Food NI member company Irish Black Butter has developed a new fudge featuring the popular flavour.

 

The fudge is the latest original product using Irish Black Butter, an award winning sweet/savoury spread, developed by Portrush businessman Alastair Bell with assistance of En Place Foods in Cookstown, another Food NI member company.

 

The new Irish Black Butter fudge was created with assistance from Melting Pot in Belfast, also a Food NI member and one which has vast experience in developing and marketing a wide range of original butter and flavoured fudges for customers in Great Britain, the Republic of Ireland and further afield.

 

The fudge is the fourth original product featuring the Irish Black Butter flavour with Armagh Bramley apples, cider, treacle, spices, and a touch of brandy over the past two years.

 

Other products developed using Irish Black Butter are a peanut spread, an ice cream being produced by Coleraine’s Morelli’s Italian-style ice cream, and biscuits from the Heatherlea Bakery in Bangor. Morelli’s and the Heatherlea are also Food NI member companies.

 

Mr Bell, commenting on the new Irish Black Butter fudge, says: “The fudge is the outcome of my strategic focus on growing the business beyond the original spread through the promotion of the distinctive flavour as an ingredient for other innovative food products.

“Using the Black Butter in a novel fudge is an obvious move which widens its market appeal and also strengthens the business. It reflects by focus on promoting the butter as an ingredient for other manufacturers and as a flavouring for chefs. It’s now being used by leading chefs in their dishes as well as tasty choice for cheeseboards in leading restaurants and hotels.

 

“The successful team at Melting Pot was very supportive and keen to assist me in harnessing their tremendous experience and success in creating different fudge flavours,” he adds.

 

A recent contender in the challenging BBC Two’s Dragons’ Den programme, Irish Black Butter also received three gold stars in the influential UK Great Taste Awards and is one of eight local companies in the running for the champion Golden Fork, as well as the Northern Ireland Golden Fork, in the finals on 1 September at a gala dinner in London.

 

The distinctive spread, furthermore, was named Chefs’ Larder Choice in last year’s Blas na hEireann Irish National Food Awards.

 

Irish Black Butter is available in delis and independent retailers in Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland and in parts of Great Britain.

 

 

 

Food Stories in Northern Ireland, a Food NI member company, has won substantial business with Tesco Ireland for its range of healthier Pinkfinch fruit and vegetable crisps.

 

The deal with Tesco, the Belfast company’s  latest sales success outside Northern Ireland, will see an estimated 100,000 bags of the snacks sold annually.

 

Having begun his business from his parent’s spare bedroom five years ago, Food Stories founder Michael Heaslip has managed to grow his innovative product line across Ireland, the UK, Europe, and the Middle East with distribution warehouses in Ireland and the UK.

 

Pinkfinch flavours selected by Tesco include Green Bean & Sugar Snap Pea, Banana, and Apple, which uniquely for the European market, contain real fruit that has undergone a vacuum-crisping process.

 

Before launching his business, Heaslip committed to creating a healthy, innovate product, which tastes great.

 

After three years of research and product development, which saw Heaslip travel the world in search of the perfect manufacturing process, Pinkfinch fruit and veggie crisps hit the shelves.

 

Within weeks Green Bean and Sugar Snap Pea won a Great Taste Award and was shortlisted in the Sial Paris Innovation Selection 2018.

 

 “My aim was to develop a healthier crisp, one which could contribute to the five-a-day diet recommendation. We developed a unique cooking process that maintains the taste qualities of the fruits and vegetables,” Mr. Heaslip explains.

 

“This means, for example, that are a more appealing snack for children. Mum’s that couldn’t convince their children to eat fruit & vegetables are sending us thank you messages on social media. They are also based on real fruit, are gluten-free and high in fibre.”

 

“It was also very important to us that we had a product that was innovative and tastes great, in that regard we are unrivalled in the market.”

 

I was lucky enough to travel to Western Australia three years ago. I was on the hunt for inspiration. We had three criteria to qualify a concept, it had to taste fantastic, a healthier alternative to chocolate and traditional snacks, and be innovative.

 

“My friend gave me a packet of Jack Fruit Crisps that he had bought in an Asian supermarket. It was unlike anything I had ever tasted. I was instantly hooked on the idea and thought there was an opportunity for a similar crisp, but with fruit and vegetables, the European market is familiar with. The Food Stories team back home bought into it and we started the long journey to bring it to market.

 

That is actually where the name Pinkfinch comes from, it is a an Asian bird that sources the best fruit to eat. It took us that long to source the right partners to work with, I thought Pinkfinch was quite appropriate. It has been a challenge but a load of fun too.

 

“The business with Tesco Ireland and listing in 118 stores marks a significant chapter of growth in our business. Tesco Ireland were the first major multiple to list and we are determined to grow the business with them and make the listing a success.

“The past eight weeks have been a whirlwind as we have had an additional 800 supermarkets across Europe launch on top of the new Tesco Ireland listing. One of which is Sainsbury’s UK were we will be stocked in 334 stores,” he adds.

Commercial Director at Tesco Ireland, Joe Manning said: “We’re thrilled to bring the award winning Pinkfinch range of fruit crisps to our Irish customers, across our stores and online. Innovation is a key focus in everything we do, and our teams are very passionate about continuing to develop our offering with the best range of products in the Irish market.”

 

Michele Shirlow, Food NI chief executive, added: “This is another tremendous success for our member company in exports. This enterprising and ambitious small company has certainly racked up an impressive list of successes with leading supermarkets here and abroad.”

 

Pinkfinch fruit crisps are available now in Tesco Ireland, Sainsbury’s UK and major multiple retailers in Belgium and Germany.

Carol’s Stock Market, a Food NI member company, has recently doubled production space in preparation for the launch of two new innovative products; all natural beef and chicken bone broth gravy.

 

Based in Derry and owned and run by Carol Banahan, Carol’s Stock Market has also been named as one of the finalists in the Great British and Northern Irish Food Entrepreneur of the year awards.  The regional finals are scheduled to be held in Belfast on October 3^rd.

 

The company has won awards and widespread acclaim for existing portfolio of  natural chicken, beef and vegetable stock. The awards include UK Great Taste Awards and Blas na hEireann ‘Chefs’ Larder’.

 

Outlining the new products, Mrs Banahan says: “Our free range chicken gravy is made completely from scratch using locally sourced free range chicken.  The base of the chicken gravy is made from our wholesome and delicious chicken broth which has been carefully simmered along with organic herbs and vegetables for many hours.

 

“Using caramelised shallots, fresh thyme and balsamic vinegar, we then thicken our gravy with organic cornflour to keep it gluten free. No fuss or mess, just heat and serve.

 

“Our beef gravy is made completely using locally sourced grass fed beef bones.  The base of the gravy is made with our wholesome and delicious beef broth which has been carefully simmered along with organic herbs and vegetables for many hours.

 

“Again using caramelised shallots and balsamic vinegar, we then thicken our gravy with organic cornflour to keep it gluten free. No fuss or mess, just heat and serve,” adds Mrs Banahan.

 

The company’s products are widely available in delis and independent stores across the island of Ireland.

 

 

 

Belfast businessman AP Beattie loves a good cup of quality coffee. It’s a passion he shares with many thousands here. But AP’s choice of coffee is deliciously different and is akin to a glass of traditional Irish stout!  His passion is nitro coffee, a relatively new variety that features a pitch black body with a rich creamy head.

 

And this passion has led AP (Aaron Philip) to set up Nitro Coffee in Comber and to share it with lovers of the beverage. It’s the latest addition to the bewildering menu of coffees now available here. Once coffee was simple choice between black and white. Now there’s Americano, latte, cappuccino, flat white, flat black, and a host of different flavoured drinks.

 

AP chooses nitro coffee because “it’s much more refreshing and has a richer flavour”. It’s served cold straight from the tap, just like a cold beer, and it offers that frothy and bubbly, adult-beverage feeling with the bubbly carbonation and beer-like head from the nitrogen.

 

What is nitro coffee? “It’s cold brew coffee infused with nitrogen and kegged for sale on draught in coffee shops,” he explains. This process gives it a thicker, creamier texture and chocolatey taste. The drink also has a cascading effect which is all down to the fact that nitrogen doesn’t dissolve well in water. It’s like pouring stout,” he adds.

 

An accountant by profession, AP first tasted nitro coffee on holiday to Vancouver, the Canadian west coast city that’s close to Seattle, the recognised world capital of coffee roasting and coffee retailing.

 

AP continues: “The first time I tasted nitro coffee was in 2017 during a trip to Canada with Lucia, my wife. We found the drink tremendously refreshing and loved Vancouver’s famed coffee houses established by European immigrants who settled there after the Second World War. The city boasts a host of premium coffee roasters. While cold brew coffee has been around a while, the nitrogen infusion gives it a thicker and smoother taste which sets it apart from regular coffee,” he adds.

 

Nitro Coffee, the small business AP established earlier in the year, is the result of his failure to find coffee shops here offering the taste and quality of nitro they loved in Canada. Cold brews are now appearing in international chains.

 

“I decided to look for the best quality of coffee available in Northern Ireland and approached a number of coffee roasters such as Pure Roast Coffee in Lisburn, which has won a host of UK Great Taste Awards, and Belfast Coffee Roasters specialising in small batch production. I knew from Vancouver that the very based coffee is essential for great tasting nitro and I think that this is what sets my coffee apart in what is becoming a fiercely competitive marketplace,” he continues. He is confident the outstanding taste of his coffee enables him to compete against the chains.

 

He admits that cold brewing his own coffee was “a steep learning curve for a novice”. “It involved experimentation and sampling by friends and my colleagues in the accountancy practice. I also carried out market research in local coffee houses around Belfast,” adds AP.

 

A number of coffee houses have already signed for his nitro coffee from the kegs he supplies from his Comber home.

 

Nitro coffee, he continues, also offers a number of positive advantages. “Ingredients used to enhance the texture or taste of regular coffee – such as milk or cream – are not necessary in nitro coffee. It may help, therefore, to reduce sugar consumption, because nitrogen adds a hint of sweetness, rendering additional sugar unnecessary. Adding sugar, as many people are now aware, increases the calorie count of coffee and possibly leads to weight gain. Nitro coffee is also less acidic than regular coffee.”

 

Studies show that diets high in sugar have been associated with heart disease, type 2 diabetes and cancer, he adds.

 

A developing market trend towards non-alcoholic beverages that look like conventional beers and spirits could assist the growth of AP’s novel product. “We’ve seen non-alcoholic gins that can be served in garnished cocktails for people who feel uncomfortable at social events drinking sparkling water or sugary juices.

 

“Nitro coffee looks like a glass of stout but is still cold coffee and, of course, non alcoholic,” he adds.

 

AP’s coffee has already been listed by a number of coffee houses in Belfast and beyond. While he has a strong business background in accountancy he having to develop marketing expertise to drive brand awareness and, of course, sales.

 

He’s joined leading promotion body Food NI for “the advice and support it provides and access to the biggest food and drink network here”. He also plans to create awareness by taking his nitro coffee to the public by means of a specially kitted out trailer for markets and other shows across Northern Ireland.