Two Northern Ireland artisan foods have been listed as gold winners in the influential Christmas products in the Irish Quality Food and Drink Awards 2021 (IQFD).

An expert judging panel selected Christmas products from Willowbrook Foods in Killinchy, county Down and Irish Black Butter of Portrush, county Antrim in entries from the Lidl Deluxe range and Irish Black Butter in a product from Aldi-Ireland.

Lidl Deluxe Buttery Roast Potatoes from Willowbrook won gold in the Christmas Meal Accompaniments category for potatoes buttered and ready to roast.

Irish Black Butter was used to glaze a gold winning Aldi Specially Selected Cook in the Bag, Irish Reduced Salt Half Horseshoe Ham from Connolly Meats in Monaghan. The product is the result of “Aldi exclusively working with Connolly Meats and the award winning Irish Black Butter, bringing a truly unique product to the Christmas 2021 Irish Ham Range.

The Cook in the Bag product is described as “a simple cooking experience for our customers, whilst delivering a succulent and flavoursome product. With a 25 percent salt reduction, the product offers this additional benefit without sacrificing on taste”.

IQFD awards said: “Our expert judging panel had the envious task of tasting a host of delicious Christmas fare, and have collated this impressive list of products to grace your tables this festive period. 

The Irish Quality Food and Drink Awards recognise and celebrate the best in retail, wholesale and foodservice food and drink products available in Ireland. Major retailers play a key role in the competition, the most important in the Irish food and grocery business.

The Christmas awards focus on foods that will be available in supermarkets over the festive season.

Bertie’s Bakery, the craft bakery whose launch coincided with lockdown in March 2020, has just been awarded the highest grade achievable in British Retail Consortium certification for food production.

Regarded as the global benchmark for best practice in food safety, quality and responsibility the BRC Double ‘AA’ grade was awarded to Bertie’s Bakery following a two-day audit in August.

Bertie’s Bakery founder Brian McErlain explains, “This award is the gold standard for food production.  For a young company like ours the achievement is remarkable and I am extremely proud of all our employees and grateful for their contribution in making this happen. 

“BRC certification is very detailed and prescriptive ensuring best practice and standardisation throughout the food production process.  Having this accreditation assures our customers of optimal quality in everything we do and is an invaluable marketing asset.”

The BRC award tops an exceptional 18 months for the relatively new company, coinciding with the addition of 11 Eurospar/Spar stores in greater Belfast, Bangor and Newtownards necessitating the purchase of a seventh delivery van.

Brian adds, “From the outset our focus has been on handcrafted and hand finished methods employing highly skilled bakers and using only the best quality ingredients.  Whilst we pride ourselves in producing the very best traditional breads, cakes and snacks, we also embrace innovation in creating new interpretations of old favourites.”

Photo Caption: Gavin Hawthorne, Head Baker, Bertie’s Bakery with the BRC Certificate 

Belfast ready meals company ‘Go Pig or Go Home’ (GPGH) has expanded into new premises to facilitate the growth of the business.

The small company has just moved into a new 16,050 sq. ft warehouse unit in the Titanic Quarter’s Channel Commercial Park in Belfast.

The health food start-up, which supplies convenience stores, gyms, and for home delivery across Northern Ireland, said it is also recruiting an additional 10 staff in response to ‘the phenomenal demand’ for its original products.

The firm has made a substantial investment in the new premises, including a state-of-the-art kitchen facility, where the team plans to develop innovative new products to add to their existing range.

James Hutchinson, who owns the company with Gary Milligan, said: “We supply our ‘Go Pig or Go Home’ products to the likes of Spar, Centra and SuperValu, as well as fitness facilities and gyms. We also operate a delivery service to homes across Northern Ireland and the growing demand for our products has enabled our expansion

“Channel Commercial Park was the ideal location for us to set up our new production and distribution centre, and we are thrilled to join the vibrant business community already established here,” he adds.

James Eyre, Titanic Quarter’s commercial director, welcomed the firm: “Channel Commercial Park is one Belfast’s largest and most versatile business parks and we have been delighted to welcome a number of new and expanding companies to the park in recent months. The strategic location of Titanic Quarter makes Channel Commercial Park the perfect business location, and we wish Go Pig or Go Home every success in their new home here.”

CBRE NI director Lisa McAteer, who acted on behalf of the landlord Titanic Quarter Ltd, added: “There has been huge competition for quality industrial and logistics units in Northern Ireland over the last year and a half which has led to an increased demand for manufacturing, storage and distribution space.

“We are thrilled to have helped facilitate this exciting phase of expansion for Go Pig or Go Home as the business up-scales to a new warehouse facility in Belfast. Moving to this new premises in Titanic Quarter’s Channel Commercial Park will support Go Pig or Go Home’s ambitious plans for future business growth.”

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Lisa McAteer, CBRE, Gary Milligan, GPGH, James Eyre, Titanic Quarter and James Hutchinson, GPGH

Darlene McCormick, the founder of That Protein in Belfast, a leader in innovative plant-based super powders and an award-winning high protein porridge, has been named ‘Best Plant Based UK Business Strategist’ by a global food and drink magazine.

Darlene, a clinical nutritionist, gained the impressive accolade from the influential LUXlife magazine in its annual food and drink awards. LUXlife, a premium lifestyle publication, circulates worldwide to almost 250,000 readers.

The recognition comes as That Protein was also successful in the annual Nourish Awards. The Belfast-based company gained a silver medal for a unique high protein organic porridge in the annual Nourish Awards for the UK’s best health foods. The innovative product has recently achieved low FODMAP certification for its porridge as suitable for sufferers of IBS and other digestion issues.

The important certification for That Protein for its natural oat-based porridge product follows rigorous independent testing by FODMAP dietary experts.

The low FODMAP certification for the organic porridge is the third achieved by the small Northern Ireland business for its products. It became the first in the UK last year to gain FODMAP approval for its award winning Blissful Raw Cacao Organic Super Protein.  The company’s Chirpy Chirpy Choca Mocha Super Protein product subsequently gained the accreditation.

Darlene says: “I am thrilled by this recognition from such an influential magazine, coming so soon after our new high protein porridge gained silver in the Nourish Awards less than a year after we introduced it to the marketplace.

 “The double choc protein porridge is a specially developed blend of organic oats, plant protein, raw cacao, cacao nibs and the sweet superfood palmyra nectar and boasts a raft of health benefits including helping build and maintain muscle mass. It also reduces tiredness and fatigue and is high in fibre which is important as the daily fibre target is 30g a day,” Darlene, who studied plant-based nutrition at Cornell University in the US, adds.

Darlene set up That Protein in 2014 on the back of a long-time dedication to a vegetarian diet.  She has created the recipes for all her product range.

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 Darlene: Darlene McCormick of That Protein in Belfast named by a global food magazine as the UK’s Best Plant-Based Business Strategic.

A substantial investment in technology has enabled Glastry Farm Ice Cream, a Food NI member, to grow sales for luxury ice cream and healthy sorbets in Northern Ireland and especially in the Irish Republic.

The small company, based on a family farm near Kircubbin in Co Down, has used the technology and market knowledge to expand its range of healthier and delicious sorbets which are lower in fat and high in fibre. The first of the new sorbets, mango and passionfruit, was launched successfully in the Food NI Food Pavilion at the recent RUAS show in Balmoral Park.

The new sorbets join flavours such as apple schnapps, pear, zesty lemon, raspberry ruffle, blackcurrant, and prosecco and raspberry.  They are, in addition, gluten, dairy and egg-free, and suitable for vegetarian and vegan diets. Additional health benefits include enhanced levels of antioxidants and Omega 3. The business also offers around 20 ice cream flavours.

Glastry Farm ice cream and sorbets are the brainchild of experienced dairy farmer Will Taylor, a former president of the Ulster Farmers’ Union, who set up the business in 2017 as part of diversification strategy to ensure the long-term sustainability of the 250-acre farm on the Ards Peninsula.

Mr Taylor continues: “Our sorbets are influenced by our experience in producing ice cream and also have the highest fruit content within the sector. Using advanced technology has resulted in our range becoming a market leader on the island of Ireland.”

The sorbets, which have already led to new business with hotels in the Republic, are the outcome of extensive market research by the company particularly into consumer buying attitudes in the UK and Ireland. Indeed, the small company’s growing success has been based on knowledge from expert market research since its launch. As a result, Glastry Farm has become market-focused and innovation-led.

“The low sugar/high fibre formulation of our sorbet range moves the product from being a palate cleanser between courses, especially in the hospitality sector, to a delicious dessert option,” Will explains.

“The additional higher levels of antioxidants and Omega 3 are a clear trend from our market research and the latest Mintel report on consumer trends 2025,” he adds. “Our new technology kit at Glastry and the technical expertise of our team have meant that it is difficult to distinguish the sorbets from our ice cream especially in terms of mouth feel and smoothness,” he says.

The new products are the latest outcome of a longstanding innovation project with the Food Technology Centre at the College of Agriculture, Food and Rural Enterprise (CAFRE) at Loughry Campus, near Cookstown. The link-up with CAFRE technical experts has been assisted by Innovation Vouchers from Invest NI.

The new products extend the application of the sorbets particularly in restaurants and cafes throughout Ireland, a key marketplace for the Kircubbin enterprise. New business has already been secured with a leading network of 11 boutique hotels there. “We have been supplying them since the Republic came out of lockdown through La Rousse Foods, the leading food distributor to hotels, cafes and other outlets there,” Will says.

Glastry Farm has been the home of the Taylor family for 150 years, and of a 300-strong pedigree Friesian/Holstein dairy herd that produces some of the richest and highest quality milk anywhere in Ireland from clover-rich pastures.

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Will continues: “To high quality raw materials from our herd we add the best flavour ingredients we can source. These include 70 percent single origin Callebaut chocolate, real Madagascar Bourbon vanilla bean, real fruit pieces from Griffin Foods. The milk is transferred from the dairy plant to our processing facility on the farm daily and processed into dessert ice creams sold all over Ireland.

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The enterprising business is also the outcome Nuffield Scholarship for Will to explore opportunities for the UK Agri-food. The study shaped the family’s thinking about its future, moving it from a milk production unit to a consumer focused farm business.

“A market research survey in 2005 – supported by the University of Ulster – pointed the way forward for us. Health and wellbeing became a priority, which meant natural foods rather than highly processed food with artificial ingredients. It also pointed towards fresh foods produced locally,” he adds. Research pinpointed developing opportunities among consumers for healthier products that offered reduced sugar, added vitamins and minerals from superfood, and featured “futuristic ingredients and rich flavour profiles”.

The ambitious company’s approach was also shaped by sustainability, the lowest food miles in the frozen sector, and assurance and control over its own farm milk.

As a result of its strategic focus, Glastry Farm now supplies many of the leading retailers and foodservice organisations on the island. In Northern Ireland, these include Henderson Wholesale SPAR and EUROSPAR grocery stores, and the Hastings Hotel Group.

A number of prestigious awards have also been secured from the UK Guild of Fine Food’s Great Taste and Blas na hEireann, the Irish National Food Awards.

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Will: Will Taylor of Glastry Farm in Kircubbin with a prestigious Blas na hEireann award for one of his healthy and tasty sorbets

Henderson Retail, Northern Ireland’s biggest food retailer and wholesaler, have been named Independent Retail Chain of the Year in the coveted Grocer Gold Awards 2021.

The company, which is headquartered in Newtownabbey, county Antrim, just outside Belfast, was the only winner from Northern Ireland in the annual awards which covered more than 30 separate categories.

The Grocer Gold Awards are regarded as the blue riband event of the £200bn UK grocery retail and wholesale sector. The awards are hosted and produced by The Grocer, the multi award-winning bible of the grocery trade.

 The awards are organised by William Reed, a UK-based publishing, events, conferences, exhibitions and market research business with offices in the UK, US and Singapore.

Henderson Retail, part of the family-owned and managed Henderson Group, owns and operates around 100 SPAR and EUROSPAR stores across Northern Ireland.

Many of these are petrol forecourt sites, affiliated with major oil brands. Henderson Group also supplies independently owned EUROSPAR, SPAR, VIVO and VIVOEXTRA stores across Northern Ireland

Henderson Retail is now one of the top players in the UK independent market and Northern Ireland’s largest independent fuel site operator