication, public understanding and trust across the Irish food system.

Supporting Informed Dialogue: Water Quality Communications Programme

Water quality remains one of the most important and widely discussed issues facing the agri-food sector. As public and media interest continues to grow, Our Food Roots has been working with stakeholders across the industry to support informed, constructive and evidence-based engagement on the topic.

Supporting preparedness, coordination and engagement  

Over the past month, activity has focused on strengthening communications capability, improving coordination and preparing stakeholders to engage confidently in public discussions. 

Key initiatives included:

• Establishing a spokesperson network spanning national, sectoral and local catchment perspectives

• Delivering Our Food Roots' first communications and media training workshop for local catchment spokespersons

• Engaging with national and regional media to support informed discussion on water quality

• Developing briefing materials, key messages and stakeholder resources to support consistent communication

Collectively, these activities are designed to support informed dialogue and ensure stakeholders are equipped to engage credibly and constructively on an issue of significant public interest, while highlighting the collaborative efforts already underway across farming, industry, advisory services and government to support long-term improvement.

Building a Shared Knowledge Base: Learning Hub LAUNCHED

The Our Food Roots Learning Hub is now live, representing the first step in our journey to develop a shared knowledge base for the Irish agri-food sector. Designed as a central and evolving resource, the Learning Hub will be continuously updated with the latest Our Food Roots research and relevant knowledge from Our Food Roots members and wider sector sources.

Building a long-term knowledge resource for the sector

The launch of the Learning Hub marks the beginning of a phased approach to developing a broader shared knowledge base designed to support the sector with accessible insights, resources and evidence-based information. As the platform develops, additional content, tools and functionality will be introduced to ensure it continues to meet the changing needs of stakeholders across the industry.

Additional scoping and planning has also commenced for the next phase of development. The system will be rolled out progressively in line with sector priorities and key topic areas, with Our Food Roots members being directly consulted throughout the process to help shape future direction and ensure the platform delivers practical value over time.