The advent of Coronavirus has forced most of our member companies to adapt they the way they do business. And very many of them have responded to the massive challenge with great determination and with tremendous success. Their approach is inspirational.

They’ve had to overhaul their sales strategy in particular, to embrace technology especially social media. Smaller enterprises, which have built their income and become reliant on local markets for cash flow, had to move quickly and decisively when this sales channel was shuttered to them. We’ve seen many introducing doorstep deliveries with great success. Others are now selling on the internet and some have achieved success with online retailers including Amazon and Ocado.

I know that councils involved in closing markets are now being called up to reverse this decision. And I am aware that major markets in Britain, such as the iconic Borough Market in London, have remained open during the crisis. Lisburn street market also reopened last Tuesday. I would certainly love to see markets once again (safely) offering opportunities to food companies across Northern Ireland.

We’ve been talking to several local councils about their markets. While I appreciate the pressure from some smaller business for markets to resume, I remain concerned about anything which could lead to a further surge in hospital admissions and fatalities. Decisions must continue to be guided by advice from health professionals. We are also ready to pick up one of our key roles in helping companies to maximise the business opportunities that local markets offer especially for start-up enterprises.

It’s also our hope that smaller companies will continue to develop opportunities through online platforms. This channel is really the way ahead for food and drink companies of all sizes and also offers cost-effective access to external and export markets. What the stay at home rule has done is to lead consumers everywhere to look for, and expect, home delivery of the broadest range of food and drink. This is unlike to change significantly in the future. In fact, I would expect to see more companies developing business through the likes of Amazon in particular.

Smaller and even some much bigger processors have also learned how to market their products effectively online through social media channels such as Twitter, Instagram,Facebook and YouTube. Such channels will surely become the ‘new normalcy’. They require commitment and professionalism to address the increased competition.

Social media and home delivery, furthermore, has become an essential marketing element for delis and indie retailers during the crisis.  We’ve seen these important retailers, especially for local food companies, coming up with hampers and food boxes with customers placing orders on social media and telephone and paying by card or through contactless transaction technology. It would be good to see more of these businesses creating distinctively local food hampers or menu boxes.

And it also seems likely that home cooking, which has increased during the virus, will continue to be a factor in the future. This creates opportunities for food companies to develop business by marketing their products with original menus online.

Food NI has embraced the new channels to promote our member companies to reach a wider audience of consumers here and further afield. I for one intend to continue the trend for on-line food shopping after coronavirus. I for one havehad my days brightened, and meals enhanced, by deliveries of local foods such as fish, beef, flavoured oils, jams and nut butter. To buy local online, see www.nigoodfood.com.

Most of us really miss eating out and while we can do our bit by cooking with as much local produce as possible, sometimes, you just want your meal put in front of you. Covid-19 has hit a lot of industries hard but the hospitality industry has taken one of the biggest blows. You can do your bit to help keep them afloat and spread some love and kindness to family, friends and neighbours.

Many Taste of Ulster members have reacted to the pandemic by offering takeaway and home delivery options. Some are also feeding NHS staff only like the Armagh City Hotel and Wine and Brine in Moira.

Others are doing food which can be collected like Captain Jack’s in Portaferry. Who wouldn’t like to get some yummy fish and chips left at their door for a neighbour?

You could also pick up some cakes and bakes at French Village or and host a virtual coffee morning now that Zoom parties are all the rage.

Some chefs have decided to share some of their secrets with people at home by doing online cookery demos. They include Great British Menu contestants Paul Cunningham from Brunel’s in Newcastle, from Clenaghan’s in Aghalee and Buba and Coppi restaurants in Belfast.

Lots of us are baking at home but not everyone is pleased with the results. Primrose at the Quay in Derry-Londonderry are doing scones and scone mixes to pick up.

Sunday lunch is often time for families to get together. The Tailors House in Ballygawley, Tyrone is among those doing them for takeaway. You can order some for whoever is in your house and drop portions off with friends and relatives.

Gift vouchers are also a great idea for when all of this is over. They will put a smile on anyone’s face to get one in the post.

Check out a full list of Taste of Ulster members and what they are doing in lockdown:

 

Establishment	Address	Town	Post Code
The Artisan Food Yard	4 Kildare Street	Strangford	BT30 7LJ
Ashvale Farm Shop	11 Old Ballynahinch Road	Lisburn	BT27 5PE
Balloo House	1 Comber Road	Killinchy	BT23 6PA
Belvedere Café	69 Cregagh Road	Belfast	BT6 8PY
Blackwell House	33 Mullabrack Road	Craigavon	BT63 6BP
Blend and Batch	104 Newry Street	Banbridge	BT32 3HE
Boyds Café	13 High Street	Ballymoney	BT53 6AH
Brunels	32 Downs Road	Newcastle	BT33 0AG
Buba	St Annes Square, Cathedral Quarter	Belfast	BT1 2LR
Café Cuan	161 Cormac Street	Belfast	BT2 8JE
Café Marmalade	14 Bridge Street	Banbridge	BT32 3JS
Café Nosh	64 Comber Road	Dundonald	BT16 2AB
Café Smart	56 Belmont Rd	Belfast	BT4 2AN
Captain Jacks	8 – 8c High Street, Portaferry	Newtownards	BT22 1QT
Central Wine bar	12 Ann Street	Ballycastle	BT54 6AA
Coppi	Saint Annes Square, Cathedral Quarter	Belfast	BT1 2LR
The Creamery Can	30 Station Road	Glarryford	BT44 9RA
The Dairy	5 Waterfall Road	Gleno	BT40 3LE
Deanes Restaurant	537 Lisburn Road	Belfast	BT9 7 GQ
Del Toro	Unit 16 Lisburn Leisure Park	Lisburn	BT28 1LP
French Village Café and Bistro	99 Botanic Avenue	Belfast	BT7 1JN
The Galley	43 Kilkeel Road	Annalong	BT34 4TJ
General Merchants	481 Upper Newtownards Road	Belfast	BT4 3LL
Hadskis	33 Donegal Street	Belfast	BT1 2FG
Hara	16 Lisburn Street	Hillsborough	BT26 6AB
Harbour and Company	31 The Parade	Donaghadee	BT21 0HE
Harrys Shack	118 Strand Road	Portstewart	BT55 7PG
The Heatherlea	94 – 96 Main Street	Bangor	BT20 4AG
The Holestone	11 Main Street Parkgate	Ballyclare	BT39 0DG
Kamal Mahal	1 Water Street	Enniskillen	BT79 0AG
Killmorey Arms	41 – 43 Greencastle Road	Kilkeel	BT34 4BH
The Kissin’ Crust	152 Main Street	Lisnaskea	BT92 0JE
Linen and Latte	14 Portland Avenue	Glengormley	BT36 5EY
Linen Hill Kitchen	Unit 1, The Boulevard	Banbridge	BT32 4LF
Loaf Cafe	307 – 308 Grosvenor Road	Belfast	BT12 4LP
The Lobster Pot Strangford	7 – 11 The Square	Strangford	BT30 7ND
Logans Restaurant	232 Frosses Road	Cloughmills	BT44 9PU
McKee’s Country Store & Restaurant	28 Hollywood Road	Newtownards	BT23 4TQ
McLaughlin’s Corner Restaurant	60 Bann Road, Rasharkin	Ballymena	BT44 8TE
Montalto Estate	Spa Road,	Ballynahinch	BT24 8PT
The Morning Star	17 – 19 Pottinger’s Entry	Belfast	BT1 4DT
Oakley Fayre	52 Market Street	Downpatrick	BT30 6LP
Ocho Tapas	92 – 94 Main street	Portrush	BT56 8NB
Orchard Cafe	395 – 405 Upper Newtownards Road	Belfast	BT4 1RH
The Parsons Nose	48 Lisburn St	Hillsborough	BT26 6AB
The Pheasant	410 Upper Ballynahinch Road	Hillsborough	BT26 6NR
The Plough	3 The Square	Hillsborough	BT26 6AG
No. 14 at The Georgian House	14 The Square	Comber	BT23 5DT
The Old Post Office Tea Rooms	191 Kilinchy Road, Lisbane	Comber	BT23 6AA
Pier 36	36 The Parade	Donaghadee	BT21 0HE
The Poacher’s Pocket	181 Killinchy Rd, Lisbane	Comber	BT23 5NE
Primrose at the Quay	Unit 2 Atlantic Quay, 110 – 112 Strand Road	Londonderry	BT48 7NR
Quails Fine Foods	13-15 Newry Street	Banbridge	BT32 3EA
The Red Berry	2 – 4 Main Street	Bangor	BT20 5AG
The Red Door Tearoom	14a Harbour Road	Ballintoy	BT54 6NA
The Rosehip	30 Bridge Street	Banbridge	BT32 3JS
S.D Bells	512-516 Upper Newtownards Road	Belfast	BT4 3HL
Square Bistro	18 Lisburn Square	Lisburn	BT28 1TS
Stock	Oxford Street, 1st Floor, St Georges Market	Belfast	BT1 4FG
Sugarcane Cafe	Unit 2, The Square	Comber	BT23 5DT
Tartine	140 Main Street	Bushmills	BT57 8QE
The Tailors House	50 Main Street	Ballygawley	BT70 2HE
The Tap Room	192 Grand Street	Lisburn	BT27 4TY
Thyme and Co	5 Quay Rd,	Ballycastle	BT54 6BJ
The Vault	50b Bridge Street	Banbridge	BT32 3JU
Walled City Brewery	70 Ebrington Square	Londonderry	BT47 6FA
Whitehead Golf Club	McCraes Brae, Whitehead	Carrickfergus	BT38 9NZ
Yahi	Unit 11, Great Northern Mall, Great Victoria Street	Belfast	BT2 7AB
Yellow Door	Lisburn Road, Hillsborough Café and Portadown Deli

 

 

 

 

Black Bush Stories campaign will explore the worlds of charcuterie, photography, tea blending and candle making.

Bushmills, Northern Ireland, 24th April 2020: Bushmills Irish Whiskey has announced the return of Black Bush Stories in 2020, with a series of interactive Instagram events in April and May. Each event will explore a key theme and celebrate an individual and their craft, while providing the opportunity for audiences to discover a new skill.

Hosted weekly on Instagram Live by whiskey experts and award-winning TV presenters, Neil Ridley and Joel Harrison, the series will see Bushmills Irish Whiskey assemble a cast of collaborators across Ireland to bring the popular whiskey-inspired masterclass events into viewers’ homes for the first time.

The collaborator lineup includes charcuterie master Rob Krawczyk, creative photographer Freddy Kelly (a.k.a. Raw Dublin), tea maker Oscar Woolley and candlemaker Michael Morris, all of whom co-hosted Black Bush Stories events across the country in 2018 and 2019.

Each event will be live streamed at 8.00pm every Wednesday, beginning 29th April, for four weeks on the @BushmillsIRL Instagram channel where viewers will be introduced to the world of Black Bush, before hearing the collaborator’s story and following alongside an interactive masterclass. The series will also be available on IGTV for viewers to watch back in their own time. The full event schedule is:

Wednesday 29th April: Black Bush Cured with charcuterie master, Rob Krawczyk
Wednesday 6th May: Black Bush & Photography with Freddy Kelly a.k.a. Raw Dublin
Wednesday 13th May: Black Bush Blended with Oscar Woolley from Suki Tea
Wednesday 20th May: Black Bush by Candlelight with Bearded Candlemaker, Michael Morris

Inspired by the unrivalled character of Bushmills Black Bush, Black Bush Stories celebrates independent, curious and spirited talent, using inspiring stories and immersive events to appeal to those who are keen to discover new experiences. To read more about the Black Bush Stories campaign and each collaborator’s story, visit blackbushstories.com.

Prep House Sauces in Crossgar, county Down has created a delicious new Original Relish just in time for the BBQ season.

The new relish is described by the company, a leading Northern Ireland family business and a Food NI member, as “a blend of spices, sweet sultanas and onions”. The new relish is available in 350g plastic bottles at RRP £2.69.

Prep House marketing manager Barry Fitzpatrick says the new relish is the latest in a line of innovative products developed by the company which is now a major supplier to leading retailers, including Aldi, and foodservice operations across the island of Ireland.

“We are experiencing significant growth in retail sales in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland because the lockdown has led to huge growth in home cooking and increased interest in our flavour-rich sauces. The relish adds delicious flavours for BBQ meats in particular.

“We’ve been inundated with retail orders and are currently working overtime to meet these,” he adds.

Prep House has won a string of national awards for its original sauces and dressings, is now supplying the relish to independent retailers specially in Northern Ireland where it has 23 people on the payroll in a state-of-the-art factory.

“The new relish is also a further example of the market knowledge and expertise of our new product development team. They created the unique recipe in our modern development kitchen, a £1 million investment, and trialled with our focus group,” Mr Fitzpatrick adds.

Awards for taste and quality have been achieved from the UK Quality Food and Drink, Great Taste Awards and the Blas nahEireann Irish National Awards.

“The new relish is in line with our strategic objective to enable more home cooks here, in the Republic and abroad to recognise that when a Prep House sauce or dressing is added they have a distinctively delicious meal,” says Mr Fitzpatrick

Original products in its extensive portfolio include vegan, gluten-free and fat-free.

Northern Ireland’s Armagh Cider Company has seen online sales in Britain soar from a deal with Amazon for its award-winning ciders, mixers and other soft drinks shortly before the Covid-19 virus outbreak. The listing has led to the company supplying its ciders to customers at the heart of England’s orchard country.

Owned by Phillip and Helen Troughton on their apple farm, Armagh Cider is now one of Ireland’s biggest producers of ciders and soft drinks including its successful and innovative Orchard Twist, a crafted non-alcoholic, lightly sparkling applejuice with a twist of flavours. Orchard Twist is a natural drink with no added sugars, no artificial flavours or colours that’s also gluten free and can be counted as one of a five-a-day health regime.

Mark Troughton, Armagh Cider’s marketing manager, describes the listing for the company’s products in Amazon as “an immensely important and very timely deal particularly in Britain”. “We hadn’t been very active online until the virus led to the closure of the pubs, hotels and restaurants which were major customers especially for our range of mixers and ciders,” he says.

The company, a leading innovator in the local beverage industry, had been talking to Amazon for some time before the outbreak and had just signed a listing for our products. “While we are still supplying ciders to supermarkets such as Tesco and Sainsbury’s and off sales in Northern Ireland, the Amazon listing has enabled us to develop very significant business in Britain, a market we’ve been targeting for many years. And it’s also shown us the tremendous potential of online sales there.

“We are now shipping, on average, more than 10 cases a day to Amazon for customers in many parts of Great Britain. As a result of the agreement, our online business has grown by more than 25 percent in the past month,” Mark adds. It is offering free delivery for orders placed through its online shop.

The company, Northern Ireland’s oldest processor of ciders from its own apples, is lining up the launch of several new products include cloudy lemonade and a four-strong range of tonics in larger 500ml bottles. The four flavours are orange, lemon, raspberry and cucumber and lime. The new natural products are developed in-house and free from preservatives and additives. The mixers are marketed under the Raising Spirits label.

“Innovation has always underpinned our business and has seen us diversify from producing award-winning cider, sparkling and still apple juice and cider vinegar to now include an extensive range of mixers and fruit infused sparkling waters. This is the way we stay ahead in our highly competitive business,” adds Mark.

The Troughton family has been growing apples there for five generations since 1898. The first cider was introduced in January 2006 as ‘Carsons Cider’. The small farm-based company has since gained a host of awards including UK Great Taste and Blas na hEireann.

Erne Larder Preserves, the Northern Ireland producer of a range of gourmet ketchup, sauces, jams and pesto has signed its first ever business in Belgium, it’s first sales outside the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland.

Based in Enniskillen, county Fermanagh, Erne Larder, which is owned and run by experienced chef Declan O’Donoghue, is now supplying its complete range of products to the high-end Wesley’s Butcher Shop in Brussels, the Belgium capital and EU hub.

The new deal for the Northern Ireland family business was facilitated by the Artisan Food Club in Britain which listed Erne Larder last year. Wesley’s is selling the company’s Irish Bacon Jam, Irish Bacon Ketchup, Irish Whiskey Marmalade, Irish Stout and Onion Chutney and Fiery Jalapeno Relish.

Mr O’Donoghue, who launched the business on the back of an extensive career as a top chefs in hotels and restaurants in Ireland in 2017, says: “Our first business in Belgium couldn’t have come at a better time for us because of the current trading difficulties in doing business in the UK and Ireland.

“The new listing gives us a good foothold in Brussels with a business in an area that’s popular with people working at the European Commission from many parts of Europe,” he adds.

“I am looking forward to holding tasting sessions there once the virus outbreak has ended,” he says.

Wesley’s Butcher’s Shop, which is in the European Quarter of Brussels has been trading there for over two years and specialises in premium beef, including Irish Black Angus, Irish lamb and poultry. In addition to the meat business, the shop provides a range of artisan deli products. The butchery also has extensive on line sales and operates a delivery service.

Erne Larder’s customers in Northern Ireland also include European discounters Aldi and Lidl supermarkets in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.

The original recipes for Erne Larder’s range of products were created by Mr O’Donoghue using his experience in hotels and restaurants

Erne Larder products are also now also on sale in delis and independent stores across Northern Ireland and in many outlets in the Republic.

A key element in his approach is a focus on locally-sourcedingredients.