An annual study which examines the reputations of companies has put Bord Bia at the top.

Ireland RepTrak 2019, announced by The Reputations Agency,  is based on the perceptions of over 7,000 members of the public who completed a survey across January and February.

The survey measures the level of trust, respect, admiration and esteem the public has for 100 of the largest, most familiar, and most important organisations - along with 25 other reputation indicators.

The Irish Food Board took the top spot overall as the most reputable organisation in Ireland, with a score of 83.5, for their role in developing international markets for Irish food, drink and horticulture.

Organisations responsible for promoting and building Ireland's reputation abroad also proved popular.

Five such organisations dominated the top 10 including the IRFU, Tourism Ireland, Aer Lingus and Dublin Airport.

Potential concerns have been raised over Aer Lingus ownership | Image: Brian Lawless/PA Wire/PA Images

The study also recorded a strong performance by State-backed organisations - with four placing within the top 10 such as Tourism Ireland and An Post.

Some of the companies that made the biggest moves this year included the IRFU, which jumped 12 places from 15th to 3rd, while Aer Lingus also made significant gains moving from 16th place to 5th.

This also followed a significant re-brand of the carrier earlier this year.

Despite seven of the top 10 being Irish indigenous organisations, overall the 57 indigenous organisations studied came in 2.5 points below the 43 multinational organisations studied.

RepTrak said this primarily reflected a significant gap in perceptions of innovation, performance and leadership.

However Irish firms were on a par on citizenship and governance.

The study also measured the public's propensity to support the 100 organisations across a range of scenarios.

The Google logo is seen at its European headquarters in Dublin in 2013 | Image: Jessica Binsch/DPA/PA Images

Aldi, Lidl and Bord Bia took the top three places for 'Willingness to Buy Products or Services', while Lidl, Credit Unions and Aldi took the top three places for 'Willingness to Welcome Into My Community'.

Google, Apple and Tourism Ireland took the top three places for 'Willingness to Work For' the organisations.

An Post, BMW, Boots, Google and Kellogg's each received an 'Outstanding Achievement Award' for taking the top five positions when scores were averaged over the 10 year period of the study.

The top 10 companies in the Ireland RepTrak 2019 study

Bord Bia topped the 2019 study for the second time since joining it in 2015.

Speaking on their success Tara McCarthy, CEO of Bord Bia, said: "We're very proud to have topped the Ireland RepTrak study for 2019.

"Bord Bia's reputation is a reflection of the outstanding reputation enjoyed by Irish farmers, food producers and manufacturers.

"Bord Bia, for its part, will continue to drive the success and reputation of the agri-food industry through our insight-led approach, our commitment to developing talent and through the ongoing development of the Origin Green programme."

Of the 17 sectors studied this year, the Retail Food sector continued to top the sectoral ranking for the second year in a row, with a sectoral pulse score of 71.7.

The Financial Services Banking sector took the 17th slot with an overall score of 59.0.

However, this is up 1.5 points from 57.5 in 2018 and up 18 points since its low of 40.9 in 2011.

The study has suggested this means "much work still needs to be done by this sector to regain the trust and confidence of the public."

Niamh Boyle is managing director of The Reputations Agency.

"A strong reputation increases support and delivers positive business results while helping to win customers, attract the right talent, and gain support from key stakeholders.

"It's driven by the touchpoints that stakeholders have with organisation - their direct experiences, what organisations communicate and what others say about these organisations.

"From a global perspective, over the last 10 years we have seen reputation move markets, with the Top 10 most highly reputed companies outperforming the S&P Index by 2.5 times. In Ireland, our study shows that if an organisation improves its Reputation Pulse score by five points, the number of people willing to buy its products or services goes up by 6.2%, delivering a very positive business outcome."

Main image: Niamh Boyle, managing director of The Reputations Agency, and Tara McCarthy, Bord Bia CEO | Image: Leon Farrell/Photocall Ireland