Ireland is increasingly positioning its entirely grass-fed milk production as a premium offering for the Asian food market, which is growing rapidly and increasingly shifting towards high-quality, functional and natural products. Ireland’s production standards, economic strength in the dairy sector and the rising demand for functional foods in Asia are creating new export opportunities.

Irish milk is regarded as being of particularly high quality, as it comes from a system in which cows obtain at least 95 % of their feed from grass and spend an average of 240 days a year grazing. These criteria are set out in the world’s first official ‘Grass-Fed Standard’, which ensures the quality and traceability of the products. Studies show that grass-fed milk contains higher levels of omega-3 and linoleic acid, making it attractive to health-conscious consumers.