Huge congratulations to the three Northern Irish Regions who made it to the Top 1O in the Foodie Destination Awards. A special shoutout to Armagh Food Heartland who finished 4th overall.

 

Food NI member Tom & Ollie, the leading producer of artisan pastes, tapenades, dips, pesto, hummus, roasted tomatoes and olives, has won business with top German discounter Lidl for its products.

Based near Ballymena in county Antrim, Tom & Ollie is one of the most successful producers of artisan fresh foods at markets across Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.

The company has won a listing for its products from Lidl for around 200 stores across Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.

The products include smoked sundried tomato pesto, sundried tomato pesto, slow roasted cherry tomatoes and slow roasted yellow tomato segments with garlic and are produced at the company’s premises near Broughshane.

Lidl listed the products as part of its unique Kickstarter programme which offers smaller food processors an opportunity to build first-time sales in its network of stores.

Shay Mullan, who founded Tom &Ollie with fellow directors Hugh Cushnan and Fergal McGrainne in 2014, says: “We were delighted to be included by Lidl in the Kickstarter programme and now to have won a listing for our unique and handcrafted products which have been successful at food markets across Northern Ireland and the Republic.

“The listing gives us a tremendous springboard to grow sales throughout the island of Ireland and to gain expertise in dealing with such a successful and prestigious retailer,” he adds.

The products are part of Tom & Ollie’s recently launched 15-strong retail packs, an important development for the small company which has also achieved SALSA food safety accreditation.

Tom & Ollie, which takes its name from its success in marketing tomatoes and olives, develops around 70 lines at its modern production operation in county Antrim. These include seasonal products such as wild Irish garlic pesto harvested near the plant, which also specialises in Irish cheese and charcuterie.

The new range is available in a range of pack sizes between 180g and 230g in tubs within an attractive sleeve.

Mr Mullan continues: This diversification into retail packs is the outcome of product development and planning over several months and has been influenced by requests from shoppers at markets about where they can continue to buy our range of fresh products.”

Other high profile customers for their products include Pallas Foods which supplies retailers in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland

The company is also among the longest established traders at the iconic St George’s food market near Belfast city centre.

Tom & Ollie also runs a successful catering business for parties, weddings, and other events, offering savoury dishes. They’ve even created a unique multi-tiered cheese cake instead of the traditional cake for a local wedding.

The growing popularity of their original and tasty products has encouraged them to invest further in the business. An on-line delivery service has been launched and gourmet food hampers introduced.

The delivery service has over 300 products available for next day delivery in Ireland.

Shay Mullan (right) and Hugh Cushnan of Tom & Ollie.

Visitors are being encouraged to ‘Get on yer bike’ to Comber Farmers’ Market on the 6 September 2018, following some of the many beautiful scenic routes to the town, including the Comber Greenway.

The award winning artisan food event has a delicious variety of fare from local producers with meat, dairy, baked goods, jams and chutneys, charcuterie, fruit and veg and much more.

Cyclists can filled their rucksacks or baskets with award winning fresh produce from Northern Ireland with many of the producers in attendance having recently secured ‘Great Taste’ awards to add to many more awards they have received for their quality food and drink.

Comber Farmers’ Market is a great morning out where visitors can meet new people and talk to the friendly bunch of traders, and have a beautiful morning tea in St Mary’s Church.

Sustrans NI will be attending the market on the 6 August to promote the upcoming ‘One Path Festival’ on the Comber Greenway, a shared space for all including cyclists.

There will also be a ‘pop up’ theatre from Big Telly Company, sharing ‘Inside Stories’ from the town, stories which have been shared over the last few weeks from local people in the ‘Comber Story Shop’.

As the popularity of Comber Farmers’ Market grows, the town is quickly becoming a top food destination, ‘The Home of Great Taste’.

Held in St Marys Church car park of Comber Square the first Thursday of every month from 9am to 1pm, Comber Farmers’ Market is well worth a visit.

Car parking is available in nearby public car parks, at Parkway on Killinchy Street and the car park of 1^st Comber Presbyterian on High Street.

Find out more about the popular monthly food event at www.combermarket.co.uk or on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram.

Passengers on Air Tahiti Nui flights to and from as well as around the exotic islands of French Polynesia are now enjoying artisan popcorn from Belfast.

Cloud Corn, based in east Belfast, has begun supplying the airline serving international centres as well as hundreds of islands with its increasingly popular range of hand blended popcorn snacks.

The contract followed the Belfast artisan company’s recent participation in a major food trade show in Hamburg.

The popcorn range was launched in March by Michael Heaslip, founder and managing director of Food Stories, a Food NI member company. Michael founded Food Stories in 2014 to provide marketing and distribution services to smaller food companies in Northern Ireland and has since launched a number of his own brand products, including artisan Cloud Corn.

Explaining his decision to launch Cloud Corn, he says: “The growth of popcorn in the UK has been phenomenal over the past five years. We saw an opportunity in the local market and also outside the UK and Ireland and decided to develop a range that combines established and unique savoury flavours such as our Sweet Chilli BBQ popcorn.

“We developed a specific recipe to pair with craft beers and the sweet chilli goes really well with many of the excellent brews now being produced.

“We knew from the start of the venture that the popcorn market in Britain and Ireland has become highly competitive and that we had to look for business abroad for sustainable growth. We decided, for instance, that all the nutritional information on the packaging should be in six languages – English, French, Spanish, German, Dutch and Italian.

“As a result of this strategic focus, we’ve been taking part in major trade shows, assisted by Invest NI, in Europe and further afield and have developed an extensive network of good contacts, now including Air Tahiti Nui, certainly our most remote customer to date. We’ll have to start thinking about including the local Tahitian language in our packs in the future.

“The Tahiti order is an encouraging breakthrough for us at such an early stage in our development. We provided samples at the request of their buyer and an order followed shortly afterwards. The business is a great endorsement of the quality and flavours of our popcorn,” Michael adds.

The company, which has already signed up for SIAL food expo in Paris in October, has also won business with retailers in Canada, France, and Spain.

Cloud Corn has created a comprehensive range of sharing bags and smaller packs for its existing three-strong range – Salty, Sweet and salty, Sweet Chilli BBQ. The company, which employs four people, created the recipes for the snacks from extensive market research.

The popcorn is also gluten-free, high in fibre, suitable for vegans and made only from natural ingredients.

 

 

Picture:Getting ready for Tahiti, left, Jonny Murphy, local accounts manager, Elizabeth Curdy, operations manager, and Michael Heaslip, managing director, Cloud Corn, Belfast