The Food NI team has been busy making the final arrangements for what promises to be an immensely enjoyable and informative RUAS show at Balmoral Park. Supported by the Northern Ireland Regional Food Programme, it’s long been the most important event in our annual calendar especially in those days before the Covid pandemic paused so many food and drink events here and in Britain.

We’re glad to be back at Balmoral Park once again at what will be an adapted Food NI Food Pavilion, one which applies all the social distancing, mask wearing and hand sanitising rules for the safety of our exhibitors and the public.  It comes as our work to support our friends in Invest NI at food shows in Britain has also resumed.

We’ve certainly missed the show since it was paused over the last two years by the awful pandemic which remains an ongoing threat. We are fully aware of this and have taken steps to ensure safety by implementing systems which promote social distancing and hand sanitation throughout the pavilion. This has also involved increasing space between stands and reducing companies this year. Visitor and participating company safety is a priority for us. We would urge visitors to comply with Government guidance.

I am sure that the changes won’t impact the enjoyment of visitors to the pavilion. They’ll have a much-awaited opportunity to experience the very best of our outstanding and award- winning food and drink. This year the cookery theatre will focus on food and drink experiences, which are a growing trend. With the emphasis on staycations and the trend for experiential tourism (i.e., where you actually get the chance to experience something new) this year we will have a number of presentations from food and drink experiences, such as gin tastings, orchard tours and cookery classes. These have been supported by TourismNI under their Embrace a Giant spirit brand, so many signature experiences supported by TourismNI now include a food or drink element.

The Food Pavilion, will open its doors at the show next Wednesday, ready to welcome thousands of visitors keen to the see and taste the very best food and drink from our companies of all sizes and from every category. 

While social distancing has meant we’ve had to limit the number of participating companies and reduce opportunities for interaction, visitors will still be able to see some delicious and original food and drink from upwards of 35 producers, mostly artisan and smaller companies, from virtually every part of the country. Participating companies will still be able to talk about their products to existing and potential customers and get some worthwhile feedback.

There’ll be hundreds of innovative products in what will be the biggest celebration of the outstanding tastes and rich flavours from companies here including many which have won top awards for originality and quality in prestigious national and international food awards. 

The Food Pavilion will still be the biggest presentation of local food and drink in almost two years.

I would urge you not to miss the opportunity the show provides to see the best of local food and drink from our dedicated and talented producers. They need and value your support as they recover steadily from the challenges of Covid and also from Brexit and the Northern Ireland Protocol. We all need to work together to support an industry which generates £5 billion annually to the local economy…and has the potential to make an even greater contribution in both short and long terms.

Michele Shirlow

Chief Executive

Food NI

Dunbia, headquartered in Northern Ireland and the region’s biggest meat producer, has been named Manufacturer of the Year in the annual Meat Management and Industry Awards. The company, which is based in Dungannon, county Tyrone, also won the ‘Britain’s Best Burger’ title for burgers provided to Sainsbury’s supermarkets in the UK.

The Britain’s Best Meat Pie award went to Marks & Spencer Large Beef Wellington which was developed in association with Linden Foods, also based in Dungannon.

While both Dunbia and Linden are located in Dungannon, they operate throughout the UK and further afield. Dunbia is now owned by Ireland’s Dawn Meats and Linden is part of Ireland’s globally focused APB Group.

The two award-winning companies are part of Northern Ireland strategically important meat processing sector, the biggest in the region’s £5 billion food industry which exports to over 60 global markets.

The successes of the Northern Ireland meat processers were among awards at a gala presentation for the UK meat industry at the Hilton Birmingham Metropole.

Football icon Kevin Keegan presented manufacturers, supermarkets, industry suppliers, trade organisations, catering butchers and independent retailers with their winning trophies.

Having taken place online for the first time last year as a direct result of the Covid-19 pandemic, the annual awards returned this year to an in-person event.

The Meat Management Industry Awards are a celebration of the creativity, innovation and excellence of the UK’s meat industry. The award winners were determined through reader votes and product entries, along with a select judging panel for product evaluation.

A total of 20 accolades were handed out to companies, associations and personalities that struck a chord with readers and judges.

Graham Yandell, publisher of Meat Management magazine, which runs the influential awards, said: “It has been fantastic to bring the industry back together again for these prestigious awards and I know it has been a very special evening for so many of our guests as we all try our best to get back to something like normal.

“I would like to thank everyone who participated this year and in particular those who delivered products for evaluation back in June, despite various logistical problems and staff shortages. Also, a big thank you to our valued partners who support the awards.”

Mr Yandell continued: “It is a real privilege to stage these awards every year and to host the ceremony.”

Chef and writer Paula McIntyre MBE’s new cookery series on BBC Northern Ireland is already a hit with viewers. The Hamely Kitchen which broadcasts at prime time Monday evenings is seeing a great market share in Northern Ireland and on the island of Ireland as well as on the BBC iPlayer.

It focuses on Paula’s own Ulster-Scots heritage, hence the title, the Hamely (Homely) Kitchen. She can see the coast of Scotland from her house on clear days. That is a reminder of the early Scottish settlers who brought ingredients and recipes to Northern Ireland.

She uses the finest local ingredients to create recipes for friends and family. True to Paula’s down to earth style, there are celebrations of the turnip alongside sustainable fish and local beef and lamb all elevated to new heights of flavour. Paula meets some of the suppliers, including the food and drink suppliers she cooks with.

She believes cooking should be joyful, not stressful. The kitchen should be a “hamely” place.

The Hamely Kitchen is on Monday evenings on BBC Two Northern Ireland and repeated on Sundays at 4.25pm. It is on BBC iPlayer on demand.

Ewing’s Seafoods, the iconic fishmonger in Belfast, has been named ‘The Best Fresh Seafood Supplier – Northern Ireland’ in the prestigious Food and Drink Awards organised by the upmarket LUXlife magazine which has a global circulation of almost 250,000.

The family-owned and managed company, which operates a fresh fish and seafood processing operation and a retail outlet on the Shankill Road, near Belfast city centre, is among the best known and most successful seafood businesses in Northern Ireland, supplying a range of fresh fish and other seafoods to over 400 restaurants and hotels across the region.

LUXlife said the influential award had been made after rigorous judging by a team of experts. “All nominees were judged on their merits with assessment centres around an extensive evaluation of skills and services on offer,” the magazine’s Katherine Benton said.

“Our merit driven approach has brought us much commendation and allows our team to identify those most dedicated in demonstrating expertise and an unwavering commitment to excellence within their field,” she adds.

Crawford Ewing, a director of the family business which started in 1911, is understandably delighted with the global recognition from LUXLife. He continues: “It’s an immensely encouraging recognition after the challenges from the coronavirus pandemic over the past year when all our customers in hospitality were shuttered. There were challenges too in securing salmon and other seafood due to Brexit difficulties and the confusion that resulted from the Irish Sea Protocol.

“We also had to furlough employees to balance the business which became dependent on retail sales through our own small shop and with highly supportive local delis and Sainsbury’s supermarkets.

“The award has given us all a much needed lift as we see our core business in hotels and restaurants recovering steadily. Good news such as this is very welcome,” adds Crawford who runs the historic business with father Walter and brother Warren.

The company is also a major supplier of smoked fish including salmon and cod from its own smoker. The quality of its products have led to UK Great Taste Awards for smoked salmon and smoked cod loin.

LUXlife is a premium lifestyle publication which was founded in 2015 by the publishing company AI Global Media Ltd. Distributed to a circulation of 238,000 globally, LUXlife focuses on a range of topics within the luxury lifestyle industry, featuring articles on; fashion, beauty, fine dining, travel, luxury real estate and much more.

In addition to providing readers with regular news and updates on all elements of luxury lifestyle, it also seeks to provide luxury firms with the perfect media platform to showcase their business to a readership comprised of high net worth individuals. As such, it publishes only the most cutting edge of products, services, attractions and events that will appeal to our audience. Some of the world’s most internationally renowned brands, individuals, high-end developments and products are highlighted in the magazine so that readers will find everything they need to truly live a luxury lifestyle.

Iceland Ireland’s social media followers are being invited to choose the new flavour of Millar Moo flavoured milk. Millar Moo is the highly successful brand of milk flavoured drinks supplied by Clarke Millar in Belfast.

Clarke Millar, who is based near Dunmurry, in Co Antrim secured its first listing with Iceland Ireland last year for its four-strong range of Millar Moo drinks and is now working with the retailer to launch a new flavour which will be available in all 64 Iceland stores across the island of Ireland.

“Due to the growth we’ve experienced to date with Iceland we decided to let their followers choose between two flavours – Cookies and Cream and Salted Caramel – and it really appealed to Iceland’s buyers. It’s in line with Iceland’s strong focus on customer engagement through a range of incentives,” adds Clarke Millar, owner of the progressive local business. “It’s a commitment we share and reflects our ongoing liaison with this very significant retailer.”

“The supermarket will now be running a promotion at its Irish stores to allow shoppers to choose the flavour they want. We’ll be running the competition over the next month and will then push the winning flavour into full production. Iceland will have exclusivity for a period of time on the new Millar Moo,” adds Mr Millar.

Iceland has a network of 27 stores in the Republic and 34 in Northern Ireland and currently list all the existing Millar Moo low-fat milk flavours – Strawberry, Chocolate, Banana and Iced Caffe Latte in 500ml glass bottles for easy recycling.

“We are delighted to be working with Iceland Ireland, now a very important and valued customer for our drinks, on this exciting marketing initiative,” adds Mr Millar. “Millar Moo is now becoming among the most popular drinks in the flavoured milk category and we are fast expanding our footprint for the drink in Ireland and the United Kingdom.”

Mr Millar formed the company in 2013, with a focus on the manufacture of convenience foods as well as providing contract manufacturing and distribution services to other producers.

Under the Mulligan’s brand, the business produces burgers, hot dogs and wraps, including a chicken variety which recently secured business with Sainsbury’s in Northern Ireland.

A number of products, including the wraps and Millar Moo milks are supplied to SPAR and EUROSPAR stores in Northern Ireland through the Henderson Group and Musgrave Retail. Poundland is another customer in Britain.

Other popular brands supplied to customers throughout the island of Ireland, meanwhile, include Zumi fruit drinks and Anytime convenience omelettes.

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The existing range of Millar Moo milk-flavoured drinks in Iceland Ireland stores

Mash Direct (www.mashdirect.com), the award-winning ‘field-to-fork’ vegetable accompaniments brand, has partnered with non-profit organisation Foundation Earth (www.foundation-earth.org) to launch a new line of ecological packaging, designed to allow consumers to easily make more sustainable choices whilst shopping, driving change in the industry.

Foundation Earth has brought together two of the world’s leading systems (Mondra and EIT**) for measuring the environmental impact of an individual food product and communicating the information clearly and simply via a traffic light style system to consumers via a front-of-pack score.

This method of individual assessment using primary data is crucial to encourage sustainable innovation in the international food supply chain moving forward.

Mash Direct is one of the first companies to have signed up to this pilot scheme, hoping to drive awareness and lead change within the food and drink sector and to share a vision for the future encouraging more environmentally friendly innovation from food producers and sustainable buying choices.

The Foundation Earth product grading scores will initially be shown on five SKUs: Mash Direct’s Mashed Potato, Champ, Carrots & Parsnips, Mashed Turnip and Colcannon. The scoring system is based on the individual products Carbon Output (g CO2 eq), Water usage, Water Pollution and Bio-diversity impact. The brand aims to roll out the packaging to other products next year, as part of the company’s wider sustainability ambitions.

The scoring system is uniquely designed to analyse the whole life-cycle of an individual product, such as Mashed Potato, as opposed to using secondary data to estimate the environmental impact of an entire product group. This will allow customers to directly compare the sustainable credentials of two competitor products to make an informed decision whilst they do their grocery shopping.

Speaking about the launch, Jack Hamilton, chief executive of Mash Direct, said “We are excited to receive 4 A and 1 B rating on selected products in our range, this is a very positive new addition to our packaging. It pushes the boundaries for us as a company too, as it drives us to be as environmentally sustainable as we possibly can across all aspects of our product lifecycle. The advantage for us is that all our products are grown and manufactured on site ‘from field to fork’ so we have full control over that element of their journey. Our ambition is to improve on our sustainability year on year and we will publish our sustainability report annually to track where we are making progress as well as where we need to make further improvements, we will then have our information independently assessed to ensure that we are measuring accurately. This will ensure that there is provenance and transparency in the food system, driving positive change not only at Mash Direct but also, we hope, with others”.

Cliona Howie, chief executive, Foundation Earth adds: “Its motivating to work alongside forward-thinking brands like Mash Direct which is one of the first to deliver our front-of-pack Eco Impact scores allowing consumers to quickly and simply understand the impact linked to their food choices. Momentum is building quickly, and scores will start appearing on products from more companies soon.”

Mash Direct is an award-winning independent company started by Martin and Tracy Hamilton at their family-run farm in Comber, in 2004. The Hamilton’s began farming the fields around Strangford Lough back in the 1800s and the land has been passed down through six generations, bringing with it a wealth of understanding and knowledge of the area and growing conditions.

After successfully growing and selling vegetables for 25 years, Martin, who is a fifth-generation son of the soil, and Tracy decided to embark on a new direction for their farm, with the aim of combining the tastes of yesterday with modern convenience and innovation.

Today, Mash Direct is a family affair with Martin, Tracy and both of their sons, Lance and Jack all helping Mash Direct on its journey to become a national, household name. From the initial dream of making traditional ‘Ulster’ Champ for convenience in 2004, the Hamilton family has grown Mash Direct into a National household brand, employing 245 people.

The Hamilton family developed a small factory on their farm to capture a traditional cooking style, specially designing and building a number of pieces of equipment including a unique masher and steam cooker. The bespoke equipment ensures that the vegetables can be steamed gently to retain optimum nutrients and capture the fresh harvested flavour and texture.

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Left: Jack Hamilton, Mash Direct chief executive, and Adam Patton, sustainability manager of Mash Direct, launch the new Eco Score packaging to encourage customers to buy more sustainably