Great Taste Awards 2017 On The Horizon

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Article by Michele Shirlow MBE for Farm Week

The annual Great Taste Awards will soon be upon us. I expect that we will hear from the UK Guild of Fine Food which local food and drink companies have met and exceeded the exacting standards set for the three categories on gold stars and the Top 50 UK Foods within the next two weeks.

The Supreme Champion title, won last year by Hannan Meats in Moira, Co Down, will be revealed at the beginning of September and ahead of the Speciality and Fine Food Fair at Olympia in London.

As I mentioned a few weeks ago, Food NI will be showcasing the best of Northern Ireland food and drink at the event. We are currently encouraging local companies to be part of this important presentation at the show which attracts thousands of trade buyers, making it a great route into the strategically important marketplace in Great Britain.

The Great Taste Awards is a hugely important competition for our companies and also for the wider Northern Ireland food and drink industry. And we’ve a great track record in the influential competition. Northern Ireland companies have won the supreme title on three separate occasions – McCartney’s Butchers and Deli in 2011 and Hannan Meats twice – 2012 and 2016 – and the only UK producer to do so. Hannan has also won more gold stars than any other company in the UK and Ireland. I am confident he can secure a hat trick, if not this year, in the not too distant future.

A host of smaller companies have also done extremely well in the coveted awards and have succeeded in securing prestigious business in Britain. Abernethy Butter of Dromore, for instance, gained three gold stars last year and is now on the menus of top hotels and restaurants in Britain.

The company, run by Will and Allison Abernethy, specialises in hand crafted butter, has also just announced business with the Spa Hotel in historic Tunbridge Wells and Yummy Stilton of Cropley Bishop, home of stilton cheese. Other local companies which have won three stars in recent years include Baronscourt Estate Venison from Omagh, Ewing’s Seafood of Belfast, Fermanagh’s Fivemiletown Cheese and Genesis Bakery of Magherafelt. Hundreds of other small companies have also gained gold stars, far too many to list here. They all merit great praise for the quality of their products and for their willingness to benchmark these with others from around the British Isles.

Other companies which have done well in the Great Taste Awards have gone forward to win major competitions in Britain and beyond. Mash Direct in Comber is a good example of a medium sized company which has pitched its products and overall professionalism against larger and often multinational competitors, winning the very prestigious UK Food Manufacturing Excellence Award last year and also the award for innovation at the big SIAL international food show in the Middle East. Moy Park in Craigavon also won the UK Food Manufacturing Excellence Award  the year preceding Mash Directs success. The Quiet Man Irish Whiskey from Derry won no fewer than four silver awards at this month’s International Spirits Challenge in London. Other local drinks companies such as Co Antrim’s Old Bushmills Whiskey, Shortcross Gin, Echlinville Distillery, Tempted Cider and MacIvor’s Cider has also been successful in international events.

As I mentioned earlier, taking part in major awards such as the Great Taste Awards is an important way companies can benchmark their products and processes against competitors particularly in Britain and RoI and improve their competitiveness. It helps improve business and also showcases Northern Ireland as a source of great food and drink, the latter being one of Food NI’s objectives in our Taste the Greatness action plan. Good luck to all the NI entrants awaiting award results.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hannan Meats and Top Chef Terry Laybourne Joins Forces For Steak Bar

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Northern Ireland’s multi- award winning Hannan Meats is part of a highly innovative butcher and steak bar being developed in Newcastle upon Tyne by top chef and restaurateur Terry Laybourne.

Laybourne’s unique Porterhouse Butcher and Grill Bar is an expansion of his 21 Hospitality Group within Fenwick Food Hall in the high-end retail complex in Newcastle city centre.

Terry Laybourne said: “This new venue has been driven by the positive response we’ve had to the Saltwater Fish Company which operates as a fish bar and fishmonger within Fenwick. We offer a premium product, treated with respect and cooked in front of customers who really engage with the process.”

Hannan Meats, based at Moira in county Down and current holder of the UK Great Taste Supreme Champion title, is supplying most of the meat to the Porterhouse Butcher and Grill. The award-winning beef is dry aged for up to 45 days in Himalayan salt chambers which give the meat a unique flavour and tenderness.

Top nationally renowned chefs turn to this beef because of its unique quality. Terry Laybourne has been working with Peter Hannan, the founder and managing director of Hannan Meats, and serving his Himalayan salt-aged beef from other restaurants within his 21 Hospitality Group for several years. However, this will be the first time such premium, restaurant quality beef will be available from a retail outlet in Newcastle and the North East. London’s Fortnum & Mason is the only other retailer to offer this beef in England.

Terry Laybourne added: “I have never come across beef that is so good and is of such consistent quality. This beef isn’t just different, it’s consistently better.

“Our chefs will treat all these premium meats with respect. They will work hand in hand with our butcher, taking a ‘we cook what we sell, we sell what we cook’ approach. Our meat and game is seasonal so both our butcher and dining menu will be constantly changing.”

Peter Hannan said: “We are delighted to be part of what is an immensely exciting and unique dining and retail experience in Newcastle. It’s an example of the smart culinary and catering ideas that we’ve come to expect from Terry. We’ve developed an excellent relationship with him over many years and look forward to continuing to work with him to offer consumers in Newcastle and the wider North East supreme quality meats from our Himalayan Salt Chambers. It’s a marvellous boost for us and also for the network of Northern Ireland farmers who supply us with exceptional grass-fed beef.”

Porterhouse Butcher and Grill will offer casual dining at the counter, along with seated restaurant space. There will be counter seating for around 14 people, table seating for 30, an open kitchen, creative chefs and knowledgeable service staff.

Meat will be cooked in front of customers using a charcoal fired Josper grill, ensuring a lively, dynamic environment throughout the day. Diners will have the opportunity to see and discuss how premium meat should be prepared and cooked.

Porterhouse Butcher and Grill will employ up to nine kitchen and front of house staff when it opens in early August.

For Fenwick, this sees the introduction of a dynamic, new offer within the Food Hall. Store director Rhys McKinnell said: “This new hybrid retail/restaurant concept epitomises everything Fenwick Food Hall stands for – highest quality produce, exceptional cookery and craft skills plus premium service, which together create an elevated customer experience.”

Porterhouse Butcher and Grill will source best quality produce from a multitude of small, specialist producers including Steve Ramshaw and his Northumberland Wagyu beef and Middle White pork from Ravensworth Grange Farm.

Big hitting red wines will feature on the carefully selected wine list along with some classic cocktails.

Porterhouse Butcher and Grill will follow Fenwick store hours, with the dining space open 11am daily.

Terry Laybourne’s 21 Hospitality Group operates his flagship restaurant, 21, along with Caffe Vivo and The Broad Chare pub on Newcastle’s Quayside; and Café 21 and Saltwater Fish Company within the Fenwick department store. Terry acted as a consultant to Fenwick helping advise on the overall Food Hall multi-million pound redevelopment in 2015.

Hickory Dickory Smoke To New Broighter Oil

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Rapeseed oil producer Broighter Gold has launched a new Hickory Smoked product.

The company, which is based on a family farm near Limavady in county Derry, developed the new rapeseed oil following requests from chefs and also to meet the growing market trend towards smoked flavours.

The new Hickory Smoked Rapeseed Oil, also geared towards the BBQ season, is available in 250ml bottes at a recommended retail price of £3.99.

Leona Kane, managing director of the multi-award winning Broighter Gold Rapeseed Oil, commenting on the new culinary oil, says: “We’ve had a number of approaches over recent years from leading chefs for a smoked product and have been working to perfect the recipe for some time. We’ve taste tested the new oil and received very positive reviews from professional chefs as well as home cooks.

“Our research and contacts with chefs indicated a developing interest in oils that add a smoked flavour. The new oil is the outcome of extensive NPD work. It’s also an ideal oil for barbequed dishes,” she adds.

The new oil joins Broighter Gold’s successful range of original Liquid Gold and flavour infused rapeseed oils such as Basil, Chilli, Rosemary and Garlic, Lemon, Thai, and Black Truffle. The family business sells its oils throughout Northern Ireland as well as Great Britain, the Republic of Ireland and France.

Formed in 2010 as a farm diversification project, Broighter Gold has won a string of UK Great Taste and Blas na hEireann Irish National Food awards over the past five years. The company was also won the prestigious Flavours of the Neighbourhood, a UK competition launched by the Hotel Indigo Group, part of the global Intercontinental Hotel Group chain, to find the best artisan food product.

The culinary oils are based on oilseed rape grown on Broglasco, the Kane family farm, in Myroe, near Limavady, which is on the edge of Lough Foyle just above sea level on reclaimed land.  The arable farm covers 800 acres – 180-acres are used to grow rapeseed.

The fertile ground grows high yielding crops of wheat, barley, oilseed and potatoes. Ireland’s greatest find of gold artefacts from the Iron Age of the 1st century BC was found on the farm and is now held by the national Museum of Ireland.

In addition to the development of rapeseed oil, the company has expanded into industrial tourism by developing an exhibition centre through the international EconoMusee network that enables visitors to see how the oil is produced and used in cooking.

Making Brexit Work For Farmers In Northern Ireland

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Michael Gove, recently appointed Minister at the Department for the Environment and Rural Affairs, pledged to “make Brexit work for farmers” but his remarks about a likely increase in cheap food imports will have concerned many food producers across the UK.

While there’s no clear approach for farmers yet, he made it clear that UK food producers will have to stand or fall on “high quality food with a provenance and a supply chain that is guaranteed”.

It’s quite clear that our food and drink producers, especially the smaller enterprises, will need assistance to raise their game in Great Britain, our most important marketplace, when it is opened up to competitors from around the world in the post-Brexit era. No sector will be more directly affected by Brexit than our food and drink and the farmers who supply high quality ingredients with provenance.

The minister’s commitment is to “ensure people have access to a wide range of food choice”. As well as producers here finding “a wider choice” in Britain, they are likely to face new competitors in local shops. And shoppers, faced with a greater variety of products, could find it increasingly difficult to identify and purchase food and drink from here. This a serious challenge to what is Northern Ireland’s biggest manufacturing industry and one which sustains the employment of around 100,000 people.

Food NI is committed and well placed to help our companies to develop business in Britain and thereby ensure the long-term sustainability of their business. We have the contacts, knowledge and marketing expertise to help ensure the continued success of Northern Ireland food and drink in Britain. What we need to achieve this is greater support, particularly in terms of funding.

The talk of greater opportunities in the global marketplace means very little to most of the smaller enterprises which dominate the food and drink industry here. The emerging trade deals being talked about in Westminster could even take up to 10 years to finalise. Little comfort for an industry that could see its key home market in Britain undermined.

Some of our smaller companies have gained a foothold in EU markets that are easily accessed such as the Netherlands, which will be threatened by a so-called ‘hard’ Brexit ending tariff-free access to the EU. Bigger companies especially meat processors, as well as their farm suppliers, could also be hit by such a withdrawal.  The government appears committed to a complete withdrawal from these markets through its determination to end membership both of the single market and the customs union.

The EU is an important market for red meat exports, which makes the retention of tariff-free access to this huge market essential. Other international markets especially China and the US are not available at this stage and will be highly competitive when eventually they open their ports to us.

A priority for Northern Ireland must be to ensure sufficient resources to help our companies grow in Britain, the most accessible market for smaller businesses. We set out our stall in our Taste the Greatest strategy document which aims to ensure the continuing success of the industry here by stepping up initiatives that ensure consumers are able to identify and purchase more local products and to achieve ‘standout’ recognition in Britain for our products. Greater sales here and in Britain will have a very positive impact on producers and farmers

Northern Irish steak from Hannan Meats among the world’s best

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Hannan Meats has won two gold medals at the industry’s most prestigious and influential World Steak Challenge in London. The awards consolidates the Northern Ireland company’s standing as among the world’s very best and most innovative steak producers.

Based at Moira in county Down, Hannan Meats gained golds for its Glenarm Shorthorn fillet and ribeye steaks from a distinguished international panel of expert judges.

Hannan Meats also collected two golds in last year’s awards for its steak that’s aged in the world’s biggest complex of Himalayan salt ageing chambers at its factory in Northern Ireland.

The company, founded and run by Peter Hannan, among the most respected figures in the international meat industry, has twice won the supreme champion title in the UK Great Taste Awards, the most recent being last year when it gained the top award for another Glenarm Shorthorn beef.

Hannan Meats was among entries from 17 countries in five continents and more than 100 meat products. Competition was intense. Each steak was put through a series of stringent tests by the exacting  judging panel.

The World Steak Challenge is organised by William Reed Business Media (WRBM) – publisher of international news website GlobalMeatNews.com and UK trade publication Meat Trades Journal. WRBM also is behind a number of renowned global competitions, including the World’s 50 Best Restaurants and the International Wine Challenge.

The idea behind the competition is to offer producers of steak from across the globe the chance to benchmark their products against their competitors, and to offer a platform for sales of top-quality steak to be increased both within domestic markets, but also overseas.

In addition to this, the challenge also aims promote steak to consumers and celebrate the joy and benefits of eating it as part of a healthy balanced diet.

The winners were announced at a VIP reception and BBQ at the Magic Roundabout in London

A month of Sundaes from Mullins Ice Cream!

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Pete Snodden and Rebecca McKinney have the scoop on a ‘cool’ ice cream parlour hitting Belfast this July

Local radio personalities Pete Snodden and Rebecca McKinney were in Belfast today to get the scoop on the hotly anticipated Mullins Ice Cream Parlour, ‘popping-up’ in Victoria Square to celebrate National Ice Cream month.

The ice cream parlour with a twist will open its doors on 1st July for one month only, serving up delicious luxury Mullins ice-cream and giving customers the chance to personalise their very own creations.

Ice cream lovers visiting Victoria Square will have just four weeks to sample the decadent treats on offer, guaranteed to surprise and delight. The limited-edition menu allows customers to enjoy their choice of Mullins ice-cream and toppings, served on top of a chunky chocolate cookie or a sugar-dusted doughnut.

Limitless flavour combinations and tantalising toppings, from candy floss and caramel popcorn to sea salt fudge and a range of biscuit crumbles, will top off the indulgent ice cream experience.

Speaking at the launch of the Mullins Ice Cream Parlour, Nigel Cairns, Commercial Director Dale Farm Ice Cream said: 

“Mullins, part of the Dale Farm family, is one of Northern Ireland’s best-loved ice cream brands and we are delighted to create a one-of-a-kind experience at Victoria Square this summer. We hope customers will enjoy combining locally produced Mullins ice cream with their own choice of extras.

“Innovation is always on the menu for Mullins, with exciting new flavours being whipped up every year, and this pop-up parlour is our latest treat for customers. We have combined the nostalgia of an ice cream parlour with a range of modern, premium flavours and toppings inspired by culinary trends.

“And whilst the parlour will be gone at the end of the July, the good news is you can find Mullins ice cream in stores across Northern Ireland all year long!” said Nigel. 

Michelle Greeves, Victoria Square Centre Manager added: 

“We are delighted to welcome a much-loved local brand into Victoria Square for the month of July and are certain our customers will relish the spectacle and fun of the Mullins Ice Cream Parlour. Mullins is a welcome addition to the 80 brands already available within Victoria Square and this is a unique opportunity for us to host the ‘must taste’ treat of the summer.”

The Mullins Ice Cream Parlour will be located on the ground floor, outside House of Fraser, in Victoria Square, Belfast, throughout the month of July. The parlour will include a decadent ice cream bar where patrons can personalise their own ice cream treats and a vibrant photo wall, providing the perfect backdrop for #MakeMyMullins snaps.