Morelli’s Ice Cream, a leading Northern Ireland innovator and producer in dairy desserts, has won its first major national award for sorbet.

Based in Coleraine, Morelli’s, better known internationally for its premium Italian-style ice cream, gained the prestigious award in the highly competitive Sorbet Class for its mango sorbet. The award was presented at a gala event held in the annual Ice Cream Alliance Awards in Harrogate.

“We are delighted to have won our first award for sorbet in the highly influential event for the UK’s highly successful ice cream industry,” says Naldo Morelli, the company’s managing director. “It is immensely encouraging to see our sorbet recognised as excellent by a panel of expert judges from our industry,” he adds.

The family business has been making quality ice cream in Northern Ireland for over a century and has expanded successfully into neighbouring markets such as Great Britain and the Republic. Among new customers in Britain won by the Northern Ireland business is Morrison’s supermarkets. It also supplies ice cream to Tesco in the Republic of Ireland as well as Northern Ireland.

The company, which has also pioneered the production of a dairy-free ice cream, has regularly won awards for excellence in quality and taste was named the UK’s best producer of ice cream last year

The Ice Cream Alliance is the voice for the UK’s £1 billion ice cream industry. The conference in Harrogate included the Ice Cream & Artisan Food Show, a unique event showcasing the entirety of the ice cream industry.

A huge assortment of ice cream varieties, equipment and supplies are showcased across the three-day event. However, this event is not just about ice cream. The industry is more inclusive than ever, and this is no better represented than at this show.

Morelli’s has also produced an award winning frozen yoghurt using yoghurt sourced from Clandeboye Estate in Bangor. The yoghurt subsequently collected a gold medal at the Blas na hEireann Awards – The Irish National Food Awards – held annually at Dingle.

The company employs 20 people at Coleraine.

Lynn’s Country Foods from Downpatrick, parent company of Finnebrogue Artisan, was named winner of the prestigious Large Meat, Poultry and Seafood category in the annual Food Manufacturing Excellence Awards, the UK’s most important event in food manufacturing.

Finnebrogue is best known for the hugely successful Naked Bacon products which are free from nitrites and other “nasties”. The bacon was the first to be completely free from nitrites, preservatives, E numbers and all allergens.

The awards recognise and celebrate the innovation underpinning the UK’s food and drink manufacturing industry. They are presented annually to companies demonstrating an innovative approach to food development, high-tech manufacturing and high-quality raw materials.

The Food Manufacture Excellence Awards provide a platform to showcase the hard work and the boundaries pushed forwards in the past 12 months.

They have been running for 19 years and have established a coveted mark of quality and excellence. They were presented at a gala dinner in front of hundreds of industry professionals.

Finnebrogue Artisan, a Food NI member company, operates from one of the most modern and technology advanced factory outside Downpatrick that includes a unique sensory centre within an extensive development kitchen.

Lynn’s Country Foods was launched by local businessman Denis Lynn, now chairman of Finnebrogue Artisan, in 1985. Among its first products was Oisin branded venison from his own estate at Finnebrogue.

The business subsequently diversified successfully into other meat products especially sausages and has since become a UK leader in pork products and a pioneer in the developing flexitarian market.

Denis Lynn has now created one of the most technologically advanced food processing plants of its type in these islands and probably in Europe.

After extensive research over many years, the company launched, in December 2017, its nitrites-free Naked brand of pork and ham products that now includes bacon, cooked ham and sausages which are stocked by most of the main supermarkets and leading independent retailers.

The next episode of UTV’s Rare Breed – A Farming Year features five of our farming families, with everyone involved in outside activities, despite the mixed June weather.

Rare Breed – A Farming Year continues on Thursday at 8.30pm UTV and we’re off to Crossgar where Robbie’s getting a helping hand from 3 year old son Angus, as they wean and check piglets together. “He’s a great helper, one for the future,” Robbie remarks. While they work, he talks about the importance of farm safety and ‘needing eyes in the back of your head’, but Robbie does say that already Angus follows the ‘do’s and don’t’s’ around the yard.  Despite the pigs not liking being handled, Robbie needs to check them all and pick out the best for breeding. We also meet Robbie’s new baby, born during Balmoral Show week, “not great timing!” he jokes.

Next, we head to Bushmills where David and Dad Victor are fencing fields in very ‘un-June’ like wet weather. As they work to protect mosses and wild flowers, Victor points out “It’s not a fencing scheme, it’s an environmental farming scheme.”  It’s time consuming and hard work, but they feel it’s a vital job to care for the peatland on their farm. David jokes that he’d like a step counter to see how many miles he clocks up in a day, while his dad prefers to sit in the tractor!

We then head down the road to Cloughmills where it’s all systems go on Wallace Gregg’s farm, with the installation of the new milking parlour well under way. New kit has arrived from Kerry, and Wallace explains what the extra capacity will mean for him and future generations.   The main bonus is that once complete, the new parlour will cut down milking from 7 hours a day to just three.

Meanwhile in Antrim, Mark McConnell and his two daughters introduce us to more of his menagerie, starting with the llamas – he has a full herd now after buying one out of curiosity 10 years ago. He talks of the growing interest in llamas, especially in how useful they are proving in protecting sheep. Daughters Caroline and Olivia proudly show off their goats and pony and are a dab hand at looking after both.   Mark points out that they love helping out and that they are not scared of the animals as a result.

Finally, we pay the bees a visit and meet the future of bee keeping, with Chris giving some last minute tips to three young local people who are heading off to Slovakia to the World Young Beekeeper Championships. He points out that beekeeping is ‘no longer the sport of an old man’ with these young people demonstrating their comfort with, and knowledge of, the bees in their care.

UTV’s Mark McFadden narrates the series, sponsored by Moy Park.   Rare Breed – A Farming Year continues on Thursday 13^th February at 8.30pm on UTV.

Food Stories, the Northern Ireland producer of fruit crisps and popcorn, has won its first business in Kuwait. The Bangor-based company, a Food NI member, is to supply its crisps and popcorn to Saveco Supermarkets, one of the Middle East’s biggest supermarkets. 

Food Stories, established by businessman Michael Heaslip in Bangor, is now on course to sell more than 100,000 bags annually.

The small company’s Pinkfinch fruit crisps are already listed in 1,200 supermarkets in the UK, Ireland and Europe. The crisps are made of real fruit treated in a vacuum-crisping process.

Food Stories also makes Cloud Corn popcorn. It will now send around 50,000 bags of both brands to Saveco Supermarket in Kuwait.

It has received support from InterTradeIreland’s Acumen programme and Mr Heaslip says funding from the body “gave us the opportunity to invest more time in developing sales, an option that would not have been otherwise available”.

He added: “We have a unique cooking process that maintains the quality of the fruit and vegetables. Parents that couldn’t persuade their kids to eat fruit and vegetables are now sending me thank you messages on social media.”

The Kuwait deal follows an exceptionally successful year for the company which saw new markets developed in Hungary, Sweden and the Czech Republic.

He formed Food Stories in 2014 as a distributor for Northern Ireland’s burgeoning artisan food industry and enjoyed considerable success for his local clients with independent retailers in particular.

Experience gained dealing with retailers led him to set up a production arm of the business and to invest in popcorn, a snack category in which he had considerable expertise.

Much of the firm’s exports have come from contacts made at trade shows.

Referring to the Pinkfinch fruit and veggie crisps, Mr Heaslip adds: “My aim was to develop a healthier crisp, one which could contribute to the five-a-day diet recommendation.

“The unique cooking process maintains the benefits of the fruits and vegetables and means, for example, that they are a healthier snack for children in particular. They are also based on real fruit, are also gluten-free and high in fibre.”

In addition to the Crispy Green Bean and Sugar Snap Pea, the Pinkfinch range includes Apple and Banana. Green Bean also won a UK Great Taste Award this year.