Food innovator Alastair Bell received an early Christmas ‘box’ this week in the shape of a novel application of his award-winning Irish Black Butter savoury spread arranged by one of Ireland’s leading supermarkets involving a tasty collaboration with another food business in the Republic.

Alastair’s successful Irish Black Butter is featured in a unique horseshoe ham treat for the Christmas table that went on sale this week in around 160 Aldi-Ireland stores across the Republic. Aldi-Ireland launched its novel ‘Specially Selected Cook in the Bag Irish Black Butter Reduced Salt Horseshoe Ham’ in an eye-catching box.

The Christmas food box features ham from Connolly Meats in Scotstown, Co Monaghan along with a plastic jar of Irish Black Butter with instructions on how to use the spread, which is made from Armagh Bramley applies with spices and a touch of brandy, as a delicious glaze for the traditional festive meat.

“It’s a very exciting development for my small business,” says Alastair. “I had been providing my savoury butter to the supermarket in the Republic for some time as part of its imaginative ’Grow with Aldi’ scheme that supports smaller and artisan food businesses in the Republic and Northern Ireland. Aldi subsequently approached me to see if I would be interested in collaborating with them and Connolly Meats, another of their suppliers, on the creation of the new ham.

“I jumped at the opportunity to be an integral part of such an initiative that would help to raise the profile of Irish Black Butter throughout the Republic, a huge retail market” he says.

He’s also delighted to be collaborating with Connolly’s Meats, a family run business that currently has three generations working together under the same roof, supplying high profile retailers in the Republic, such as Aldi, and in Great Britain.  

“The collaboration is especially important because it is a development of my work to create new opportunities for the black butter particularly in terms of new food ideas,” he adds.

Aldi taste tested the original Irish Black Butter glazed ham product in the Christmas Irish Quality Food Awards and gained a gold award for it.

Echlinville Distillery has announced a new distribution partnership with Hi-Spirits which will see an increased presence for the distillery’s Dunville’s Irish Whiskey brand in the UK market, creating a significant boost for Dunville’s presence across the on and off-trade.

An independent, family-owned distillery, Echlinville at Kircubbin, Co Down has been at the forefront of Ireland’s spirits renaissance and is home to a portfolio of award-winning whiskey. Dunville’s Irish Whiskey in particular has gained a global following. The ‘Spirit of Belfast’ is held in high esteem throughout the whiskey industry for its premium and super premium single malts and vintage blends.

“We are excited about this new partnership and the opportunities it will present for both The Echlinville Distillery, Dunville’s Irish Whiskey and Hi-Spirits. Our combined expertise, passion and commitment to quality will provide the momentum for the next phase of Echlinville’s growth,” says Shane Braniff, owner of Echlimville Distillery.

“The agreement will see our Dunville’s Irish Whiskey range take its place among Hi-Spirits’ impressive portfolio. We look forward to working with the Hi-Spirits team to introduce our award-winning whiskeys to an increasing number of trade and retail partners and grow our presence in the UK market.

“From our Dunville’s 1808 blend, the iconic Dunville’s PX Single Malt, to the limited-edition bottlings from the Single Cask Series, we look forward to sharing The Spirit of Belfast with whiskey enthusiasts across the UK.”

Multi-award winning Jawbox Gin, has launched a limited edition White Christmas Gin in Northern Ireland. The limited edition gin is available in the network of Winemark stores.

This special release bottle contains the successful Jawbox Small Batch Gin with a festive white and silver label.

The Jawbox Gin distillery is set just outside Belfast on a vast 300-acre estate that dates back to the 16th century. Its fields are where much of the grain for the spirit is grown and harvested.

The gin is triple-distilled very slowly in traditional copper pot stills and in small batches using a unique combination of 11 carefully selected botanicals, including local Belfast Black Mountain heather.

On the nose, Jawbox is an impressive experience of bold juniper and pine, balanced with a gentle touch of sweet coriander and clean citrus. On the palate, it becomes more complex with citrus and juniper developing into peppery, earthy Angelica root.

The finish is citrus, lingering juniper and pine. It’s recommended to be served with refreshing Ginger Ale, which also happens to have been invented in Belfast. The perfect gift for friends and family this Christmas, this limited edition Jawbox White Christmas Gin is available now in all Winemark stores across Northern Ireland while stocks last, priced at £25. 

Peas Please will today announce a huge increase in the number of vegetable portions the award-winning initiative has delivered into the UK food system.     Since its inception 4 years ago an additional 636 million portions of veg have been sold or served by major food companies across the UK.    This represents nearly a 300 % increase on last year.   The Peas Please report will also be released today which shows how the initiative works to make vegetables more appealing, accessible, and affordable for everyone.  

The Food Foundation in partnership with Food Sense Wales, Nourish Scotland, Belfast Food Network and Food NI have delivered the trailblazing Peas Please initiative across the UK, which clearly shows the huge impact transparent reporting can have. Over the past year 21 pledging businesses refreshed and updated their original pledges, with many committing to SMART targets and transparent reporting of sales of vegetables within their businesses.   This will play a vital role if rapid transformation of our food system is going to be achieved, to curb the current heath crisis facing the country, and help tackle climate change. 

This was echoed in Henry Dimbleby’s National Food Strategy published in July which calls on Government to introduce mandatory reporting for large food companies to achieve the substantial shift in the nation’s diet required to reduce the environmental and health impacts of our current food system. Many major food businesses have already publicly declared their support showing a huge shift in the food industries desire to be part of the solution.  UK retailers with 92% of UK retail market share are currently signed up to Peas Please and are now committing to major initiatives to help drive up vegetable consumption across the UK setting ambitious targets for veg sales and procurement.

Nine Northern Ireland companies will be among more than 100 artisan food producers showing a broad range of innovative and tasty products at Gifted Fair in Dublin from 1-5 December. The local companies are taking part in a showcase organised by Invest Northern Ireland in association with Food NI.

Taking place at the RDS, the event is Ireland’s largest and most important gift and food show on the run-in to Christmas. The fair is resuming this year after being stalled in 2020 due to the restrictions from the coronavirus pandemic.

The presentation features a wide variety of quality foods with gluten-free and vegan options which are ideal for Christmas and New Year entertaining.

On the Northern Ireland stand will be a variety of successful and award winning products including artisan spiced meats, cheese, snacks, granola, condiments, bread, gin and coffee.

Commenting on Northern Ireland company attendance at Gifted, Jen Guiney, Invest NI’s Business Development Executive for the Republic of Ireland said: : “We are delighted to be back at Gifted again with a strong presentation of excellent artisan food and drink from Northern Ireland producers after last year’s inevitable cancellation.

“Our companies are keen to be back at the RDS because the fair has proved hugely successful with visitors from all over Ireland and from further afield seeking different taste experiences and new meal ideas.

“It’s a show which has worked well for Northern Ireland’s smaller food companies in terms of orders and contacts over the years,” Mrs Guiney added.

The quality of the artisan food showcase from Northern Ireland is demonstrated by the dozens of original foods which have won coveted UK Great Taste and Blas na hEireann, the Irish National Food Awards and Irish Quality Food and Drink Awards over the past five years. –

Northern Ireland food and drink companies at Gifted Fair 1-5 December

Ballylisk of Armagh, Portadown, Co Armagh– handcrafted soft cheeses

Bro Coffee, Newcastle, Co Down – retail and wholesale coffee roaster

Cookie Jar, Newcastle, Co Down – artisan bakery with multi-award winning Irish wheaten loaves and wheaten bread mixes

Green Fingers Family, Larne, Co Antrim – handmade granolas

Hellbent, Belfast – South African Boerewors sausages, meatballs, burgers and pork dishes

Irish Black Butter, Portrush, Co Antrim – savoury and sweet spreads

Ke Nako Biltong, Ballyclare, Co Antrim – South African Biltong and other charcuterie

Noisy Snacks, Belfast – healthy snacks

Symphonia Spirits, Moy, Co Tyrone – gin and apple rum

Three other Northern Ireland companies have independent stands at Gifted. They are:

Armagh Cider Company, Craigavon, Co Armagh – ciders, juices, mixers and apple cider vinegar

Burren Balsamics, Richhill, Co Armagh – balsamic vinegars, relishes and jams

Holmes Bakery, Portadown, Co Armagh – biscuits including butter shortbread, flakemeal and traybakes

Killowen Distillery, a small batch producer of whiskey, gin and rum in Northern Ireland, has launched the new Dalriadan Blended Malt Whiskey in celebration of the great tradition of whiskey distilling around north Antrim.

The Dalriadan from Killowen, which is based in the Mourne Mountains near Rostrevor in County Down, is 40% percent double distilled peated malt from Caol lla Distillery aged in ex-Bourbon Hogg’s head butts and 60 percent 11-year-old malt from county Antrim and finished for three years in Oloroso butts.

Brendan Carty, Killowen’s master distiller, explains; “Whiskey lovers have always pondered which nation created whiskey. In truth, whiskey evolved long before our fixed ideals of nation and kingdoms. Nowhere is this fluidity of place acknowledged more, than the lands surrounding the sea of Moyle in north Antrim. Predating whiskey’s foundations, there was once an ancient kingdom known as Dalriata, a kingdom long since disappeared yet the fluidity of her people remains just as dynamic to this day. This whiskey is a celebration of different, but heavily related whiskey traditions and when merged, a beautiful fusion is created. Both whiskeys originate safely within the boundaries of what was once, a vibrant sea-faring nation,” he adds.

Killowen, he continues, “thoroughly enjoy bonding and blending, it’s as much of a learning experience for us as it is the consumers, as usual we make the drinks we want to taste, and thankfully fellow consumers have the same point of view”.

The new whiskey is released on Friday and will be available online from Irish Malts, Anzac Wholesale, Umbrella Project and KWM Wines and from some retail stores.