Food, Drink & Agri

A&L Goodbody has a wide ranging food & beverage practice which has been active in servicing the varied needs of the food, agri-food and beverage industries in Ireland for many years. The breadth of our practice is demonstrated by the diversity of our clients including some of Ireland’s most successful international and indigenous companies as well as multi-national companies with a significant presence in Ireland, for example: Heineken, Cadbury, Coca-Cola, ABP Food Group, Irish Distillers, Britvic, Campbell Bewley & Nestle.

As the majority of food regulation and trade structures now derive from the EU, we closely monitor developments in EU food law. Regulation is increasingly a global issue, and we are experienced in advising clients on global strategies. We also assist clients in dealing with regulatory body decisions and presenting their views on proposed legislation.

We have extensive experience in advising retailers, manufacturers and distributors on all aspects of competition law. We have devised numerous competition compliance programmes for undertakings operating in the retail sector and have acted in some of the largest retail mergers and acquisitions in Ireland.

We provide a full range of legal advice to clients in the sector, and areas of expertise include:

• corporate transactions, such as: Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A), joint ventures and private equity investments
• EU law and trade regulations
• product liability, food safety and health claims
• product authorisations, including; pre-market approvals, application procedures and novel food authorisations
• specialist food-stuffs, such as: nutraceuticals, animal feeding stuffs, additives
• competition law
• sales, marketing and brand issues, including: labelling and packaging, IP, advertising, sponsorship, promotional claims and product distribution
• regulation of food and beverage products and contact materials
• licensing requirements, including, in particular, liquor licensing requirements
• clinical trials
• crisis management