Food NI member Moy Park, Europe’s largest poultry processor, has retained its position of Northern Ireland’s biggest company. The processor sells throughout Europe and is the only Northern Ireland company with a turnover close to £1.5 billion.

Moy Park, which has its European headquarters at Craigavon in Co. Armagh, heads Northern Ireland’s Top 100 Companies in the annual survey published by Ulster Business magazine. Moy Park leads 22 agri-food companies in the list.

Other Food NI member companies listed in the list include dairy processor Dale Farm, Fane Valley Group, a producer of meat and breakfast cereals, leading wholesaler Henderson/Spar, Tayto Group, LacPatrick Dairies, Lynas Wholesale

The survey shows that Northern Ireland’s biggest companies have boosted their profits by almost 80 percent in the space of a year. Moy Park heads the listing for the seventh year in a row.

Chris Kirke, president of Moy Park, said: “We’re tremendously proud to be recognised as Northern Ireland’s top company once again, particularly as it coincides with our 75th anniversary celebrations.

“It’s the great people within the business that makes Moy Park the successful company it is today. It is our talented team and our focus on enhancing operations across our facilities that will ensure we can continue to innovate, thrive and grow.”

Moy Park supplies poultry products to retailers and foodservice organisations throughout Europe and is now owned by Pilgrim’s Pride of the US. It processes six million fresh chickens every week.

Overall, turnover among the Top 100, which is now in its 30th year, increased by around nine per cent, rising from £21.88 billion to £23.85 billion, when comparing company accounts, year-on-year.

Pre-tax profits for those making the list grew by 79 per cent, rising from £517.5 million to £924.9 million.

Food NI member Burren Balsamics, a specialist in award-winning natural fruit infused vinegars, will feature on the Christmas catalogue of The Cress Co, Scotland’s premium food distributor.

The Cress Co, which is based in Dunfermline, is showing several of Burren’s most successful vinegars including Blackberry and Thyme, Bramley Apple, and Gold. Cress Co distributes to a network of independent retailers.

Susie Hamilton Stubber, the founder and managing director of Burren Balsamics, which is based at Richhill in county Armagh, says: “I am delighted that my hand crafted vinegars are now included in the Christmas catalogue of such a successful and quality conscious food distributor.

“This is another important development in my drive to expand sales in Britain, now my most significant markets. It follows an extensive marketing campaign in Britain that has included participation in major food shows and represents another major endorsement of the premium quality and innovation of my portfolio of fruit infused vinegars for both retail and food service,” she adds.

Mrs Hamilton Stubber, an experienced chef, formed Burren Balsamics in February 2014 to develop fruit infused vinegars for foodservice and delis in Northern Ireland and has since expanded sales to Britain and the Republic of Ireland.

The small batch producer has won a series of awards, including Great Taste Awards and Blas na hEireann Irish National Food Awards for the products, which are all produced in Northern Ireland.

The company recently gained a three-star gold in the Great Taste Awards for an innovative product developed with venison from Colebrook Park, a country estate in Fermanagh.

The successful ready-to-cook product was Saddle of Colebrooke Venison. The pack includes blackberry and thyme gel from Burren Balsamics.

Food NI member City Cheese, an artisan cheese maker, has launched a Gouda-style goat’s cheese.

The new handmade cheese, developed by City Cheese founder Christo Swanepoel, has been matured over six months and is now being rolled out to delis and foodservice in Northern Ireland. “It’s a natural, semi soft cheese that’s handcrafted slowly and left for six to eight months to mature to develop a natural rind,” he says.

“While it’s very definitely a goat’s cheese it has a mild, creamy flavour,” Mr Swanepoel adds.

Mr Swanepoel, a South African chef now resident in Northern Ireland, has extensive experience in creating different cheeses, including raw cow’s milk products, and has won local and national awards for taste and quality.

The new goat’s cheese is produced by hand by Mr Swanepoel at the company’s small creamery in Ballywalter in Co Down using a Gouda recipe.

He is bringing the distinctive flavours of his native South Africa and especially the Dutch influences there to the local artisan cheese scene.  He is the only artisan producer of goat’s cheese in Northern Ireland.

Mr Swanepoel, who trained initially as a gourmet chef in Pretoria because of his love of food, has been resident in Northern Ireland for around 10 years. He decided to explore artisan cheese making as a career direction. “I’d been keen on cheese in South Africa and learned a lot about Dutch cheeses from my wife and her parents. This led me to look at the market and to identify opportunities about artisan cheese,” he says.

“I started making samples of different styles of cheese for friends to taste. The feedback was immensely positive,” he says. “Cheese-making is an important and developing sector in both South Africa and Holland, and I grew up enjoying cheese there,” he adds.

The Echlinville Distillery in (County Down, Northern Ireland) is celebrating as its whiskey turns five years old. The Kircubbin based whiskey and gin producer became the first new distillery in Northern Ireland for more than 125 years when it received its license and casked its first spirit on 5 August 2013.

Echlinville has since established itself at the forefront of Ireland’s burgeoning spirits industry and is home to some of the country’s best-known and respected brands including Dunville’s Irish Whiskey, Jawbox Gin, Echlinville Single Estate Irish Pot Still Gin and Bán Poitín.

Sunday 5 August will be a momentous day for Echlinville as their first casks of whiskey reach their milestone fifth birthday – a birthday they share with distillery owner Shane Braniff.

Reflecting on five years of business, Shane said: “In the summer of 2013 our vision to create Ireland’s first field-to-glass distillery became a reality when the first spirit trickled from Echlinville’s stills. We filled our first casks on 5 August and five years later the business has grown beyond our expectations.

“We started as a team of three. Now we have more than 20 staff who produce our spirit from the ground up. From growing, harvesting and floor malting our barley, to mashing and fermenting the grains, distilling and maturing the spirit, to hand bottling and labelling our products, everything is done right here at our farm distillery. Our roots are firmly, and quite literally, in the Ards Peninsula. We grow, produce and employ local and that is something we are incredibly proud of.”

The Pot Still and Single Malt whiskeys from Echlinville’s innovative first distillations may have reached the landmark five year mark, but they will continue to mature in the distillery’s cask warehouse.

Shane continues: “We recently debuted some of our Echlinville Whiskey at a tasting in Dingle, Co. Kerry, with some of our friends at the Irish Whiskey Society. We were delighted with how it was received, but we won’t be releasing it any time soon. Whiskey is all about time, and we are willing to give ours all the time it needs to be among the best in Ireland, if not the world.”

Global recognition

Although primarily a whiskey distillery, Echlinville’s portfolio has expanded to include gin, vodka and poitín, with their products exported across Europe and as far as the USA, New Zealand and the middle east.

Shane continues: “Irish whiskey is the world’s fastest growing spirits category. From the Ards Peninsula to the Dingle Peninsula, from Midleton to Dublin and from Derry to Waterford, Ireland’s whiskey industry is going from strength to strength, and we are delighted to be a part of it. We are building a strong reputation based on our field-to-glass approach and the quality of our spirits. With 17 international awards under our belt, Echlinville’s products are already held in high esteem within the global spirits industry, and that’s a great foundation upon which to build our export business.”

The Spirit of Belfast

“One of our founding goals in 2013 was to revive the historic Dunville’s Irish Whiskey brand after almost 80 years in the whiskey wilderness. Now with ten major accolades to its name, we are proud to have restored Dunville’s to its rightful place among the premier whiskeys of the world. That is certainly one of the major achievements of our first five years in business.

“We recently released our new Dunville’s PX 12 Year Old Single Malt expression, and with the upcoming launch of our award winning Dunville’s 18 Year Old Port Mourant Rum Finish Whiskey, there is much more to come from The Spirit of Belfast.”

Echlinville’s success isn’t limited to whiskey. Echlinville Single Estate Irish Pot Still Gin was awarded the coveted Three Star rating at last year’s Great Taste Awards. Echlinville is also the home of Jawbox, one of Ireland’s most popular gins. And its Bán Poitín has been crowned Ireland’s Best Poitín at the Irish Whiskey Awards for two years running.

Vision for whiskey tourism

Echlinville has also made a name for itself on the whiskey tourist trail, with its distillery tours attracting visitors from home and abroad.

Shane continues: “Echlinville’s sense of place and family feel seem to resonate with our many visitors. Our philosophy is to celebrate the sights, smells and tastes of Echlinville and the Ards Peninsula. The heart of whiskey may be grain and oak, but the soul of any spirit is its connection to the place where it is made. We are proud of our roots in the Ards Peninsula. That pride of place is the essence of everything we do. It has been our driving force for the past five years and propels our plans for the future.”

Echlinville plans to extend its tour experience by converting its 17^th century courtyard buildings into a state-of-the-art visitors’ centre. The development will incorporate a museum, restaurant and tourist accommodation and is key to Shane’s vision to transform the distillery into one of the east coast’s premier visitor attractions.

He concludes: “This corner of Ireland has much to offer in terms of tourism and is already home to some fabulous attractions, but overall its potential remains relatively untapped. We want to help change that by working with nearby attractions and tourism bodies to develop the area as a must-see destination.

“The Irish Whiskey Tourism Strategy speaks of a vision for an all-island whiskey tourism product. For a long time now, whiskey tourism in Ulster has focussed on the north coast, and rightly so. But in a short space of time, our distillery has earned its place on an Irish whiskey map that has been transformed in recent years. We look forward to working together with our friends and colleagues across the industry to promote Ireland as a premier whiskey tourism destination.”

For more information visit www.echlinville.com