Dawn Meats has announced that it has secured a multi-million euro contract for monthly beef shipments with a leading South Korean company.

The contract is for Dawn Meats to supply the South Korean firm’s food service, retail and manufacturing customers.

This comes following the announcement this Wednesday that South Korea has opened to Irish beef exports.

The new contract will commence later this month, with bone-in and boneless beef cuts and offal coming from its sites in Grannagh, Co Waterford, and Charleville, Co Cork.

The Dawn factories are among seven that have been granted beef export access to South Korea.

Factory visit

This follows a successful visit by representatives of the South Korean company to Ireland in January of this year.

Dawn Meats said the visit was the culmination of significant efforts by the company to build relationships with potential South Korean clients, which began in 2018.

It also follows an audit of Irish beef plants by South Korean authorities last month.

Dawn Meats is already a supplier of Irish beef into other markets in the region, including the Philippines and Japan.

‘Testament to family farms’

Dawn Meats chief executive officer Niall Browne welcomed the new market access for Irish beef and said the meat processor is delighted two of its sites received South Korean approval.

“It is a testament to the high-quality beef supplied by our family farm suppliers and it is a significant step in developing new market opportunities for our products.

“We must recognise the role played by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine over the years to secure this positive development.

“We look forward to working with our customers in the South Korean market who will be crucial to helping to bring quality Irish beef to the plates of South Korean consumers,” he added.