Every year Tesco spends over €2 billion on Irish food and drink because our customers in Ireland want to buy these products.
 
 
  We are the biggest buyer of Irish potatoes and we expect to buy over 30,000 tonnes of Irish potatoes this year.
  Tesco customers in Britain and elsewhere in Europe buy €655 million worth of Irish food and drink products annually.
 
 
  Each year we grow over 3,500 tonnes, or 20 million onions, in North County Dublin which were previously imported from the UK, Holland and New Zealand.
  12,500 people are employed by Tesco Ireland, the same as the entire population of Ballinasloe.
 
 
  All of our fresh beef and lamb comes from Irish farms. All our beef from our fresh counters is Certified Irish Angus Beef, with over 50,000 Irish Angus cattle being procured for Tesco over the past 5 years.
  This year customers will buy over 70 million Irish tomatoes from our stores in Ireland, with all tomatoes coming from farms in North County Dublin and in Wexford.
 
 
  Last year our customers and staff at Tesco raised over €1.3 million euro for the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Ireland, our staff Charity of the Year. Since 2001 over €7.5 million has been raised in Tesco Ireland stores for worthy causes.
  Our customers will drink 65 million litres of Irish milk this year - enough to fill 26 Olympic sized swimming pools. All fresh milk sold in our stores in Ireland comes from Irish farms.
 
 
  Over half of the schools in Ireland have benefitted from our Tesco for Schools and Clubs programme. The scheme has raised €15 million for our customers’ schools and clubs throughout the country since 1997.