Wednesday, January 20, 2010

What's got us talking this week....

Good news Irish brand fans - with a well needed nugget of positive news sorely craved, Ireland can embrace the news that not all of our Irish brands are suffering right now but are happily thriving through the tough times. One such example is Oatfield Confectionery, who are manufacturing and exporting their sweets worldwide with hopes for future expansion as demand grows.

Oatfield Confectionery, Ireland's oldest sweet factory, are behind such brands as -

Emerald
Colleen
Orange Chocolate,
Glucose Barley
Eskimo Mints

Can anyone think of any other Irish brands that are using this recession as a building block?

Thursday, January 7, 2010

What's got us talking this week....

Imposter brands – Irish or not

To buy locally seems like an ideal solution to the bitter cold snap that Ireland has faced these past 18 months. If we dig deep, I think most Irish consumers would buy home produce. But lets face it, we are feeling it in our pockets at the moment.

But how realistically do we do ‘our bit’ and warm up the cold front and kick start our year? It's easy really when you think about it. Reach for a home brand! You know, the brands that give us that cosy feeling. The ones we pack in a corner of our suitcase when we are off to far flung corners of the globe. You would think - a spoon full of Siucra sugar in our mug of Lyons, would be just that, but are we being fooled? Are these brands we call our own, Irish, the real thing? Think again. Welcome to the world of imposter brands!

We live in a global economy; we must continue to compete globally and to represent our Irish brands to the worldwide stage. But, where along the way have the Irish people been duped into a false sense of security? In a time when we should be supporting our own Irish brands to revive our economy, stimulate jobs and promote the country – certain brands are benefiting off the back of the ‘Irish brand’, when shockingly they are not what they claim to be!


Here are some of the brand imposters that are not as Irish, as we thought -

Siucra Sugar
Rachel’s
Jacobs Biscuits
Lyons Tea

Find out who the imposter brands are and share it with us!

Join in the conversation and have your voice heard.