Abernethy Butter, a UK and Ireland leader in handmade and hand rolled butters, is celebrating the 10th anniversary of its formation by artisan innovators Allison and Will Abernethy.

Based in rural Dromara, county Down, Abernethy Butter now counts the iconic London grocer Fortnum and Mason (F&M), The Ritz Hotel, also in London, celebrity chef Heston Blumenthal and renowned food stylist Nigella Lawson among its high profile UK customers.

Other celebrity chefs in Britain such as James Martin and Marcus Wareing use the pure creamy butter. A host of major awards have also acclaimed the rich flavours of the company’s butters, all hand crafted by Will, originally a farmer, from fresh milk from grass-fed dairy cows.

The Abernethys, widely respected entrepreneurs, are understandably proud of all that has been achieved in the UK and on the island of Ireland over the period. “The years have really flown by so quickly,” Allison says. “I guess this is because we’ve enjoyed every minute creating the product, building the business and developing such prestigious customers for our range of handcrafted butters. It’s taken great dedication and enterprise over the years. There’s really no magic bullet for success in artisan food production and, as every small food producer knows, there’s no alternative for hard work,” she adds.

While the business is celebrating its 10th anniversary, the couple had been developing and shaping the idea for a number of years.

The innovation on which the business was founded continues to underpin its approach. The original butter has been joined by smoked, seaweed and sea salt, and black garlic flavours. The small business, in addition, produces a UK Great Taste award winning butter fudge.

Great Britain, Allison continues, accounted for around 60 percent of sales before the virus outbreak and subsequent lockdowns.  “The challenge facing us now is on recovering and then continuing to grow business there, in Northern Ireland and in the Republic of Ireland.

“Our sales to high-end restaurants and upmarket hotels were halted by the lockdowns in hospitality and many of the delis we also supplied were only open for limited periods,” adds Allison. “We appreciate greatly the tremendous support from delis here and further afield over the past decade and especially during the lockdown,” she says.

Allison describes the orders from Heston Blumenthal, chef/owner of the acclaimed Fat Duck restaurant in Maidenhead, Berkshire, and from famed F&M food hall in London’s Piccadilly as “game changers” in the early stages of the company’s development. “These orders really put our artisan butter on the map and raised our profile significantly in Britain,” she adds.

The butters have become such a success that F&M includes them in its globally renowned hampers and commissioned the Northern Ireland company to develop own label products for the store.

“We were approached by the F&M product development team o use our expertise and skills in creating three unique butter flavours for the store,” Allison explains. “We were thrilled to be invited to produce these as well as salted and non-salted butters for such a respected and successful brand.

“We’ve been doing business with F&M for many years now and have developed a tremendously important business relationship. As a result, F&M has become an immensely valued customer and a great company with which to do business.

The small business has experienced the same difficulties over doing business during the lockdown as others throughout the UK and Ireland. “It’s been a very difficult time,” Allison continues. “We had, of course, to cut back on all costs to ensure we are in a position to hit the ground running when business resumes.”

Tiptree World Bread Awards with Brook Food is not being defeated by the restrictions imposed due to coronavirus. In normal times, the awards celebrate the loaf – hundreds of loaves would be delivered for assessment by a panel of esteemed judges. Instead, in a special edition for 2020, the Awards will be recognising the people behind the loaf, the bakers, millers, farmers and all others closely involved, and will be called the ‘Tiptree World Bread Awards Heroes with Brook Food’.

Caroline Kenyon, Founder of the Awards, said ‘In these hard times, the bread community has undertaken many wonderful initiatives to help us all get through. Whether delivering bread to the vulnerable, milling flour 24 hours a day, educating or giving out free sourdough starters for home bakers. The Awards want to shine a light on and celebrate this.’

Tiptree World Bread Awards Heroes with Brook Food launches on Tuesday 23 June 2020. Nominations for a Bread Hero will be submitted via the website. A nomination can be made by the nominee themselves or by a third party. The Awards are looking for stories that show the nominated Bread Hero’s impact on their community, their reach, how they may have innovated, their generosity of spirit and their care for the wellbeing of others.

There will be regional Bread Hero winners and from those regional winners will be drawn one Overall Winner of the title ‘Tiptree World Bread Awards Hero with Brook Food’. All the winners will be announced during an Online Awards Evening on Tuesday 13 October 2020.

Submit your Bread Heroes nomination for free here. Submissions close Sunday 23 August 2020.

The Agri-Food Co-operation Scheme offers £30,500 to farmers and food producers.

Countryside Services Ltd is continuing to manage the Agri-Food Co-operation Scheme & encouragesnew applicants to email their Expression of Interest forms to agrifood@countrysideservices.com

The Agri-Food Co-operation Scheme offers support to small and micro businesses who wish to avail of funding interventions to help progress their new idea, new product, process or technology.  By joining together with others in their supply chain, they can see their ideas come to fruition with 50 days expert help from a Facilitator dedicated to the group, as well as an array of other measures to develop the skills of the group members.

Up to £30,500 of support measures are available to each group and includes Specialist Mentoring, Training, Business Tools, Study Tours and Co-operation Support.

Mandina Fulton from Countryside Services Ltd, who is managing the scheme on behalf of DAERA explains “We have active groups participating in the Agri-Food Co-operation Scheme from a diverse range of producers – from artisan food businesses located in rural or coastal regions wishing to collectively market their goods – to farmers getting together to further a novel idea which will aid their supply of product to current or newmarkets.”

Some of the funding received includes group websites, logo design for use on banners and group promotional material, the provision of mentoring by a marketing specialist,as well as advice from crop scientists and agronomists.

Mandina continues “We would like to encourage new applicants to join the scheme even in these challenging times in which we find ourselves. Please don’t hesitate to give us a call to discuss any new project ideas you may have.”    

The Agri-Food Co-operation Scheme is open to producers in the Agricultural and Horticultural sectors, as well as the Food Tourism and Artisan sector.

For Expression of Interest Forms and further information contact:                  

Irish exiles in Britain and other lovers of good food have been snapping up original Irish bacon ketchup and smoked bacon jam from a small producer in Fermanagh.

Enniskillen-based Erne Larder Preserves, a Food NI member, has enjoyed a five-fold growth in sales of its Irish bacon products to established and new customers especially in Great Britain and the Republic of Ireland over the past three months. The ketchup and jams are made from locally sourced dry cured bacon.

The artisan business, which is run by chef Declan O’Donoghue, has racked up significant sales from a website developed during the lockdown and also from a listing by the specialist Artisan Food Club (AFC) in Britain.

Mr O’Donoghue says: “The past three months have been extremely difficult because many of our customers in the hospitality sector have been closed and some of the leading delis and independent grocers which we also supply have been operating only limited hours.  Furthermore, the food markets which generated cash for us were also closed.

“What really made the difference for us was the investment in our website to sell our products and also the inclusion of our products, especially the Irish bacon jam and ketchup, on the successful AFC website. These were two game changers for my small company during what was a very tough time for us and many other smaller food processors here.  It’s been a tremendous relief to see some cash flowing again,” he adds.

Listing by AFC last year was the Fermanagh company’s first significant business in Britain. It has subsequently gained its first European sales, in Belgium. Erne Larder has also won business from Lidl Ireland and Aldi Ireland.

“Our complete range of products is now listed for delis and smaller retailers in Britain especially our Irish bacon ketchup, the only product of its type being produced in both Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic,” adds Mr O’Donoghue.

He’s looking forward to the reopening of bars, hotels, cafes and restaurants with the lifting of the lockdown and grocery stores getting back to full working hours. “It’s been a long haul and it will take time to recover business halted by the lockdown,” he adds.

He established Erne Larder Preserves in 2016 to develop a range of sauces and jams based on his own experiences as a chef in hotel and restaurant kitchens over many years. His first product was the unique Irish bacon jam.

All Erne Larder products jams are based on recipes created by Mr O’Donoghue.

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.”