Passengers on Aer Lingus flights to the US and Europe are now able to enjoy a novel onion jam created and produced by Burren Balsamics in Armagh, a market leader in the development and production of natural fruit infused balsamics, relishes, jams and condiments.

The artisan producer, which is based at Richhill in Co Armagh, has just begun supplying pods of onion jam for passengers on Aer Lingus from Dublin.

The contract with Aer Lingus follows Burren’s participation in a ‘meet the buyer’ trade exhibition organised by the airline, part of International Airlines Group which also includes British Airways, for established and new suppliers last year, according to Susie Hamilton Stubber, the Armagh company’s founder and managing director, a former chef with vast experience working in Britain.

“We met representatives from an airline distribution company at a trade show in Heathrow airport and were subsequently invited to tender for a new concept idea in their business class cabins.  The Innoveat exhibition was a marvellous business opportunity and a great networking occasion for us to showcase our products and to gain invaluable feedback from buyers about the exact requirements of airlines,” Mrs Hamilton  Stubber explains.

Aer Lingus subsequently placed a significant order for the Northern Ireland company’s onion jam in 18g pods.

“The order is very timely because much of our established business with foodservice operations such as high-end restaurants and hotels has been adversely impacted by the lockdowns in our key markets including the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland. We are looking forward to the reopening of the hospitality sectors in the UK and Ireland next month.

“We are thrilled to be supplying such an important and influential client in foodservice as Aer Lingus. We’ll be doing everything in our power to build on this initial business. We’d love to supply them with our unique balsamic vinegars and relishes,” adds Mrs Hamilton Stubber.

The onion jam is among several original products from the company’s zero waste strategy which has seen it use the previously infused fruit, vegetables, herbs and spices from its production of its multi-award winning balsamic vinegars to create other innovative flavours

The jam is a product of the infusing ingredients from the two star Great Taste Award winning roast onion black balsamic vinegar.

Mrs Hamilton Stubber and development chef Bob McDonald are committed to the zero waste campaign which has seen them turn secondary products into a range of novel foods for their company as well as another local artisan producers including Ballylisk of Armagh Triple Rose Cheese.

“We have long been committed to waste elimination and measures to reduce our impact on the local environment,” she continues. “ Diversifying into another novel and artisan product range has also enabled us to grow our overall business.”

And it’s also a strategic focus that’s increasingly adding to the company’s bottom line. “We are seeing existing and potential new customers placing orders because of the strength of our commitment to zero waste and ethical production,” Mrs Hamilton Studder continues.

Food NI member Moy Park has invested over £4 million in safety and supportive measures to protect its staff.  Moy Park is Northern Ireland’s biggest food company and leading exporter of food products.

The investment includes advanced safety measures which have been rolled out across its facilities since late March, as well as enhanced reward packages for team members to thank them for their efforts as key workers.

Key measures introduced during this period include the installation of Perspex screens, one-way flow systems on site, staggered breaks and socially distanced rest and break areas as well as additional PPE. The company is also rolling out thermal temperature screening technology at its sites as another protective step to stop Covid-19 entering its facilities.

Speaking about the investment, Kirsty Wilkins, HR and Performance Director, at Moy Park said: “Our key workers are Food Heroes who have been working harder than ever to ensure we continue to provide society with safe, nutritious food in these uncertain and unprecedented times.

“We are proud of our team and their efforts to feed the nation and keep our supermarket shelves stocked. Safety is a condition at Moy Park, and we have worked tirelessly over the last 11 weeks to implement all best practice measures available to help safeguard our Food Heroes. We follow all government guidelines and created bespoke solutions early on, with many of them now recognised as leading the way for food processors.”

Kirsty added “It can be hard to visualise what a food production facility looks likes so we filmed a walk around one of our sites to show how the safety measures work in practice on a typical day. As a food business, we already operate to some of the highest standards globally and our teams work in a controlled hygienic environment, which is routinely sanitised and where strict handwashing and other cleanliness protocols are the norm.

“Our strategy is focused on doing everything we can to halt the virus from coming into our facilities, and to minimise any potential spread. We will continue to evaluate the situation daily and take all measures necessary to safeguard our staff.”

It’s time to talk about vegetable production and consumption. Medical studies show that it isn’t just a case of ‘vegetables will do you good’, put simply, you are shortening your life if you don’t eat enough and Northern Ireland has the lowest. level of vegetable consumption in the UK.

We’ve been supporting Peas Please in its endeavours to promote vegetables to shoppers and families. Their recent report, Veg Facts, found that UK vegetable production dropped by a worrying 12 percent between 2017 and 2018, the lowest level of domestic horticulture production for over 20 years. This is concerning at this time when surveys have shown that UK consumers are keen on eating more locally sourced food that offers health and immunity benefits.

 According to Veg Facts, UK growers supply just 52.7 percent of vegetables, with the majority being imported from Spain and the Netherlands. Our over dependenceon regions which are sensitive to climate change was highlighted last year when adverse weather in Spain,and especially around the Murcia region that grows lettuce and tomatoes, undermined the harvest and supplies to the UK.

Under lockdown, the report continues, 25 percent of households with children expressed concern about problems in accessing enough fruit and vegetables. A third of children under 11 years of age were eating less than one portion of veg a day.

There is clearly an urgent need for a national plan for horticulture that would encourage greater consumption and also promote production across the nation, as suggested by the Food Foundation. There should be greater scope for growers and farmers here to invest in local production of vegetables and seasonal fruit that will help to improve public health especially in children.

What the lockdown has also shown is the need for a strategic focus on UK food security. This was particularly apparent in the panic buying that was such an alarming feature during the early stages of the Covid 19 crisis. The report says that six weeks after the start of lockdown five million households experienced food insecurity, with 72 percent of parents receiving free school meal vouchers reporting that they were worried about getting enough veg.

Our food system is evidently very vulnerable and becoming increasingly so in terms of fruit and vegetables and also in the dependence on migrant workers. Further threats to these important sectors are developing from the looming Brexit and the ongoing climate change. Vegetable production, furthermore, has positive environmental benefits.

Another significant report has found important trends for food production here post lockdown. Paymentsense indicated that, whilst consumers are looking to spend less once lockdown is lifted, 62 percent said they be staying loyal to the local businesses that continued to help them through lockdown. What’s more, 53 percent agreed they’ll support local restaurants and cafés too.

It says 2020 will go down as the year of the “loyally conscious consumer” who understands the impact their decisions have on small companies in the wake of the pandemic and are keen to support local farmers, other food producers and smaller retailers. They’ve come to appreciate the farmers, producers and farmers who had supported them by introducing doorstep delivery services.

This trend presents significant opportunities for local producers and growers to develop their products and to explore new opportunities, for instance, in sectors such as horticulture. Many business analysts are comparing the position our economy faces now with the last recession of 2009, but I hope we are in a different place. There has been a rise in ‘scratch cooking’, heightened focus on sustainability and a new interest in health and immunity. Let’s hope that this leads to an increase in vegetable production and consumption and longer healthier lives for all.

Every job had its ups and downs. One of the perks of my role is that I have been lucky enough to have met a whole range of celebrity chefs, each of them a major talent in their own right. However, I have to confess that one person who hugely impresses me is chef Jamie Oliver (even if he did mistake me for the agriculture minister once).

I was lucky enough to see him interact with school children at a cookery contest and was struck by his honesty and respect when talking to all of the entrants. I have utter respect for the work he has undertaken on school meals and the sugar tax. Ministry of Food is the go-to book in our house and it is particularly heart-warming that he has dedicated it to Marguerite Patten, the wartime celebrity chef who created recipes to match the ration allocation.

Therefore, I was encouraged to see his forthright views on the need to ensure UK farmers are not adversely impacted by a post-Brexit influx of food, which may not measure up to the exacting standards in force here. Furthermore, I was delighted that he backed the NFU petition to protect our crucially important food standards in quality, animal welfare and sustainability.

I share his concerns and have expressed my support for this approach in previous columns in this newspaper. I believe too that our dedicated and talented farmers will play a vitally important role in the regeneration of national and local economies when the coronavirus threat wanes and associated lockdown is lifted in the months ahead.

We have clean and great tasting produce based on quality, wholesomeness and provenance. Our farmers have won widespread respect – and justifiably so, for their tremendous endeavours to feed the nation during this pandemic. Their superb ingredients underpin our world class food industry.

We must, therefore, ensure that food standards across the UK are safeguarded and that any food imports meet these high standards. We are fortunate in having in Edwin Poots, a successful farmer, as Agriculture Minister committed to the long-term growth of our most important industry, one with enormous potential.

There is a need to ensure the industry is supported, as we come out of this pandemic, to build on existing successes in Britain, our most important market. In addition to quality produce, the industry has strong green credentials for the developing trend in Britain towards nutritious and tasty local food that’s safe, clean and based on the highest animal welfare standards. Promoting the essential standards of our food and farmers should be a priority as we move forward post-virus to meet the looming challenges of what may be a Brexit without a trade deal such as chlorinated chicken and hormone injected beef, both from the US..

Strengthening and promoting the ‘green’ credentials and sustainability of our farming and food is becoming a priority because there’s evidence that consumers, influenced by the environmental debate, are becoming more aware of climate issues and are more interested than ever of how and where the food they buy and consume is produced. There are indications too that consumers are keener than ever to buy food and drink from trusted local producers.

There’s much to be done to raise the profile of and awareness about the characteristics of Northern Ireland food and drink in Britain. And our farmers too must be prepared to adapt to reinforce the essential characteristics of local food and especially their commitment to the environment.

Among the many changes driven by the pandemic is a growing concern among consumers of health issues and the need to focus on food perceived to provide tangible health benefits. This may result in greater opportunities for organic produce and functional foods.

The pandemic, furthermore, has shone a spotlight on sustainability and environmental standards. So, whether a Jamie fan or not, I urge you to consider signing the NFU petition so the food we eat continues to be safe, traceable and produced to high welfare and environmental standards.

Rooney Fish, Northern Ireland’s leading fish and seafood processor, has launched a call and collect service for its products including its multi-award winning Millbay Oysters.

The company, which is based in Kilkeel, county Down, Northern Ireland’s major fishing hub, has launched the call and collect service to help offset the fall in sales to the hospitality sector in Northern Ireland due to the continuing lockdown.

Northern Ireland’s biggest seafood exporter, Rooney Fish has recently resumed shipping of Millbay oysters and other seafood including crab meat and claws to distributors in China.

“While there has been some encouraging developments on our longstanding trade with China, our home market is still badly affected by the continuing closure of the top hotels and restaurants which were the mainstay of our local business,” says Andrew Rooney, managing director of Rooney Fish. “So, we decided to offer our existing and potential customers the opportunity to call us to order oysters and other seafood including langoustines for collection. This will keep our name in the market and generate some useful cashflow until the lockdown is lifted,” he adds.

The new collection service is available on Thursdays and Fridays in time for weekend meals.

Formed in 1975, Rooney Fish is a family-owned and managed company that specialises in processing, cooking, chilling and freezing fresh whole langoustines, king scallops and white fish such as cod, whiting, monkfish and haddock.

The company subsequently developed its own oyster farm, Millbay Oysters, on Carlingford Lough which is now the biggest of its kind on the island of Ireland. It developed exports to France and Asia.

Millbay Oysters has won UK Great Taste Awards and was named Best Product in Ireland in a recent Blas na hEirean Irish National Food Awards.

The company operates from one of the industry’s most modern and EC approved processing plants with extensive freezing storage capacity. It sources its shellfish from the local fishing fleet, purchasing about 90 per cent of the catch from Northern Ireland vessels.

 

 

Two leading Northern Ireland food-on-the-go companieshave been shortlisted in the annual Sammies Awards 2020 organised by the British Sandwich Association(BSA).

The successful local companies are Around Noon, Newry, and Deli-Lites of Warrenpoint, both based in county Down. Both companies have a successful track record in the influential annual awards and sell products in the UK and Ireland..

Around Noon is shortlisted in two categories while Deli–Lites has five listings.

The Sammies Awards 2020, now in their 25th year,recognise excellence in the industry, awarding all aspects from New Sandwich to Convenience Retailer.

This year’s awards feature a new category with the Environment Award, recognising the work being done by companies to minimise impact on the environment. Deli-Lites has been shortlisted in this category for its outstanding environmental management.

The Sammies Awards 2020 are scheduled to be held at a gala dinner in the Royal Lancaster London Hotel on Thursday 23rd July and will be hosted by Chef Theo Randall and Comedienne Jo Caulfield.

The awards also reflect the industry’s continuing growth throughout the UK and further afield.

The Northern Ireland companies and sandwiches which have reached the final stages are:

Environmental Award

Deli-Lites for Environmental Management

Healthy Eating

Deli-Lites for Spicy Plant Double Decker and Buffalo Cauliflower Cous Cous Tabouleh

New Food to Go

Deli-Lites for Macho Mochaccino Oats

New Sandwich Award

Around Noon for Jerk Chicken and Pineapple Ciabatta(hot) and

Bang Bang Chicken (cold)

Deli-Lites for Irish Stout Pastrami (hot) and

Vegan spiced Fritters, Beetroot, Hummus, Kale and Candied Walnuts (cold)