Russians will soon be able to buy chilled vacuum-packed Irish beef through the country's rapidly developing supermarket network.
Russia is Ireland's most important beef export market outside the EU and has now started to sell Irish beef in this way at a premium price.
The publicity launch of the Irish product was marked this week by the arrival of a high level delegation of Irish food and drink exporters to Russia. The group is being led by Minister for Agriculture and Food Mary Coughlan and the chairwoman of An Bord Bia, Angela Kennedy.
Last night Ms Coughlan and the Irish Ambassador to Russia, Justin Harmon, were joined by over 200 people for a trade reception and celebration of Bord Bia's 10 years in Russia.
Among the guests was Larry Goodman, Europe's largest beef processor and who had earlier been at the Kronshtadt meat plant on the outskirts of St Petersburg, where AIBP - Mr Goodman's company - sends chilled Irish beef for processing.
The Minister had explained that Ireland was geographically well placed to exploit the niche market for chilled beef, which could more than compete with the frozen product coming into Russia from Latin America.
Stressing the importance of the Russian beef market to Ireland, she said that last year the Russians imported 47,000 tonnes of Irish beef, which represented 85 per cent of non-EU beef exports from Ireland.
Having toured the processing facility, she said the arrival of chilled Irish beef on the Russian market presented huge opportunities for Irish exporters into one of the fastest growing consumer markets in Europe.