Lisburn & Castlereagh City Council is delighted to announce the return of its extremely popular Hillsborough Farmers’ Market series this year. The three farmers’ markets will take place along The Dark Walk in the historic village of Hillsborough from 10am to 3pm on the last Saturday of August, September and October.

Hillsborough Farmers’ Market on Saturday 28^th August will be one of the first major food and drink events in the Lisburn & Castlereagh City Council’s 2021 events calendar. It is fitting this impressive artisan market is returning to Hillsborough, following the announcement the village is to receive Royal Status. The quality of local produce is a testament to the village and the wider council area.

Visitors can expect a diverse range of seasonal produce and horticulture, as well as a carefully considered selection of designer craft and sustainable living products from producers and vendors from across Northern Ireland.

Commenting on the first Hillsborough Farmers’ Market of the year, Alderman Amanda Grehan, Development Committee Chair said, “After a tough 18 months for businesses throughout the council area, we couldn’t be more excited to welcome the return of our series of Hillsborough Farmers’ Markets. We expect there to be a high level of interest from families and friends alike who are searching for both a great end-of-summer day out browsing the market stalls whilst taking in the stunning surroundings of Hillsborough.

“Marketgoers can expect a line-up of local food producers, craft and sustainable living products that will not disappoint by any means, with offerings including speciality rare-breed meats, seasonal and local vegetables, award-winning charcuterie, preserves, chutneys and pickles, Irish Artisan Cheeses, fresh bread, cakes, gelato, plants and much more.

“I am delighted the market will also showcase a range of new producers and horticultural offerings at this year’s market series. These will include a selection of artisan sourdough breads and viennoiserie from local makers Spontaneous Deuce, a wild array of herbaceous perennials and grasses from independent plant nursery Potters Hill Plants and locally produced and naturally flavoured mouth-watering gelato from Aaron at Moon Gelato – to name just a few.”

This year’s event will be managed with COVID-19 mitigation measures in place. The open-air market will extend its reach into the grounds of the historic Fort to allow for increased space for social distancing.

A selection of popular artisan producers many of whom have become very well-known at the markets will make their return in 2021, including local meat producers Buchanan’s Farm Shop and Ballyriff Buffalo. Castlescreen Farm will also be present at the August market to showcase their award-winning vegetable roll and burgers, steaks and joints from their ‘Pasture for Life’ status farmed Dexter beef herd. Other returning artisan and street food favourites will include Deli Muru, Ispini Charcuterie, Indie Fude’s artisan Irish cheese stall, Tom & Ollie and Cavanagh Eggs, as well as coffee and street food specialists The Fancy Fox and The Hatch.

For more information on traders and a full programme of events visit visitlisburncastlereagh.com or follow Visit Lisburn Castlereagh on Facebook.com/enjoylisburn, Twitter @VisitLisburn and Instagram @visitlisburncastlereagh. 

Two Northern Ireland food manufacturers have been shortlisted in the prestigious Grocer New Product Awards, now regarded as the symbol of innovation in the UK FMCG sector.

The Northern Ireland finalists are:

Mash Direct, Comber, Co Down in the Potatoes and Chips category for its novel and recently launched curry chips and;

Finnebrogue Artisan, Downpatrick, also Co Down in the Vegan/Plant Based Ready Meals and Centres category. Finnebrogue was shortlisted for its Naked Without the Cluck 2 Chicken Kievs.

Winners will be determined by an esteemed panel of judges, which will evaluate the entries based on a range of criteria. The event will take place on Tuesday 16 November 2021 at Hilton Bankside, London.

Mash Direct is now a leading supplier of vegetable sides and convenience foods to supermarkets and other retailers in the UK, Republic of Ireland, the United Arab Emirates and the US. It is based on a family farm.

Finnebrogue Artisan is now one of the largest manufacturers of plant foods in the UK and Ireland, operating from an ultra-modern unit and supplying major supermarkets in the UK. The company is also widely known for its ‘Naked’ brand of bacon, pork sausages and hams without chemical additives.

The Grocer is the UK’s most trusted source of independent information about the grocery retail and FMCG market and continues to move with the times, providing a range of services to keep you up to date with the latest industry developments.

Broighter Gold, Northern Ireland’s multi-award winning pioneer of quality cold-pressed rapeseed oils is celebrating the 10^th anniversary of its foundation.

The company, based on a family farm near Limavady in county Londonderry, is the brainchild of Leona and Richard Kane. They launched the small business in 2011. While Richard focused on the extensive arable, including oil seed rape, and livestock farm, Leona drove what has become a major supplier of rapeseed oils to retailers and chefs through the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland. 

“We sell across Northern Ireland in butchers, delis, fruit and veg shops, including Sainsburys, Supervalu and Centrastores.  We also sell in the Irish Republic in selected shops.  Export customers include Liberty in London London and Almaya in Dubai,” she says.

In addition, the ambitious family enterprise, which began as a farm diversification scheme, is geared for further growth at home and abroad.

Broighter Gold – named after an Iron Age gold horde found on the farm in 1896, has created an impressive portfolio of original cold pressed oils from the farm’s oilseed rape that includes unique flavours including Black Truffle and Porcini, Basil and Garlic and Rosemary and Lemon that are the preferred choice of chefs in many parts of Ireland.

In addition to the development of rapeseed oil, the company has expanded into industrial tourism by developing an exhibition centre through the international EconoMuseenetwork that enables visitors to see how the oils are produced and used in cooking.

Looking back over the decade the award-winning enterprise has been in business, Leona says: “I am extremely proud of the great team that we’ve created at Broighter Gold and the range of original oils we’ve developed.

“It’s immensely encouraging that we are continuing to grow through the pandemic, which demonstrates the resilience of the business especially when many of our customers in hospitality had to close,” ads Leona.

She attributes the outstanding success of the artisan business to “the consistency and quality of our oils and the productionprocess”.

“But we have also had to adapt to environmental issues that impact our farm and growing climate challenges,” she adds.

Justifiably, Leona is proud of the many awards won over the past 10 years. “We have won Blas na hEireann Best Producer in County Derry for five years in a row.  We were also delighted to have won Best UK Producer in the UK with Hotel Indigo in London a few years ago. We were up against some of the greatest food producers across the UK.  

“Being nominated for the British Farming Awards, getting through to the finalist and then being invited to the awards ceremony in Birmingham was a highlight for us as farmers.  We won Diversification Innovator of the Year (Small to Medium) Business.  We have also won a string of UK Great Taste awards for quality and outstanding flavours,” she adds.

Leona is confident the next decade will be “very exciting” for the business. “We have a successful brand that’s widely recognised and a strong portfolio of customers. In addition,we have far reaching plans to develop the business in the food industry. We have a strong platform for faster growth. Our sales of existing oils, for instance, doubled during the pandemic through our e-commerce site as well as to stockists and supermarkets,” she adds.

Great Taste award winner Erin Grove Preserves in Northern Ireland has launched a new farm shop, The Croft, near Enniskillen in Co Fermanagh. The shop also includes an outdoor café for coffee and homemade baked goods.

Food NI member Erin Grove, which has won a series of Great Taste Awards in the past 10 years, was set up by husband and wife team Jayne and Mark Paget on the family farm in 2001. The aim was to develop preserves with ingredients largely sourced from local suppliers.

The Croft farm shop is their latest expansion of an artisan business that’s become a leader in preserves in Northern Ireland due to the outstanding taste and quality of what has become a 40-strong product range. The shop has been developed in what was once a milking parlour that they’ve renovated to create an attractive retail space in a predominantly rural community.

“Owning my own farm shop has been a dream of mine for many years,” Jayne says. “There’s long been a need for such a shop with local food and soft drinks in this rural part of Fermanagh,” Jayne explains.

“While The Croft was established primarily as a showcase for our preserves and cheese accompaniments for customers to purchase right on the site where they are produced, I saw it as an opportunity to embrace dozens of other excellent foods from local artisans. We’ve seen a virtual revolution in quality artisan foods here over the past decade, and I wanted to provide an attractive hub for them too,” adds Jayne.

“The shop is proving to be an important investment for us in so many respects. Our products and those from other local suppliers have been selling well since we opened the doors to shoppers,” she continues,

The Croft is now part of an exciting growth in farm shops, delis, family butchers and greengrocers across Northern Ireland aided by the remarkable expansion in artisan food and drink and the strengthening trend among shoppers that became especially apparent among during the pandemic towards locally produced food with integrity, quality, wholesomeness, heritage and total traceability.