Have your shopping habits changed over the last few months? I have to admit that mine certainly have. I’ve noticed a growth in farm shops and I’m lucky to live beside an original ‘pop up’ shop on Springmount Farm, near Ballygowan. This has been especially useful for topping up on local fruit and vegetables, Kennedy Bacon and fresh bread from French Village. I’ve also been doing lots of online shopping, not just from large retailers but from local artisans such as Broighter Gold, Erin Grove and Indie Fude.

There are indications now that shopper behaviour has changedsignificantly during the COVID-19 lockdown especially in the months that followed the initial wave of panic buying in supermarkets. There’s everything that local families need now readily available from our network of smaller retailers.Interestingly, the retailers have also noticed too, who is local and who is not! Local suppliers outdid themselves during lockdown by delivering on time every time, they really went the extra mile. I truly believe we have a food and drink industry among the very best in the UK.

Significantly, a recent survey of 2,000 UK shoppers found specialist food stores, such as
family butchers, fishmongers, greengrocers and grocers, have been most popular especially with
younger shoppers (18-24 year-olds), as older age groups (65+), many of whom may have been staying at home, relied more on online services and deliveries. Not what I would have predicted, but good to see support for local from young people and well done to older age groups in embracing the digital age.

The report in the Shoppers of Our Time series, ‘Life Under Lockdown’, suggests a shift in how different age groups have used different store types over recent months. And it’s an important shift in attitudes and behaviour that has to be factored in by food processors here in how our food is promoted especially in Britain.

“Shopper behaviour has changed to an extent rarely ever seen,” says IGD which carried out the survey. There appears to be a greater trust in such stores and the responsiveness of their owners to requests for home delivery. There’s been a growing recognition of the quality, taste and wholesomeness of food from local farmers and fishermen.

Some of these changes, the survey said, will “present a unique opportunity for retailers across the board to retain shoppers they traditionally wouldn’t have – such as specialist stores, to keep younger shoppers visiting, and general or online retailers to retain the older shopper base they have attracted during this time”.

Understanding the changes to shopping habits and behaviours during lockdown gives us an idea of what the retailing future might look like for those businesses trying to lock in their long-term plans.

Shoppers over 55 were the most frequent users of specialist stores pre-lockdown and now younger age shoppers, which might have been expected to order online, are also now turning to specialist shops offering greater access to trusted local food and drink suppliers. It’s all about trust – products and people they can trust to offer quality and provenance.

The changing shopping landscape presents specialist shops with an opportunity to expand their customer base, as IGD’s findings suggest these changes are here to stay.

The research found 78 percent of all age groups visiting specialist stories more frequently said they would continue to do so in the future. For delis and farm shops looking to understand what an uncertain future holds, these changes in shopping habits are extremely important. The survey also indicates that many shoppers who depended upon delivery from online contacts will continue to do.

I certainly hope so. I am certain that the time to truly celebrate our local food and drink producers is here.

Effective immediately, we will be pausing our advertising with Facebook and Instagram until the end of July or until Facebook takes clear actions to stop the platforms being used to amplify racism and hate.

While we are small potatoes when it comes to some of the global players who are also pressing pause, as the most followed Northern Irish food brand on Facebook we believe that it is important to act. We hope that collective action creates positive change and we will reassess our advertising approach beyond July as we wait for positive action from Facebook.

Facebook and Instagram have been our main advertising channels for years, but they have not taken the necessary steps to protect the public from violent and dangerous hate speech. I listened with interest to the statement given by Mark Zuckerberg on Friday and then to Nick Clegg, VP of Global Affairs and Communications at Facebook on CNN following on from this. Sadly, I feel that these reflect the same pattern of promising to take action without enacting meaningful change.

Earlier this month we communicated to Facebook that we were unhappy with their stance on hate speech and now we have chosen to put our money where our mouth is.

We will instead put our advertising money towards a campaign to bring people together. That is why we will be giving away over £3,000 of vouchers to Taste of Ulster restaurants to 30 winners during the month of July with an on-pack promotion. Our Dine In to Dine Out Competition will run on promotional packs of Mash Direct products throughout July. Customers can enter a promotional code to www.mashdirect.com/dineout for their chance to win one of 30 £100 vouchers to a Taste of Ulster restaurant of their choice, celebrating local food and local restaurants.

As bars look to new ways to satisfy their clientele while keeping them safe, the Culloden Hotel In Holywood, county Down has found an imaginative outdoor solution.

The luxury five-star hotel has teamed up with Belfast gin producers, Jawbox to provide an outdoor bar experience featuring an impressive converted shipping container set in the stunning hotel gardens.

The bar, used at numerous events in London, hasn’t yet had its debut in Northern Ireland, the home of Jawbox. Given the current situation, the team at Jawbox Gin reached out to Hastings Hotels with the offer to use it, giving locals and guests a unique social setting as lockdown begins to ease.

Hastings Hotels, which has been voted Ireland’s best luxury hotel group for the past two years, will locate the outdoor bar next to the five-star Culloden Hotel’s bistro in the hotel’s gardens, the Cultra Inn.

As well as serving the award-winning Jawbox gin, the bar will offer beer and wine with food in the Cultra Inn.

“We were bowled over by this very kind gesture from the team in Jawbox which really will help to maximise the beautiful surroundings at the Culloden’s Cultra Inn,” said Howard Hastings, managing director of Hastings Hotels.

“It will also allow us to enhance the enjoyment and safety of visitors to the Culloden at a time of restrictions and social distancing.

“The word has been spreading fast and we’ve already booked a number of small parties for July.”

The Hastings Hotels collection consists of seven hotels, with four in Belfast, including the  five-star Culloden Estate and Spa, the world-famous Europa Hotel, the four-star Stormont Hotel and Northern Ireland’s tallest hotel The Grand Central Hotel.

The stunning Slieve Donard in Down underneath the Mourne Mountains, Ballygally Castle on the Antrim Coast and the Everglades in Derry complete the Hastings portfolio.

The multi-award winning Clandeboye Estate Yoghurts, the only yoghurt produced in Northern Ireland, has won new business with the Co-op during the coronavirus lockdown.

Signing a significant deal to supply two varieties of luxury yoghurt to Co-op Food here means that the estate’s delicious yoghurt is now readily available in every major supermarket across the province. Hundreds of smaller grocers and delis across Northern Ireland also include the hand crafted yoghurt .

Bryan Boggs, Clandeboye Estate’s general manager, commenting of the artisan company’s latest deal, says: “It’s real boost and very pleasing to know that our yoghurt is now available in every major retail outlet across Northern Ireland. The Co-op Food business means we have achieved total penetration of our home market.  Not bad for a smaller food business based on the historic Clandeboye Estate,” he says.

He continues: “We are delighted to be supplying yoghurt to such an influential and progressive retailer as the Co-op. We’ve seen very encouraging growth in our business over the past few months especially from the trend towards home cooking and baking. Our natural yoghurt is proving extremely popular with home bakers in particular,” Bryan says.

The company, he adds, has also seen its range of yoghurts included in food hampers by many delis and sold in ‘pop up’ shops opened by restaurants during the lockdown.

In addition to its outstanding success in Northern Ireland, the company, based on the lush and spectacular 2000-acre Clandeboye Estate, near Bangor, of agri-food innovator Lady Dufferin, has developed a very strong presence in the Republic of Ireland due to its longstanding business relationship with Aldi Ireland, now Clandeboye’s biggest single retail customer.

Clandeboye created special flavours for the market leader in the Republic and supplies all 142 of its stores across the country.

As a result of this outstanding growth, Clandeboye Estate Yoghurt now has a presence in every part of Northern Ireland and the Republic and is probably the only artisan business from here to have such an impressive market penetration.

As well as the yoghurt business, the parkland estate features a successful farming business with an award-winning herd of pedigree Jersey and Holstein dairy cows.

Lady Dufferin pioneered the yoghurt business in 2007 as part of an imaginative diversification strategy for the farm.

Clandeboye’s luxury yoghurt uses milk from the herd and is processed using traditional handmade techniques that include straining it through cheesecloth with absolutely no thickening additives and therefore no added fats.  The milk, sourced fresh every morning, is prepared and cultured very gently over a 24-hour period in small batches which ensure the outstanding quality and distinctive rich flavours of the extensive range of products which have total traceability.

Baker Lynne Gardiner spent the early part of the lockdown creating a novel traditional Irish bread product aimed at the growing numbers of home cooks and bakers here.  She’s just launched a special dry mix to create a traditional wheaten by simply adding buttermilk.

The recipe is based on the wheaten breads she’s been selling successfully at the Causeway Speciality Food Market in Coleraine for a couple of years.

Lynne, from Portstewart, runs artisan bakery Amazin’ Grazin’ and has faced the same cash flow crisis as other smaller foodcompanies due to the lockdown of virtually every food market here. “This led to messages and calls from customers wishing to know how to buy and make my handmade loaves,” Lynne, an experiences chef, says. “Home delivery wasn’t a realistic option for me because of the cost involved. I was also conscious that more people than ever are baking and cooking at home,” she adds.

“It just didn’t make commercial sense to deliver single loaves around the country. I had some experience in developing a gluten-free dry mix and decided to approach the new product development team at the Foodovation Centre in Derry’s North West Regional College for assistance,” she explains.

They came up with a handy mix that can be used to produce a delicious wheaten loaf by adding half a pint of buttermilk in a baking tin. Additional ingredients such as stout, dates, apples, cranberries, walnuts, multi seeds and even Bushmills whiskey can be added to the mix for different flavoured loaves. It’s also much easier to meet orders from callers and through social media.

“The mixes are a simple way to bake one of our most popular breads at home. Nothing beats a slice of homemade wheaten bread. It’s delicious when served warm from the oven, or toasted for a tasty snack or at breakfast. It works exceptionally well with starters that are served with bread, such as soup, pate and smoked salmon. What I’ve been doing is to introduce different flavour options,” adds Lynne.

The quality and, above all, taste of Lynne’s wheaten breads have been endorsed in the UK Great Taste and World Bread awards over the past three years.

Steering a steady course out of the current pandemic, which thankfully is receding, was never going to be an easy task, therefore I was encouraged to see the Economy Minister, Diane Dodds, reconstitute the Economic Advisory Group under the able stewardship of Elvena Graham. Both Minister Dodd’s and Elvena Graham have been great advocates of our home-grown food industry, and it is normal to see them scout for the latest innovations in food at Balmoral Show.

Developing an innovative strategy to regenerate the Northern Ireland economy is a vitally important task. I wish Elvena and the members of the Economic Advisory Group team the very best in their endeavours on our behalf. I am sure the many members of Food NI and Taste of Ulster will join with me in pledging support for the team as it shapes a new economic strategy.

The group, of course, will have also to factor in the consequences of the completion of Brexit and resultant trade arrangements for Northern Ireland’s unique position. It’s still far from clear what a border down the Irish Sea will mean for companies doing business with Great Britain. Greater clarity is certainly needed from the Government…and fast. Britain is, after all, our most important market for food and drink.

I believe that the local agri-food and hospitality sectors are both well-positioned to play a key role in quickly helping to create an imaginative framework especially for long-term economic growth.

Our farmers and food producers have responded to the problems resulting from the lockdown with gritty determination and market-focused innovation. The industry has demonstrated inspirational reliability and versatility in helping to feed our nation. It has gone the extra-mile.

Hospitality has been hardest hit by the lock down, but has still shown creativity and resilience with many in the industry applying imagination and exploring new business models. Our hospitality industry is vital for the future growth of tourism.

Research has also indicated that consumers in Britain are increasingly turning to locally produced food and drink over the lockdown because of its quality, taste and, above, all safety. Consumers, furthermore, appear to be shopping in local farm shops and independent grocery stores to a much greater extent. There is clearly a need to intensify food and drink marketing and promotional activities in Britain to develop opportunities emerging there and also to overcome any challenges posed by the likely post-Brexit imports from the US and further afield.

Our companies have continued to deliver impressive success in Britain, Ireland and further afield during the lockdown. I’ve been immensely encouraged by their great enterprise. Artisan and smaller producers of food and drink including Armagh Beverages, Long Meadow Cider, White’s Oats, Whitewater Brewing, Hinch Distillery, Burren Balsamics, Peppup Sauces, Erne Larder Preserves have all racked up significant sales outside Northern Ireland.

I know that key ministers Diane Dodds (Economy) and Edwin Poots (Agriculture) are both conscious of the outstanding achievements of agri-food, an industry which employed around 100,000 people and generated over £5 billion for the economy before the lockdown. Glanbia’s Paul Vernon, a member of the economic advisory group, is well versed in the existing agri-food contribution to the economy and its future potential.

I hope the group will report back with ambitious plans that build upon the outstanding talent of our innovative, talented and sustainable agri food sector.