A total prize fund of €150,000 is up for grabs in the latest Love Irish Food Brand Development Award.
Run in association with Exterion Media, the 2022 award is also being supported by Checkout Magazine as trade media partner for the award while Bank of Ireland has also come on board to provide a financial wellbeing business health check to the winner. In addition, Owens DDB will offer a creative bursary, while Innovate Solutions will offer a product development package. This will bring the total prize-fund of the award to in excess of €150,000 for 2022.
As in previous Brand Development Award campaigns, Love Irish Food and Exterion Media will collaborate with and support the winning brand to plan a campaign that will optimise their business and marketing objectives for the year ahead.
According to Kieran Rumley, executive director, Love Irish Food: “The Love Irish Food Brand Development Award is a most unique Irish food industry award. The aftermath of Covid-19, as well as Brexit, have impacted Irish food companies and caused much uncertainty in the market over the last 18 months. In recent months companies will have felt a dramatic increase in input costs, leading companies to urgently review their bills of materials and unit costs in forming their plans for the year ahead.
“This award will give the winner the assurance that they will be able to carry out an impactful business and advertising campaign worth in excess of €150,000 in 2022 and reach their target consumers nationwide. We at Love Irish Food are very proud of this award which helps promote and support an Irish produced food and drink brand with practical help and assistance. The award will provide Irish SME brand producers with the opportunity to advertise to Irish consumers on a national level, giving them a huge opportunity to build brand awareness, connect with their target audience and have a robust business understanding of their company.”
Sandra Doyle, sales director, Exterion Media adds: “The Brand Development Award is hugely important to us at Exterion Media. This is a fantastic opportunity for a small Irish brand to step up their brand promotion efforts and leverage that opportunity to grow their consumer awareness. We look forward to reviewing the many strong entries we receive annually. We will be looking for a brand that demonstrates drive, passion and promises strong growth.”
Golden Bake won the 2019 Love Irish Food Brand Development Award and according to Robin Jones, managing director, “It was a huge achievement for Golden Bake to win the 2019 Love Irish Food Brand Development Award. The award gave us the opportunity to further promote our business throughout Ireland, highlight our Irish heritage and the local ingredients we use. We would encourage Love Irish Food members to apply for this award which truly has the ability to drive brand awareness and sales.”
The competition is a simple two phase process. To enter, Love Irish Food member brands must register at http://www.loveirishfood.ie. Registrations are open until December 3rd 2021. The second phase involves a completed submission to be submitted by 5.30pm Friday 14th January, 2022.
The judging panel comprises of Kieran Rumley, executive director, Love Irish Food and Antoinette O’Callaghan, marketing manager, Exterion Media. A shortlist of competitors will then be interviewed by the judging panel with the winner announced on 27th January 2022.
