Enter Your Cheese In The World Cheese Awards

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What are the World Cheese Awards?

Celebrating its 30th year, the World Cheese Awards is the largest cheese competition on the planet, attracting 3,000 entries from 30 different countries.
With an international judging panel made up of 250 experts, including retailers, buyers, cheesemakers and food commentators, and results promoted to cheese lovers across the globe, the World Cheese Awards gives cheese from six continents the chance to shine on the world stage in front of a truly international audience of experts and consumers.
Judges work in teams of four, identifying any cheeses worthy of a bronze, silver or gold award.

Following a record-breaking year in San Sebastián, the World Cheese Awards returns to London in 2017. Taking place at Taste of London Festive Edition at Tobacco Dock on Friday 17 November, the world’s finest cheeses will be judged just in time for Christmas and you can be involved.

Entry Details

Please find details below on how to enter this year’s World Cheese Awards.

1. Enter online at http://gff.co.uk/awards/world-cheese-awards/ (early entry is recommended).
2. Pay via your online account.
3. Wait for Delivery Instructions via email and deliver to your allocated consolidation point. (Sample sizes will be specified in this communication and will range between 500g – 2kg, unless the whole cheese needs to be staged).
4. Check your results: If you win an award, use WORLD CHEESE AWARDS promotional material to let all your customers know and make sure your stockists are using your award to sell your cheese.

Key Dates & Costs

Please take note of the following dates before entering this year’s World Cheese Awards.

11 October: Closed for entries (unless entry cap reached before this date)
November: Cheese delivered to consolidation points
17 November: World Cheese Awards judging day
18-19 November: World Cheese Awards talks and tours at Taste of London: Festive Edition

Entry Cost: £45 (+VAT) per entry

You will be emailed delivery labels. Please do not send samples before you receive these.

Bank of Ireland Open Farm Weekend Farmers Praised For Efforts

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Farmers who participated in Bank of Ireland Open Farm Weekend 2017 were officially thanked for their efforts this summer at an event held at CAFRE Greenmount last night.

Sixteen farms opened their gates and fields on Saturday 17th June whilst on Sunday 18th June, 13 farms participated across Northern Ireland. Farms also opened their gates to Primary School children on Friday 16th June allowing pupils to learn more about the farm to fork journey of their food.

Bank of Ireland Open Farm Weekend Chairman and UFU President Barclay Bell said, “We were blessed with wonderful weather over the weekend which helped to bring out the public and many families enjoyed getting out and about on our farms. We know their experiences were positively enhanced by the effort the farmers went to arranging displays, demonstrations and activities to help adults and young people understand the industry and get a better appreciation of where their food comes from.

“We owe a big thank you to all our farmers and their families, for the time they devoted to getting their premises ready for the public. They all make a wonderful effort to ensure members of the general public have safe and informative visits, enhanced with warm hospitality via food and drink tastings.

“From our visitor evaluation feedback, we know that 42% of our visitors attended BOIOFW for the first time, so in our sixth year, it is great we are still attracting new audiences. Many visitors visited multiple farms giving them insights into various sectors. An overwhelming majority said they would visit a farm next year proving there is a huge demand for this initiative that keeps growing from strength to strength.”

Agri Manager for Bank of Ireland UK, Richard Primrose, added, “As title sponsor, we want to add our thanks to this year’s hosts of Bank of Ireland Open Farm Weekend. Once again, our visitor feedback was extremely positive with 69% rating their visit a 10/10 and 17% 9/10. This is a reflection of the enthusiasm the farmers showed in making them feel welcome and giving them free and transparent access to the agri-food supply chain.”

During the evening, farmers were presented with a commemorative plaque to display on their premises. Planning is underway for the 2018 event with dates confirmed as Friday 15th (schools day), Saturday 16th and Sunday 17th June.

Bank of Ireland Open Farm Weekend is delivered by Ulster Farmers’ Union and is sponsored by Bank of Ireland UK and supported by The Prince’s Countryside Fund, NFU Mutual and ASDA. The weekend would not be possible without the help and resources of Young Farmers’ Clubs of Ulster, CAFRE, DAERA, the Northern Ireland Food and Drink Association, Food NI and the Northern Ireland Regional Food Programme.

For more information, visit the website www.openfarmweekend.com. You can also follow on Twitter @BOIopenfarm and like Open Farm Weekend on Facebook.

Brunel’s Restaurant Announces Exciting New Chapter

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AWARD-WINNING Newcastle restaurant, Brunel’s, has just announced the relocation of its premises to a larger, 70-seater restaurant, leading to the creation of 15 new jobs.  Due to open in mid-October, a significant sum has been invested in the new restaurant, with upwards of £100,000 allocated to creating a state-of-the-art kitchen.

Retaining its original name of Brunel’s, named after the engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel – designer of the SS Great Britain which ran aground in Dundrum Bay in 1846 – the restaurant will upgrade from its current 40-seater capacity to occupy a 2,700 sq. ft unit located the Downs Road in Newcastle, employing 25 staff in total.

The venture sees Head Chef and Director, Paul Cunningham team up with newly-appointed Co-Director and General Manager, Fiona Davey for this new chapter for Brunel’s.

Speaking about the decision to relocate, Head Chef, Paul Cunningham, explains:

“Since opening in 2014, Brunel’s has established a loyal clientele, who enjoy fine and innovative dishes, created from the best of local and seasonal produce.  As we built our reputation for creating good food from the heart and our customer-base grew, it became apparent that we needed more space so when the opportunity  arose to move to a new location that was more central, and larger in size, we knew that it was time for the next chapter for Brunel’s.” 

Co-Director and General Manager, Fiona Davey, adds: “I am thrilled to have joined Brunel’s at this pivotal point in its journey. Having worked in the hospitality industry for many years, in some of County Down’s finest restaurants, the time was right to return to my hometown and be part of this exciting new phase.

“Aligned with Brunel’s reputation for exceptional food, we have paid great attention to detail throughout our new restaurant. From our incredible menu, to the stylish interiors and high spec of the kitchen, we’ll be offering an unforgettable dining experience to customers, both old and new.”
 

Officially opening in mid-October, Brunel’s will feature an open plan kitchen, a dedicated cocktail bar and will offer an exclusive list of wines that are unavailable in any other restaurant in Northern Ireland.

Brunel’s restaurant & wine bar will be open seven days a week from 14th October 2017.

For further information, please visit www.brunelsrestaurant.co.uk, facebook.com/EatAtBrunels or call the restaurant on 028 437 23951. 

Enjoy A Fresh Approach To Taste With Tesco

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The Tesco Taste Festival returns for its 9th year to Belfast’s Custom House Sq (22nd – 24th September). Fresh faces to this year’s event, Jawbox Gin joins Tesco, Food NI and Festival regular, Graham’s Bakery in some food art fun, created with local vegetables from Gilfresh and Roy Lyttle.

The event brings together more than 60 suppliers to showcase their quality fayre and expects more than 25,000 visitors over the weekend.

Pictured l-r: Tesco Northern Ireland Commercial Manager Stephen Magill, Food NI’s Operations Manager Lindsay Curran, Jawbox’s founder Gerry White, Food NI’s placement student Mollie Gault and Grahams Bakery Sales and Marketing Manager Timothy Graham.

Get Ready, Set, Go! Loaves and Fishes Returns To Ballywalter Park

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Foodies, families and friends alike can prepare to have their taste buds tantalised when the Loaves and Fishes Food Fair returns to Ballywalter Park on Sunday 8 October (2017).

The private estate of Lord and Lady Dunleath, which is not normally open to the public, will play host to over 20 local artisan food and drink producers – including the new addition of a pop-up bar showcasing local cask ales, craft beers and spirits from Copeland Gin and Harland Wines – with top chefs Stevie Toman of Michelin starred ‘OX’ in Belfast and Danny Millar, Executive Chef for The Parson’s Nose, Hillsborough, Balloo House, Killinchy, and The Poacher’s Pocket in Lisbane, will be amongst those providing cooking demonstrations.

Worshipful Master fishmonger, Hal Dawson will also provide a class in how to perfectly fillet a fish while Dearbhla Reynolds, one of Ireland’s foremost fermentistas and the healthy gut activist and published author behind The Cultured Club, will also give a demonstration and Lady Dunleath will teach visitors how to make Sourdough bread made using home-grown wheat crop.

Fun, food-themed activities will keep children entertained and guided tours of the estate’s Victorian walled garden will also be available.

Loaves and Fishes is organised by Ards and North Down Borough Council in partnership with Seafish and with support from Food NI.

It is part of Seafood Week – an annual campaign aimed at promoting the consumption of seafood.

Speaking about the upcoming event, Chief Executive of Ards and North Down Borough Council, Stephen Reid, commented:

“After the resounding success of last year’s premiere event, the Council is proud to bring it back for a second year.  Loaves and Fishes celebrates the fantastic range of foods and drinks produced in Ards and North Down – many of which have won prestigious awards – and supports these valuable local businesses.”

Dr Lynn Gilmore, Seafish Northern Ireland Manager, said:

“We are delighted to work with Ards and North Down Borough Council and FoodNI to celebrate local food and in particular seafood at the Loaves and Fishes. The Loaves and Fishes is one of a number of exciting things taking place across the UK during Seafood Week and we’d encourage everyone to get involved. The aim Seafood Week is to get more people, to eat more seafood, more often and is being promoted by Fish is the Dish, our Seafish consumer campaign.”

NI Chefs Visit Achill Island To Experience Gourmet Greenway

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A group of Taste of Ulster chefs and CEO Michele Shirlow recently travelled to Achill Island, County Mayo to experience the Gourmet Greenway. What grew out of a cycle path now includes a complementary tourism initiative encompassing producers, restaurants and hotels along the Mayo coast of the Wild Atlantic Way.

Chefs from Ballyrobin Country Lodge, Antrim, Ocho Tapas, Portrush, Brunel’s, Newcastle, Millbrook Lodge Hotel, Ballynahinch, La Mon House Hotel and the Belvedere, both in Belfast were accompanied by Michele Shirlow, food writer, Sam Butler and Great British Menu Chef, Eddie Attwell.

They had a tasting menu at Mulranny Park Hotel before travelling on to stay overnight on the island. The meal by Head Chef Chamila Mananwatta included Padraig Gannon’s oysters, salmon from Clare Island and Gerry Hasset and a tasting of Achill Mountain Lamb. They also tasted some local Oilean Eadaigh craft beers.

The next morning the group saw sheep shearing by Martin Calvey of Calvey’s Achill Mountain Lamb. The family business centres around the free-range rearing and onsite butchery of Mayo Blackface Ewes. The animals graze all over the island munching on heather and seashore grasses which give the meat a superb flavour.

There followed a trip to the headquarters of Achill Island Sea Salt. The O’Malley family revived the island tradition of harvesting Atlantic salt from local shores. They started out in their kitchen and now have a new facility on the island. The visitors went home with samples of the soft, pristine white flakes.

Lunch followed a trip to the seashore to see where the lambs are finished before slaughter. On the menu was traditional Lamb Belly – a pudding made with lamb’s blood and a slow-roasted lamb shank.

There was time for a visit to the Achill Mountain Lamb abattoir and butchers in Keel where they saw Grainne Calvey get carcasses ready for Ashford Castle, Cong, Co. Mayo.

“It was fantastic to see how this lamb is all reared, slaughtered and butchered on the island with the maximum freedom and the minimum of stress. I had heard how good it was, but seeing it in its natural environment and then tasting it confirmed to me that I had to get it on the menu at Ballyrobin” said Head Chef, Jim Mulholland.

“I think we should be doing more trips like this across the island to connect with the hardworking suppliers and families who make Irish food what it is”.