Food NI Companies Succeed In Top Farming Awards

Posted on

Food NI member companies Hillstown Farm, Irish Black Butter and Mash Direct were successful in the annual Farming Life Awards.

The awards are held by the newspaper, part of the News Letter, to celebrate and reward the outstanding achievements of farmers and food processors in Northern Ireland.

Hillstown Farm in Randsalstown, Co Antrim, which is run by Nigel Logan, won the “Best Agri-Food Business of the Year’ for its development of innovative meats, including Wagyu, and for its successful craft brewing business.

The company is now selling its range of craft beers throughout Britain from its small distillery on the family farm. The business has also been included in the Economusee network of artisan producers.

Based in Portrush, Co Antrim and run by Alastair Bell, Irish Black Butter won the ‘Best Artisan of the Year’ title on the prestigious awards which are judged by a panel of farming and food experts.

Irish Black Butter, founded in 2017, is a savoury/sweet spread made from Armagh Bramley apples with spices, treacle and brandy.

The company is now selling the distinctively different tasting spread in the UK and Ireland and recently launched a peanut and fudge flavoured products. The idea for the product was influenced by a holiday in Jersey during which Mr Bell discovered the island’s tasty apple butter.

Irish Black Butter won three gold stars in this year’s UK Great Taste Awards, a chef’s Larder Award at Blas na hEireann and also featured on BBC Two’s Dragon’s Den where it was praised by the panel of entrepreneurs.

Mash Direct was named winner of the Farm Diversification of the Year’ category. Based on a family farm at Comber in Co Down, the company is now among the most successful farm-based enterprises in the UK and Ireland.

Founded in 2003, Mash Direct produces a range of quality quick-serve potato and vegetable products for retailers in the UK, Republic of Ireland, other parts of Europe as well as the US, Middle East and Asia.

The company, now among Northern Ireland’s most successful food businesses with an impressive track record in new product development, supplies most of the leading food retailers.

It was established by Martin and Tracy Hamilton on the family farm. Sons Lance and Jack now play key roles in the development of the business.

Mash Direct has won a string of local, national and international awards including UK Great Taste Awards and the Food Manufacturing Excellence Awards.

An emphasis on provenance and traceability means that the family farm produces the majority of the raw materials with the rest being meticulously sourced throughout the UK and Ireland to produce a range free from artificial additives, preservatives or colourings.

St George’s Market To Showcase The Best Of Taste The Island

Posted on

Tourism NI is partnering with Belfast City Council this autumn to offer an allocated stall to local food and drink producers to showcase their produce at St George’s Market Belfast, in support of the Taste the Island initiative.

Every weekend until the end of November, different producers from across Northern Ireland will have an opportunity to showcase their produce at the iconic market. This platform will enable local producers to sell and promote their product to thousands of local and international visitors in support of the all-Island food and drink initiative.

The latest research estimates visitor expenditure at £968m of which approximately one third, £350m, is spent on food and drink.

Gary Quate, Food and Drink Development Officer at Tourism NI, commented: “We have been working closely with Belfast City Council and St George’s Market, who have helped us bring new and exciting opportunities to the industry. We are delighted to offer this space to talented local producers such as Jack Morton from Jack’s Fudge and Barbara Hughes from Hughes Craft Distillery and we look forward to working with many more of our food and drink industry to support the Taste the Island campaign.”

“We are also pleased to support the Twilight Market which will take place on the 12th and 13th November through Tourism NI’s Taste the Island Events Scheme 2019. It is fantastic to see the industry fully embrace the initiative and I would encourage everyone to visit the event and get a taste of the delicious local produce on offer,” Gary added.

Councillor Deirdre Hargey, from Belfast City Council, said: “Fostering business growth in the city is a key goal in our Belfast Agenda, so we’re delighted to partner with Tourism NI as part of their Taste the Island campaign to support local producers to showcase their offers.
Deirdre added: “Food tourism continues to grow – as our Twilight Market, which started back in November 2015 shows – it just keeps getting bigger and better every year. It’s such a special way to discover local produce, in our much loved historic and atmospheric St George’s Market. I encourage everyone to get along for an evening to remember!”

Healthy Snack Pioneer Forest Feast Takes To The Road To The Road To Drive Faster Growth In Sales

Posted on

Bronagh Clarke, Marketing Director of Forrest Feast in Craigavon talks to Sam Bulter about initiative to drive sales of the company’s snacks.

Bronagh Clarke admits an innovative initiative to drive sales of Northern Ireland’s most successful snack products initially proved to be “a bit of a challenge”. A smart marketing move has seen Craigavon-based Forest Feast exploring new business here, in the Republic of Ireland and further afield by taking to the road in a converted VW camper van!

“The biggest challenge we’ve found is actually driving the van,” Bronagh, marketing director of Kestrel Foods, the company behind the multi-award winning Forest Feast branded range of original healthy snacks,” says.

“The van wasn’t the easiest to handle at first because it was made in 1973, is left-hand drive and lacks the power-steering and power braking that we all now take for granted. We brought it from Germany and it’s completely roadworthy with low mileage on the clock but just not that easy to manoeuvre. However, we’ve all mastered driving the van and it’s already featured at a number of shows,” adds Bronagh.

The iconic van was subsequently transformed by the company into a ‘street food’ wagon with a retractable serving hatch and distinctive livery. It’s becoming a regular feature at food festivals and other public events the length and breadth of the island.

The livery, Bronagh explains, reflects the company’s ethos as the ‘original snack explorers’. “Our strategic focus is on exploring the globe, finding, crafting and creating extraordinary snacks such as the delicious dried mango, one of our original products and still among the most popular,” adds Bronagh, an experienced strategic marketer with a wealth of experience in the food industry in Ireland.

The company has been searching the world for ingredients for tasty, premium and innovative snacks since its foundation by husband and wife team Michael and Lorraine Hall in 1996.

The company continues to set the pace in Northern Ireland in the creative marketing of healthy fruit, seeds and nuts including a unique range of tasty Super Fruit Shapes for children and young people and a quirky quartet of flavoured peanut snacks for the current Rugby World Cup in Japan aimed at fans of Ireland, England, New Zealand and host nation Japan.

The VW camper is another creative direction for the company which now sells a portfolio of snacks to almost 40 global markets, making the family business one of Northern Ireland’s leading exporters.

“Our company culture has always been underpinned by a dedication to innovation in all aspects of the business. We are always exploring new ways of doing things differently to provide customers with original and healthy snack ideas,” Bronagh, who returned last week from taking part in Anuga, the big international food event in Cologne, continues. The company, a Food NI member, has a longstanding commitment to exports and participation in major trade shows.

A further and colourful example of this approach, the camper van has taken to the road to help increase awareness of the company and its impressive portfolio of snacks especially among a younger marketplace concerned about naturally healthy foods especially snacks. “We are keen to develop greater brand awareness in the UK and Ireland, two immensely important markets for us,” she says.

Taking part in major public events such as the recent National Ploughing Championships in Co Carlow and the many food festivals in Northern Ireland is enabling the progressive and ambitious company to engage directly with consumers and introduce them to the Forest Feast identity and, of course, the range and provenance of all the snacks it produces in a state-of-the-art plant. “The events, in addition, provide opportunities for us to obtain feedback for us to factor into our thinking about new products and marketing,” she adds.

The van takes the successful company back to its roots, to the days when Michael and Lorraine Hall started the snack business by taking part in food markets in Ireland.

Ethical trading has been at the heart of the business since those days. It’s an approach that includes a longstanding partnership with PREDA, a social development organisation, through which it helps mango growers in the Philippines to enjoy a better quality of life. The company was ahead of the field in its commitment to ethical trading. And it’s now a commitment which shapes the thinking of younger consumers in particular.

What also helps the company stay ahead in intensely competitive global markets is the strength of its investment in new product development and its speed of reaction to market trends and opportunities in the burgeoning healthy snacking category.

A pioneering product range, Acti-Snack has also captured the imagination of fitness fans by offering ‘energy on the go’ through healthy mixed fruit, nut and seed snacks in convenient and re-sealable packs.

The entire range is gluten free, free from artificial additives and preservatives and designed to meet a variety of sports nutrition requirements. A new factory has been built to enable the company to meet the growing international demand for the innovative snack.

Growing global success has also led to a string of major industry awards for this enterprising local business including being named as one of Ireland’s ‘Best Managed’ companies in the Deloitte Best Managed Companies Awards Programme as well as a string of UK Great Taste Awards.

Boatyard Distillery Lands At Belfast International Airport

Posted on

Boatyard Distillery has partnered with Aelia Duty Free in Belfast International Airport. The distillery has taken bespoke retail space in which the company’s brand ambassadors will be providing tasting experiences to travellers seven days per week.

The distillery, based on the picturesque shores of Lough Erne in Co Fermanagh, produces three award winning spirits – Boatyard Double Gin, Old Tom Gin and seed to sip vodka. Travellers passing through Northern Ireland’s busiest airport can pick up all three of these products and take a little taste of Fermanagh with them wherever they go.

Karl Taylor, Aelia’s general manager of Aelia at the airport, says: “Boatyard Gin has proven to be a hit with passengers at Belfast International so the decision to expand its offering in-store was welcomed.

“Aelia Duty Free is committed to support Northern Ireland producers and we are excited to continue to build on our success with Boatyard Distillery, in offering passengers a taste of Northern Ireland when traveling through our store.

“Passengers can learn more about the Boatyard product range from their brand ambassadors and take one of their three spirits with them to their next destination.”

The bespoke retail space encompasses a life-size photo of the distillery’s copper still, Erainn – named after Queen Maeve’s lady in waiting in Irish mythology. Visitors to the airport can take a selfie and post to social media for the chance to win special prizes.

Joe McGirr, Boatyard Distillery founder, adds: “We have worked really hard to create an immersive experience for visitors to Belfast International airport. We want people passing through to be able to taste, feel, smell and see what makes Boatyard so special, and the space allows us to do just that.

“In addition to our three award-winning spirits, visitors should also look out for limited edition Boatyard Products exclusive to Belfast International airport, he adds.

Boatyard Double Gin, the distillery’s principal product, is a unique, award-winning gin produced near Enniskillen in Northern Ireland. Made with spirit from organically grown wheat, the gin uses a combination of organic botanicals, including ‘sweet gale’ taken from the McGirr local family farm, to give the gin a distinctive character and flavour with a refreshing taste profile.

The distillery takes its name from a former boatyard that has been converted into a state-of-the-art, craft distillery overlooking the picturesque Lough Erne in Northern Ireland’s Lakelands. It is one of the first distilleries in the world to be accessible to visitors by both land and water direct to the distillery door with the ethos of producing farm-to-bottle spirits in one of the most beautiful locations in the world.

Major Success For Echlinville Distillery At Irish Whiskey Awards

Posted on

Echlinville Distillery was an outstanding success in the recent Irish Whiskey Awards, winning a category and two gold medals.

Based at Kircubbin in Co Down, Echlinville gained the ‘Best Irish Single Malt (12 years and younger) category for its Dunville PX Cask 12 Year Old and under as well as golds for Echlinville Single Estate Irish Pot Still Gin and for Ban Poitin, the latter being distilled in Kircubbin.

“Always super proud of this whiskey, never more so now,” said Echlinville Distillery director Jarlath Watson.

Echlinville Distillery was formed in 2012 by businessmen Shane Braniff and Mr Watson to develop a range of premium spirits especially whiskey. It was the first distillery to be granted a license to distill Irish whiskey in the North of Ireland in over 130 years. The distillery also produced the hugely successful Jawbox Gin.

The whiskey awards were announced at a gala event held in Dingle Distillery, Co Kerry in celebration of the growth and success, especially in global markets, of Irish whiskey and other spirits.

The industry is seeing record output from a growing number of distilleries. At last count, the number of whiskey distillers either operating, being built or announced and in the process of being permitted, exceeded 35 – the largest number of Irish whiskey distilleries since the late 19th century. There are now eight distilleries either operating or planned in Northern Ireland including, of course, Bushmills, the world’s oldest licensed distillery and among the most successful.

Yearly shipments from Ireland’s distilleries are now over 20 million cases and US sales at wholesale, for the first time in the industry’s history, now exceed one billion dollars.

The keynote speaker for the evening was Colum Egan, Master Distiller for Bushmills Distillery in Co Antrim. Long considered a pillar of the Irish whiskey community, not to mention an iconic character in the Irish whiskey industry, Egan has worked with Bushmills Distillery since 2002.

He is a previous chairman of the Irish Whiskey Association. He has extensive experience within the industry and has created award winning whiskeys for one of the world’s best-known distilleries.

Mr Egan presented the awards, which are now in their seventh year and span over 20 categories.

Judging of the awards took place in July and August with members of the Celtic Whiskey Club, Irish Whiskey Society, Irish Whiskey Society Dingle Chapter, Kilkenny Whiskey Guild & Cork Whiskey Society, as well as two new participating societies: Waterford Whiskey Society and Belfast Whiskey Club.

Overseas members of the Celtic Whiskey Club also had the opportunity to purchase sample packs without having to travel to Ireland. Members of the trade and whisky media also judged the approximately 130 entrants. Members of the trade were also responsible for judging the white spirits, liqueurs and barrel-aged beer categories. All judging was blind.

Commenting on the awards, organiser Ally Alpine, managing director of Celtic Whiskey Shop and organiser of Whiskey Live Dublin, said: “The Irish Whiskey Awards celebrates the excellence and innovation in the Irish whiskey industry whilst raising funds for our incredible charity partner Mary’s Meals.

SUKI Tea Makers In Belfast Now Plastic Free

Posted on

SUKI Tea Makers in Northern Ireland has announced that it has moved away from the use of plastic packaging in its wide range of tea products as part of a longstanding commitment to the environment.

Based in Belfast, SUKI Tea Makers is a leading supplier of premium loose-leaf tea and infusions to customers in the UK, Ireland and other parts of Europe as well as Japan and Dubai. The multi-award winning company recently announced a major brand refresh and packaging redesign.

Anne Irwin, who founded the tea blenders in 2005 with business partner Oscar Woolley, explains: “At SUKI, we have always believed quality is defined by what we source and what we deliver. We won’t settle for anything that is second best and this has been the driving force behind our vision since the very beginning.

“We’re excited to showcase our wonderful new design to the world this Autumn, with one of the biggest changes to our packaging being one you might not notice at all – we’ve gone plastic-free!

“We care about people, plant and planet, from open and responsible sourcing to how the teas are packaged and transported,” she adds.,
The new format plastic-free packaging, she continues, had been “a challenge but an important one that links closely to our core ethics and ethos”.

She continues: “Operating in a more socially, economically and environmentally sustainable manner are the cornerstones of everything we do, so it was a natural next step for SUKI.

“Our tea pyramids are made from paper, yarn and a special material called Soilon, meaning unlike some traditional teabags, our pyramid teabags are completely natural and plastic-free!” Made from corn starch, Soilon is a naturally derived product that is fully compostable so can be disposed of in your food waste bin.

“All this means that the new packaging is now as environmentally friendly as the tea that goes inside it. Boxes for retailers are also made from sustainably sourced cardboard (FSC or PEFC) and are either pre-printed using vegetable-based inks or use a paper-based label,” adds Mrs Irwin.

The new packaging demonstrates SUKI’s belief that eco-friendly is the future. “So look out for our new brand plastic-free bags, retail boxes and accessory packaging hitting the shelves over the coming months,” she adds.