12 June 2008

Horticulture Companies urged to Brand for Greater Competitiveness

Horticulture Network Ireland, a specialist division of the Irish Exporters Association, today (12 June 2008) published a new booklet, Cultivate Your Brand, which encourages horticulture companies to brand their products in order to increase sales and profitability. The booklet was launched by Mr Trevor Sargent, T.D., Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries, with responsibility for the horticulture sector.

In welcoming the publication of this booklet Minister Sargent said that it was an easy to read guide to the whole process of branding, geared specifically to the needs of the horticulture sector. “This booklet sets out to explain the main branding principles and also the benefits that can be gained by horticultural businesses when they decide to undertake a professional branding process,” said Minister Sargent. He commended the work of Horticulture Network Ireland (HNI) and Horticulture Network Wales, who have cooperated in the publication of this booklet and recommends it as a starting point for any company thinking of developing its own brand of horticultural products.

According to Mr Joseph Blair, Director of Horticulture Network Ireland, the publication Cultivate Your Brand is one of the practical information programmes developed by HNI. The booklet features case studies of two horticulture companies – one Irish and one Welsh. “The case study of FitzGerald Nurseries, Kilkenny, is particularly relevant to the Irish situation,” he said. He added that based on the MyPlant branding and business development project that HNI completed with FitzGerald Nurseries, it was felt that the wider horticulture sector could benefit from Pats experience and the lessons learned. “By distributing Cultivate Your Brand widely to horticulture companies we believe, that many others horticultural businesses will come to the conclusion that the way to stay ahead in increasingly competitive international markets and to achieve sustainable growth will be through the creation and development of their own brand.”

This booklet looks at the practicalities of developing a brand name and a logo and, very importantly, protecting both the name and the logo through registering a trade mark. “Obviously Irish companies should register their trade mark or marks in Ireland,” said Mr Blair. He added that when a company intends marketing its products and services outside of Ireland, it is essential that the trade mark be registered in those countries as quickly as possible. He noted that registration of the brand logo by means of trade mark registration should be done with the assistance of a patent agent or attorney. He said that companies in the horticulture sector should also be aware that they have certain intellectual property rights under the Plant Variety Rights Act and urged companies to fully inform themselves of their rights and also how to apply for those rights.

Horticulture Network Ireland is a specialist division of the Irish Exporters Association (IEA). HNI takes a pro-active approach and speaks directly with horticulture companies to gain a full and up-to-date understanding of the range of issues they face. HNI helps growers by promoting and supporting best practise in production, sales and marketing which it believes will lead to more firms entering export markets. Cultivate Your Brand is one of the practical information programmes offered by Horticulture Network Ireland in partnership with Horticulture Network Wales. The programmes are part funded by the EU’s Interreg IIIA programme.

ENDS

For Further Information Contact: Mr Joseph Blair, Director, Horticulture Network Ireland.

Telephone: 087 921 2044

Fax: 01 661 2315

Email: jblair@irishexporters.org