Food NI member Alastair Bell, founder and managing director of Portrush-based Irish Black Butter, has appeared on BBC Two’s popular Dragons’ Den programme.

Mr Bell, commenting on his appearance, says: “I was thrilled to have an opportunity to present my unique Irish Black Butter sweet/savoury spread. It was a marvellous experience to be part of such a successful and, of course, challenging business programme from BBC Two.

“It followed our recent achievement of three gold stars in the Great Taste Awards 2019, the competition run by the UK Guild of Fine Food to find products with outstanding flavours and authenticity.”

The edition is due for transmission on 11 August 2019.

Businessman Alastair Bell launched Irish Black Butter, a unique sweet/savoury spread, in 2017. He came up with the idea to harness the potential of Armagh Bramley Apples, which have EU protected status, and approached leading chef Paul Clarke, who also runs En-Place Foods in Cookstown, a company producing a range of culinary products for chefs, for advice and guidance in developing the recipe.

In addition to Bramley apples, Irish Black Butter includes treacle, cider, a touch of brandy and spices for a cross between sweet and savoury.

Mr Bell describes the spread as “A New Taste of Ireland” and has been successful in developing sales for the original product in the UK and Ireland. It has also attracted interest from retailers in the US and Germany. The product has won UK Great Taste and Blas na hEireann awards.

As well as the original black butter, Mr Bell has recently launched an Irish Black Butter Peanut Spread and has also worked with other local producers in the development of Irish Black Butter Ice Cream and Irish Black Butter Fudge.

For more, please contact Alastair Bell on 07732 266502

 

Henderson Group, owners of the SPAR, EUROSPAR, VIVO, VIVOXTRA and VIVO Essentials brands in Northern Ireland is celebrating their biggest success yet in the highly prestigious Great Taste Awards for 2019.

Five of the group’s fresh, locally created own brand desserts appear on this year’s list, with two gaining 2-star status, and three gaining 1-star. They are:

 The Kitchen Sticky Toffee Pudding: 2 stars
 The Kitchen Bread & Butter Pudding: 2 stars
 The Kitchen Chocolate Sponge Pudding: 1 star
 The Kitchen Bramley Apple Crumble: 1 star
 The Kitchen Rhubarb Crumble: 1 star

Each of the products was created in collaboration with Henderson’s Fresh Team and Davison’s Puds, based in Portadown.
Fresh Foods Director, Neal Kelly, says these are exceptional accolades and says the proof is literally in the pudding; “Our range of fresh, local own-brand products are a credit to the time, tasting and delivery that goes in to creating them. We set our standards incredibly high, and ensure we are meeting and beating the highest tests for quality and taste.

“Provenance is a huge ingredient for our fresh products, which is why we collaborate with companies such as Davison’s Puds who can help us take this quality and taste to the next level.

“The entire team is honoured to have our biggest and best year yet at the Great Taste Awards.”

Judges of the 2019 Great Taste Awards described the products as “… a very good example of a sticky toffee pudding”, “hugely appealing…”, and “very decadent… truly delicious”.

The award-winning products are part of the ‘Desserts by The Kitchen’ range which was launched in November 2018 in partnership with local bakeries, an extension of The Kitchen range of fresh and convenient meals.
The Kitchen brand has grown extensively in the past three years since its launch, and now carries over 70 products made by nine of the best local suppliers especially for Henderson Wholesale.

The ‘Desserts by The Kitchen’ products join a list of local products available in all SPAR, EUROSPAR and VIVO branded stores including Irwin’s Bakery breads and Dale Farm’s Dromona cheese and butter.

Neal concluded; “Northern Ireland has once again proven its foodie credentials and we’re delighted to be among the best in the business.”

Great Taste, organised by the Guild of Fine Food, is the acknowledged benchmark for fine food and drink. Over 500 judges from all corners of the world blind-taste in teams to ensure the best balance of expertise.

Linden Foods in Northern Ireland has scooped a top award at the prestigious Meat Management Awards held in the Hilton Birmingham.  The Dungannon-based meat processor picked up the ‘Best Beef Product’ award for its M&S Dry Aged Fillet steak.

Beating off stiff competition on the night, the awarding-winning M&S red meat product from Linden Foods/Kettyle Irish Foods was hailed ‘Best Beef Product’ on account of its tenderness and delicious flavour. Linden also achieved a ‘Highly Commended’ for both their M&S Dry Aged Sirloin and their M&S Dry Aged Ribeye.

Judged by a panel of industry experts, the Meat Management Awards recognise the very best quality and highest taste and is a celebration of the creativity, innovation and excellence of the UK’s meat industry.

 Speaking of their recent award success, Gerry Maguire, Linden Foods managing director said: “We are delighted that our Marks & Spencer Dry Aged Fillet Steak was crowned overall ‘Best Beef Product’ at the prestigious award ceremony.  It is testament to the producers in our supply chain. We have the arguably the best farmers in the British Isles, which results in top quality award-winning beef.  We are thrilled also to have won two ‘Highly Commended’ awards for our M&S Dry Aged Sirloin and Ribeye steaks.”

 He continued:“The judges were extremely impressed with the flavour and succulence of the M&S Dry Aged steaks.”

Katharine Haenelt, head of Trading-Meat, Fish, Poultry, Dairy and Deli at M&S, added:, “To have won the ‘Best Beef Product’ category with our M&S Dry Aged Fillet Steak is a glowing endorsement of the fantastic partnership between Marks & Spencer and Linden Foods. Together we have created a truly delicious range of dry aged steak products for our customers.

“The success was backed up by two separate ‘Highly Commended’ awards for our M&S Dry Aged Sirloin and Ribeye steaks within the same best beef category. So, we feel we are producing excellent quality products packed with sumptuous flavours.”

Food NI member Dale Farm, now the largest UK farmer-owned dairy cooperative has won a series of awards includingfor its range of cheddar cheese, produced in Cookstown, at the International Dairy and Cheese Show at Nantwich, Cheshire.

Headquartered in Belfast, Dale Farm picked up a total of 36 awards at the prestigious event.

Dale Farm’s world class quality cheese in addition to cottage cheese, quark and yogurt was recognised where the cooperative celebrated receiving an impressive array of accolades including 11 gold, seven silver and 11 bronze awards.

At Nantwich, expert judges sampled over 5,500 entries from some of the world’s leading cheesemakers and dairy producers.

Dale Farm markets its cheese ranges under the Dale Farm and Dromona brands in Northern Ireland and Great Britain; and Rowan Glen in Scotland. Dale Farm also supplies cheese to many major retailers for their own brand ranges.

The company produces 50,000 tonnes of cheddar per annum from its state-of-the-art plant in Cookstown, County Tyrone, using milk supplied by its dairy farmer owners.

Stephen Cameron, Dale Farm’s group commercial director,said: “We are extremely proud to once again have our quality product recognised by the industry.

“These accolades represent not only a stamp of approval from the experts, but also a guarantee of product quality for the consumer.

“Our world-class dairy products come from world-class milk, and these awards are testament to the high quality of milk produced by the farmers within our cooperative, and the skill of those involved throughout the production process.”

 

Great Britain remains the largest market for the Northern Ireland food and drinks processing sector with sales increasing to £2,337.1 million and representing 49 per cent of total sales in 2017, according to a report from the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA). The report comes as fears grow over a post-Brexit influx of food and drink from outside the British Isles.

Ireland, the report said, is “the most important export destination and accounted for £716 million in 2017; 15 per cent of total sales”.

In 2017, the size of value of the Northern Ireland domestic market was smaller than those markets outside of the UK.

The sector contributed 33 per cent of external sales, 22 per cent of export sales and 32 per cent of total sales in the Northern Ireland manufacturing industry in 2017. The sector’s proportion of total manufacturing. employment increased to 30 per cent.

The total number of direct employees in the sector rose by 5 per cent from 22,539 full-time employee equivalents in 2016 to 23,641 full-time employee equivalents in 2017. Direct employment in 2018 is estimated to increase by 5 per cent to 24,818 full-time employee equivalents.

The department published the figures in its annual report, ‘Size and Performance of the Northern Ireland Food and Drinks Processing Sector, Subsector Statistics’.

The report contains comprehensive data on the values of sales, exports, value added and number of employees for each of the ten constituent subsectors of the food and drinks processing sector for 2016 and 2017.