Ireland gets tasty new stamp set

17 July 2015

‘Ireland the Food Island’ is the theme for the beautiful set designed by Zinc Design Consultants and featuring four key sectors of Ireland’s food industry: Beef, Dairy, Fish and Tillage. Accompanying the set are two further collector items a First Day Cover (FDC) set and mini-sheet. The stamps are available from main post offices and from the Stamp shop in Dublin’s GPO.
Over the past decade, Ireland’s food and drink industry has grown dramatically in terms of output, quality, reputation and capability, and the future has never looked more exciting. The stamps, two at 70c covering postage in Ireland and two international stamps (£1.05), carry mouth-watering images of quality Irish meat, cheese, fish and cereal.
Ireland’s food and farm sector has a gross annual turnover of approximately €25 billion and directly employs over 45,000 people. When agriculture and ancillary employment is taken account of, approximately 230,000 people are dependent on the agri-food sector.
Internationally, Ireland’s reputation for the quality of its food and drink products is reflected in its exports, which in 2014, accounted for 12.3% of total exports. According to Bord Bia, Ireland’s Food, Drink and Horticulture Board, the value of these exports totalled €10.5 billion, equating to €200 million per week.