Deck the halls and adorn your table with Nigel’s Exquisite, Limited Edition, Luxury Mince Pies from Genesis Bakery this Christmas Day. Part of the Afters range, these four pack mince pies are perfect for after your Christmas Day Lunch and have been created from exquisite ingredients by Nigel Lennox, Genesis Master Baker.

The personal sized mince pies are just the right size for enjoying after tucking into the turkey and have been created containing unique juicy mince with plump sultanas, apples, cranberries and cherries, fragranced with orange and lemon and encased in delicate crumbly pastry which is topped with buttercream with a hint of brandy so you have nothing to do except serve them on a festive plate.

JP Lyttle, commercial director at Genesis Bakery said: “Who doesn’t love to indulge in a mince pie at Christmas? At Genesis we have combined the exquisite ingredients that our Master Baker Nigel sources for the mince pies we produce for luxury retail brands from all over the world to blend the best ingredients for our own limited edition Afters mince pies. Each limited edition mince pie is topped with just the right amount of buttercream but the question is, can you stop at one? I can’t reveal Nigel’s secret recipe but I can reveal that these limited edition mince pies are truly exquisite and will give you a taste of the very definition of Christmas.”

Impress your guests this Christmas Day with Nigel’s Exquisite Limited Edition Luxury Mince Pies which are joining the Genesis Afters range, successfully launched in October. The festive range also includes a nine pack of Afters festive cupcakes and a two pack ‘thank you’ box of reindeer cupcakes.

The special Christmas ranges are available in nearly 500 SPAR, VIVO, Centra, Supervalu and Mace stores across Northern Ireland.

Leading meat wholesaler Jason Hamilton readily admits his decision to invest in an extensive food hall as part of a new factory near Lisburn in Co Antrim has proved “an outstanding success”.

The new shop – established ahead of the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic – was a significant investment by Carnbrooke Meats, the successful meat processing business Jason founded and runs with wife Jacqueline, whose background is in veterinary medicine. Jason started the processing business in Dromara in 2011 on the back of his knowledge and experience as a butcher, small farmer and in meat sales.

“The new shop, which is located on Ballynahinch Road, specialises in our meats, ready meals prepared by our team of chefs and other grocery items including foods from local artisan suppliers such as dairy from Draynes Farm in Lisburn. It’s doing extremely well with shoppers from the area, other parts of Northern Ireland, and even from the Republic of Ireland,” says Jason.

Shoppers, he continues, have been stocking up on Carnbrooke’s range of premium meat pies in particularbecause of the quality of the ingredients and outstanding taste. “Shoppers know that the pies are made entirely by us with our meats without any fillers,” he says. “We can stand over the provenance and traceability of our all meats and meals as well as products in the shop sourced from local suppliers we know and trust,” he adds.

Carnbrooke Meats has a longstanding reputation for quality and tasty meats supplied to the hospitality sector hereincluding top hotels and high-end restaurants; success which led Jason and Jacqueline to move from Dromara to the much larger premises in Lisburn. “We always had a shop at Dromara but proved too small because of the growth in demand from shoppers for the meats they had enjoyed in the hospitality outlets,” he explains.

The switch to the extensive site in Lisburn, part of which was once a car showroom, enabled Jason to develop a much larger processing plant of 8,000 sq ft and to create the 3,000 sq ft food hall. There’s also an in-store kitchen for the preparation of Carnbrooke branded ready meals. Another feature of the complex is a Himalayan salt chamber for dry-aged meat. The whole development represents an investment of almost £2 million and employs over 50 people with additional jobs in the pipeline.

The move coincided with the first coronavirus lockdown which impacted adversely on Carnbrooke’s successful foodservice business. “The lockdown, of course, was a severe blow coming just after we had invested in the new expanded operation”, Jason says.

“Fortunately, the food hall was up and running and is helpingoffset the setback in hospitality of two lockdowns over the past eight months. It now accounts for around 50 percent of our business.

“I really feel for everyone in hospitality. It’s been a terribletime for them. I talk to our customers in the sector regularly and really do hope they’ll be able to open their doors soon. I also know that they’ve all spent a lot of money on making their premises as safe as they can be for customers and staff,” he adds.

He reckons it will be some considerable time before hospitality fully recovers from the lockdowns. “It’ll be a while before our tourism industry, for instance, gets moving again. The hospitality industry was going really well last year and looking forward to continuing growth in visitors from abroad towards the end of last year.

“There were hopes that 2020 could see records broken again in terms of overseas visitors. These hopes were dashed by the virus from last April. It looks as likely that the industry will have to depend on staycationers for much of next year,” he adds.

The provenance and quality of the food hall’s range of foods are proving extremely popular with shoppers, which, according to national surveys, are increasingly opting for local food and speciality grocers.

“We’re certainly extremely busy throughout the week and especially at the weekend,” Jason says. “As a result, our retail sales have grown to 50 percent of our business at this immensely challenging time. “We’re now seen as a one-stop shop for people seeking exceptional food and especially premium meats –beef, bacon, pork, lamb and poultry –  and fish, all of which are sourced locally. There’s also a comprehensive selection of local artisan products,” he adds.

Teams of Master Butchers cut every order to each customer’s exact specification. Experienced chefs prepare established dishes and meats and also come up regularly with new meal ideas.

The line-up of meats includes Mourne Lamb which he sends to the Michelin-starred OX and to the Deane’s restaurant group. “Our pork is reared by John Ferguson of Dromara in Co. Down. Kenneth Moffitt provides Thornhill ducks and Finnebrogue, near Downpatrick, the venison.”

Carnbrooke has also responded to the lockdowns by providing home deliveries – up to 150 a day – using its own fleet of refrigerated vans. Boxes of products required by customers, in addition, are sent to callers here and across Britain and the Republic of Ireland.

Distinguished chef Simon Dougan has pivoted the Yellow Door retail side of his well-known business to create a unique indoor market deli featuring his own dishes and hundreds of products from dozens of local food and soft drink suppliers.

The highly regarded chef, renowned for creative dishes using mostly local ingredients, has seen his hugely successful catering business for major corporate clients and events such as weddings as well as the popular café and deli in Portadown, which all trade under the Yellow Door brand, badly hit by the lockdowns.

Simon’s catering expertise, management skills and dedicated support for the local food and drink industry, which includes enthusiastic backing for Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon’s imaginative Food Heartland scheme for local food and drink, as well as Food NI, wasrecognised by an MBE in the Queen’s New Year Honours in 2017.

Another important element in the business is a craft bakery supplying hotels, restaurants and coffee shops here and the Republic of Ireland has also been hit by the pandemic. As a result, turnover has fallen.

Simon says: “Like everyone in events and hospitality our business has been decimated and it has been exhausting rethinking and reinventing our operation with each new lockdown. It would be easy to crumble under such consistent pressure, but it’s also a time to be grateful for our strengths,” he says.

These strengths, he continues, include “an amazing team of people and we are thankful to be able to support them through the furlough scheme”. “We have very supportive customers and clients. Fortunately, we are in a solid position financially and our business has a strong sustainable ethos which we have been working on for many years. We have also had a record amount of hamper orders this year, as companies decide to support local. In turn this helps us support our network of artisan producers,” he adds.

Building on these strengths and underlying optimism, the popular Yellow Door Deli and Café in Portadown has undergone a refurbishment and reorganisation over the last number of weeks and has now been rebranded as ‘Deli Market by Yellow Door’. It reopened its doors to shoppers last Friday.

Simon explains: “Our deli model and physical structure wasn’t that adaptable in terms of flow or offering take-away so we had a rethink. To help future-proof the business, we have removed more of the tables and chairs in the middle part of the café to create greater retail space. We’ve implemented social distancing and other measures, of course, to ensure the safety of customers and employees, a priority for our business.

“As well as our usual offering of artisan food products, we have expanded this range to include a greater range of new suppliers and are selling fresh, local fruit and seasonal vegetables.

“Our head chef Stephen Dowds and the kitchen team have designed a range of pre-packed chilled take home food such as the family pies and the soups we are famous for, Thai curry and calorie counted dishes. Everything is made fresh from scratch as has always been the case with us,” explains Simon.

The impressive selection also includes salad leaves, fruit and herbs from the company’s own kitchen garden as they become available in season. The market garden providing the fresh veggies has been developed by Jilly, Simon’s wife. “And as we make everything in-house, we will be able to use un-sold fresh produce in our dishes so that we don’t have any waste.

“There are free range eggs, local cheeses and charcuterie, and our own sweet cured traditional dry-cured bacon for customers to enjoy at home. We have also developed and expanded our range of desserts and puddings as well as new flavoured sourdough breads from our own Real Bread bakery,” he says.

The company’s longstanding focus on sustainability isalso seen in all of its packaging being 100 percent compostable or recyclable. “Combined with our overall environmental and food sourcing policies we believe we are one of the most sustainable companies out there,” he adds.

Why invest in hospitality after such a difficult period and an uncertain short-term future for the country? “We think it is right to show our confidence in the future of our business and the wider economy in Portadown and beyond.

“It’s becoming increasingly clear from research that people here want to have alternative shopping experiences and are now keen to buy more from trusted local suppliers. We are confident that our new, rustic botanical theme and enhanced range of local dishes and products available in the deli market will appeal to even more shoppers,” says Simon.

Very sadly many retailers have been shuttering shops of all sizes in Belfast and other parts of Northern Ireland. Thankfully for local producers, smaller and locally-owned food shops and delis have been expanding. They are responding to the growing demand for high quality, locally produced, food and drink from innovative and trusted suppliers here.

Among the most interesting expansions are Indie Fude’sinvestment in a new shop on the Ormeau Road in addition to its existing and very successful deli in Comber. It will specialise in cheeses and charcuterie.

A second French Village Food Store has also been opened in the Castlereagh district in Belfast, which will build on the tremendous popularity of its existing food outlet and takeaway on the Lisburn Road. In Belfast, Kieran Sloan has transformed Sawers into a magnet for foodies from everywhere. It’s a real treasure trove of premium local food. At Stranmillis, Ward & Co has opened recently with a tremendous display of food and drink from dozens of local suppliers. Arcadia, of course, is a crucial supporter of local food on Belfast’s Lisburn Road.

Leading meat producer Jason Hamilton of Carnbrooke Meats has opened an impressive store for his Mourne Gold branded meats and other local products near Lisburn centre and just a few miles away, Ashvale Farm Shop and restaurant leads the way in fabulous award winning desserts. In Saintfield, local artisan foods, and especially vegetables, are available from Mill Bank Farm Shop, which has been a pioneer of taste and style. And in nearby Crossgar there’s the hugely successful Farm Meadow shop and cafe which bakes outstanding wheaten with local beer.

Simon, one of our most outstanding chefs, and Jilly Dougan, a prominent environmentalist, furthermore, have created the superb indoor food market at their Yellow Door premises in Portadown. Warke’s is going strong in Portstewart for local artisans and it was great to see The Chocolate Manor open their shop at Castlerock. McKees of course and Corries have paved the way for farm shops selling local meats particularly for many years, as have Quails in Banbridge, Alexander’s Food Hall in Markethill, The Belfry Deli and Killure Farm Shop, both in Coleraine, and O’Doherty’s Fine Foods in Enniskillen. Johnny Cuddy of Ispini Charcuterie is opening a charcuterie and cheese shop in Moira. Other outstanding delis and farm shops are The Dairy in Gleno, Larne and Hilltown in Rathfriland. Local farms such as Castlescreen, Downpatrick and Buchanan’s in Kilrea offer a range of local produce.

We’ve seen really encouraging growth in farm shops, delis, home bakeries, and independent grocers here. And butchery shops are also increasingly stocking more local produce than ever before…..and they’ve a far greater choice of premium food and drink from local producers. I can say with confidence that you’ll be able to find virtually everything you need from them for delicious meals over the festive season.

Our network of delis, farm shops, butchers, home bakers, and green grocers are helping to regenerate cities and towns across Northern Ireland at a time when it is most needed.

Remember also the contribution made to local communities by street markets across the region. It was good to see the iconic St George’s Market in Belfast open again for longer trading over the festive season.

Most cities and towns here now have monthly farmers’ and food markets and some are planning other outdoor food events. These continue to be a vital source of local produce and goods for local residents and contribute to the wellbeing of farmers and smaller producers. They also bring colour to their community and can also help in regenerating town centres blighted by the closure of other retailers including big name stores whose future is decided outside Northern Ireland.

They bring shoppers back into our city and town centres. They also generate much needed additional revenue for farms throughout Northern Ireland.

Markets have become a hotbed of innovation and diversity, as well as a breeding ground for many business start-ups. We’ve seen a host of award-winning products created on local farms. Many of these products have led to successful businesses. I am sure the Department for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Enterprise appreciates the tremendous contribution of our farmers and food business as well, of course, to farming.

Our local food and drink producers have so much to contribute to transforming our towns and villages into attractive destinations where people will want to come to spend time, learn about and experience local food and drink.

Burren Balsamics, the multi-award winning producer of exceptional infused balsamic vinegars in Northern Ireland, has won its first business with the prestigious Food Halls in Harrods, the iconic department store in London.

Based at Richhill in County Armagh, Burren Balsamics has just supplied a range of nine products including its recently launched Irish Peat Smoked and Irish Heritage Apple White Balsamic to the imposing store in London’s upmarket Knightsbridge.

The important order for the small business, which has won a string of UK Great Taste and Blas na hÉireann awards for its unique vinegars, also includes Balsamic Salt.  The Irish Peat Smoked was recently awarded Best New Product at the Great British Food Awards.

The products have been created by Susie Hamilton Stubber, who founded the innovation-led enterprise in February 2014, and business partner Bob McDonald.

Mrs Hamilton Stubber, commenting on the deal with Harrods, regarded as the world’s leading luxury store, says: “We are very excited to be supplying such a significant and influential retailer with so many of our products. The listing is a tremendous boost for us especially at this very challenging time for businesses everywhere.

“This is an immensely important breakthrough for us with what is probably the world’s best known store with superb food halls which attracts customers from most parts of London, other regions of Britain and from across the world,” adds Susie

The contract with Harrods, Susie continues, is the outcome of contact building with the food hall’s buying team over three years. “We first met a senior buyer from Harrods at the Blasna Éireann Irish National Food Awards in Dingle, county Kerry in 2017.

“We followed up by supplying a range of products and generally keeping in contact which in turn has led to the purchase order arriving on our desk,” Susie explains.

The first consignment of balsamic vinegars and salt was shipped to Harrods last week and is already on the shelves.

Susie originally developed the unique and distinctive vinegars using natural ingredients including fruits sourced from growers in Armagh to enable professional chefs and home cooks to add deliciously different flavours to their dishes.

The natural fruits include Armagh Bramley apples, which have EU PGI protection from orchards in the area, as well as quality fruits from local farmers such as blackcurrants, strawberries and blueberries.

Burren Balsamics has invested much time and resources to enable the company to trade in Britain. As a result, it already supplies many delis and chefs in this most important market for Northern Ireland food and drink.

Mash Direct, the family run farm, producing a range of over 50 fresh vegetable convenience products, is delighted to announce that its Chief Operating Officer,Jack Hamilton has been awarded the ‘Covid-19 Response Frontline Hero – Business in the Community’ award at the Irish Quality Food Awards 2020. Jack was shortlisted for the Award based on his ability as a resilient leader and his quick and efficient attitude to adapting to changes as a result of Covid-19.

Jack was at the forefront of several initiatives at the company. He and the team at Mash Direct worked closely to assist people and businesses to continue to thrive during the challenging times that were presented in 2020 as a result of Covid-19.

Jack was rewarded for leading his business in helping the local community with food donation schemes;providing a direct to home vegetable delivery service; donation of over 3000 food parcels to NHS workers; getting behind a campaign to assist hospitality by providing restaurant vouchers to spend in local restaurants and for offering temporary employment to 30 local people.

The Mash Direct Champ-ionships, which was launched in July gave teams across the country the opportunity to win the top prize of a £5,000 sponsorship package.  Covid-19 has seen the temporary closure of many sports teams and prevented people enjoying certain fitness activities.  Mash Direct launched this campaign to help UK and ROI sports teams to recover and is part of the brand’s overall commitment to support health and wellbeing.  

The competition saw Leander Swimming Club being crowned Mash Direct Champ-ions.  The applications and videos were judged by an all-star panel of sporting stars and personalities.  The full line up included former Ulster, Ireland and Lions rugby player Rory Best OBE, Italian international rugby star, Ian McKinley, Irish international and Arsenal footballer Katie McCabe, as well as BBC presenter and journalist Holly Hamilton. The judges loved Leander’s competition entry, especially their creative video.  Leander swimming club have a wide age-range of members, including the oldest coach in Ireland, as well as a great feeling of team spirit coming through the club.  

“This award is not for me; it is a testament to theincredible work of all the team at Mash Direct and I am just delighted to accept it on their behalf.” said Jack on receiving news of the award. “It was imperative that all of us remained agile during this crazy, unpredictable year and consider ways that we could assist the community that have been so good in supporting us over all these years, that was our real motivation”.

The Irish Quality Food Awards celebrate excellence in people and projects in the Irish food and drink industry in Ireland. Categories include; Best Initiative by a Foodservice Provider, Own Label Range of the Year, Rising Star Award and Supplier of the Year. For 2020,the awards included two Covid-19 specific categories to highlight the excellent work which has taken place during this difficult time.