Northern Ireland’s agri-food industry must ‘adapt or die’, marketing experts at the University of Ulster have warned.

In a just-published special issue of the Journal of Marketing Management, Dr Mark Durkin, Dr Gillian Armstrong and Heather Farley said the industry has not yet adapted to rapidly-changing market conditions.

On the surface, the UU experts said, Northern Ireland’s £2.3bn agri-food sector looks healthy, but that there are major problems ahead unless changes are implemented that will enable the sector to respond to emerging industry trends.

Dr Durkin said: “It is imperative that the food industry in Northern Ireland becomes more marketing-oriented - we must look for the opportunities in this changing environment and grasp them with confidence. Now is not the time for reticence - we must act.”

Dr Armstrong added: “There is a clear need to shift thinking away from the traditional production-orientated focus towards a more demand-driven approach that can capitalise on emerging opportunities. Understanding and responding to customer preferences is a key requirement for future success.”

At the root of the problem is the relatively small market in Northern Ireland, which lacks the scale to compete internationally or to offer year round produce. This situation has led to a reliance on subsidy - and a lack of market focus, they added.

(MB/GB)