NWRC attends Bord Bia Bloom Festival 2026 – Food & Sustainability Reflection

Bord Bia Bloom is a world-class, uplifting and innovative horticulture, food, and drink experience with nature and sustainable living at its heart. Originally created to promote plants, garden design, horticulture and gardening, Bord Bia’s role in promoting food and drink has allowed Bloom to develop further. The show offers a huge range of practical information on everything from gardening, to growing fruit and vegetables, cooking and culture.

Through a KAFA application – Best Practice & Knowhow Visit, Connected funded Stella Graham to attend the festival.  The event delivered a strong and consistent message: sustainability is no longer an add-on to food—it is central to how the sector is evolving and how consumers are making choices.

The food offering was notably grounded in provenance and seasonality. Across the Food Village and producer stands, there was a clear emphasis on locally sourced ingredients, with many businesses actively communicating origin, production methods, and supply chain transparency. Artisan producers were particularly effective in telling their sustainability story—linking quality directly to environmental responsibility.

Chef demonstrations reinforced this, with a strong focus on seasonal produce, whole ingredient utilisation, and reducing waste. There was a visible shift towards plant-forward menus, not positioned as a compromise, but as a premium and creative offering. They also talked through the principles of cooking a good meal ‘all 5 tastes’ and the importance of quality ingredients.

What stood out most was the alignment between Bord Bia’s Origin Green programme and the on-the-ground experience. Producers and businesses were not only referencing sustainability commitments but demonstrating them in tangible ways—through product innovation, packaging choices, and storytelling.

There was also a noticeable effort to make sustainability accessible to consumers. Messaging was practical rather than technical—focused on simple behavioural changes such as buying local, reducing waste, and choosing seasonal products.  Key takeaways from the day were:

·       Sustainability is now a core value proposition in Irish food, not just a compliance requirement.

·       Consumers are being engaged through experience, taste, and storytelling—not just information

·       There is growing confidence across the sector in communicating sustainability as a differentiator

·       Collaboration across producers, chefs, and agencies is strengthening the overall impact