Measurement and growth of the food production and distribution in Ireland

Abstract

In this paper a comprehensive definition of the food industry is arrived at and an attempt is made to identify the main sectors and resources which would comprise the food industry according to that definition. Furthermore, an attempt is made to measure the size and growth rate of the industry in value-added terms. The measurement of the industry embraces the main sectors in the food chain, namely, food retailing, food wholesaling, food processing, unprocessed exports sector, farming and fishing, and the agricultural input sector. It also includes an approximation of the value-added generated by successive sectors involved in supplying inputs to these sectors. The measurement is attempted for the years 1953 and 1972.