YouTube Star Digs Comber Mash

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Celebrity Chef and YouTube star, Food Busker has come to Northern Ireland to create a mash-up of traditional local food in his street food style.  John Quilter, aka the Food Busker, has over 130,000 subscribers on his YouTube channel, a joint venture with Jamie Oliver, and has been in town this week to cook up a feast with Comber’s Mash Direct.

The Food Busker concept is simple – he cooks up fresh ingredients on the streets and then guesses how much passersby would be willing to pay for his street food dishes – quite a challenge in Belfast!  This week he has been cooking in the fields at Mash Direct on the shores of Strangford Lough as well as in St. George’s Market and Cathedral Quarter to take the humble side dish of mashed potato into the street food craze.

The success of the Northern Irish Year of Food and Drink in 2016 has led to an increase in celebrity chefs making the journey across here to enjoy our local produce.  With the Comber Potato Festival falling this week, it was the perfect time for one of the UK’s fastest growing YouTube channels to see why spuds are on trend.

Mash Direct’s Marketing Director, Jack Hamilton, said “Northern Ireland is on the food map more than ever so it is no surprise that more big broadcasters are making the short hop across to our fields.  At Mash Direct we are always looking for innovative new ways to show our customers where their vegetables are coming from every week.  As a six generation family farm, we wanted to challenge Food Busker to bring champ into the street food market and we look forward to taking this to the streets of London shortly.”

Creamy Fish Pie Bites with Fondue at St George’s Market

Recreate John’s dish at home with the Creamy Fish Pie Bites Recipe.

Hillstown Brewery says ‘cheers’ to Tesco

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Northern Irish Craft Beer Company Secures £90k Listing with Tesco NI

The Antrim based drinks company, Hillstown Brewery, has secured a listing with Tesco Northern Ireland that will see the leading retailer stock an extended range of its handcrafted beer in stores across the province, with sales of more than £90K forecasted for the first year.

Based in Randalstown, Hillstown Brewery is a small-scale microbrewery that produces handcrafted, unique beer direct from the farm.  On the back of the new listing with Tesco NI, Hillstown Brewery has invested in a larger brewing system to keep up with the demand of its expanded consumer base.

Starting with an unusual introduction to the world of craft brewing, the food and drinks company started with the intention to brew beer to feed cattle in order to produce Wagyu beef; however the demand for its beer resulted in Hillstown Brewery making the finest craft beer for humans too.

The new listing with Tesco NI means that the retailer will now stock the full range of Hillstown Beers. The brand’s uniquely named Massey Red Ale, The Drunken Donkey Lager, and The Squealing Pig IPA will join The Spitting Llama Belgian Ale, The Goats Butt Wheat Beer and The Horny Bull Stout on Tesco shelves across Northern Ireland.

Jonathan McWhinney ‎Packaged Food Buying Manager, Tesco Northern Ireland, said “The Northern Irish craft beer culture continues to grow and, in support of that, Tesco now stocks over 30 local beers, ales and stout on its shelves in Northern Ireland. We find that our customers are increasingly willing to buy premium beers, especially if they are from local Northern Irish brands. We are delighted to stock these additional lines from Hillstown Brewery and expand our relationship with them, as they give our shoppers more flavours to choose from – while furthering our commitment to supporting local food and drink.”

The iconic Northern Irish beers from Hillstown Brewery are available from selected Tesco stores across Northern Ireland.

Tesco spends almost £590 million on Northern Irish products each year. It has over 1,200 local product lines on its shelves produced over by 90 suppliers and 6,000 farmers.  For more information on local Northern Irish food and recipes, visit www.tasteni.com, Tesco Northern Ireland’s new online magazine that celebrates local food and drink.

Applications Open For Foodie Destinations 2017

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If your town, village, suburb or region thinks you have a unique food tourism offering and would like to apply, please head over to www.foodiedestinations.ie where you will find the entry criteria as well as a template of the application form.

The Foodie Destinations 2017 winner will be a destination that actively promotes itself through joint promotional activities such as food festivals, gourmet trails or farmers’ markets as well as great dining experiences for locals and visitors alike. They will have established a local producer/supplier network which is utilised and promoted by local businesses. Plans for future growth and investment into the food and hospitality industry at a local level will also be taken into consideration by Foodie Destinations judges. Education, training, development and employment will be key components of the ultimate food Foodie Destination. Collaboration is of utmost importance – we want to see communities working towards a common goal.

All final applications must be submitted online via https://goo.gl/forms/HdLGs4h69RB9WQla2

The deadline for applications is 12 noon on Thursday 13th of July

If you have any queries at all please contact Emma on 00 353 (1) 677 9901 or media@rai.ie

Food NI CEO, Michele Shirlow, awarded MBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours 2017

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Food NI Chief Executive Michele Shirlow has been awarded an MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list, receiving the award in recognition for her services to the food and drink sector in Northern Ireland.

Michele is the driver behind Food NI, the membership organisation designed to connect the supply chain through a positive promotional message about Northern Ireland’s food and drink and was the driving force behind the successful Northern Ireland Year of Food & Drink 2016 campaign.

She was personally responsible for raising £800,000 private sector funding from retailers and industry to develop the ‘Northern Ireland – Good Food Is In Our Nature’ campaign. The success of this campaign led to the formation of Food NI.  She was tasked with setting up the new body, established on the recommendation of the Food Strategy Implementation Partnership (FSIP), and in 2007 was appointed inaugural Chief Executive.

From 2004 to 2011 Michele was Governor of Oakwood Integrated Primary School and a Member of their Finance & Recruitment Committee. Over the years she has been involved with extensive charity work, including donating food, cookery equipment and time to a number of not for profit organisations and charities, including Women’s Institute talks, Artisan Food Group talks, Charity Cookery Nights in aid of Northern Ireland Cancer Fund for Children, Open Farm Weekend, Women’s Groups and School Groups.

Following on from Year of Food and Drink 2016, Food NI recently announced a five-year plan to further promote Northern Ireland’s produce overseas and at home.  The ‘Taste the Greatness’ strategy is aimed at telling our quality food stories in an impactful, far-reaching and compelling way, by promoting Northern Ireland as a place where the greatness of our passion, people, places and produce will be heard on an international scale.

Food NI Chairman, John Best said, “On behalf of myself and the Food NI board, we are delighted that our Chief Executive Michele Shirlow has been awarded the MBE in the 2017 Birthday Honours.  We feel that this award is a very worthy recognition of her contribution to the N.I. agri-food and drink sector. Her commitment, passion and sheer determination has ensured that Food NI has become the lead organisation in promoting local produce and producers to consumers.

“As well as her central role in the Northern Ireland Year of Food and Drink, Michele’s other initiatives have included establishing restaurant weeks, assisting in the significant growth of food tour start-ups and working in partnership with local councils throughout Northern Ireland to promote food networks and events such as the Legenderry Food Festival and the BBC Good Food Show in Belfast” added John.

On hearing the news Michele commented.’ It has been an honour to work with Northern Ireland farmers, producers and restaurateurs over the last ten years, their enthusiasm and passion for what they do has made it a real pleasure. Thank you to all of the Board and all the team at FoodNI for their hard work. I feel hugely privileged to receive this award and want to thank everyone who worked to make the Year of Food and Drink such a success. ’

Mash Direct Gain New Deal Direct To The UK

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Mash Direct have landed a new deal with one of the UK’s biggest supermarket chains, Tesco.

An independent, family owned farming and food production enterprise launched by Martin and Tracy Hamilton in 2004 at their family farm, Mash Direct is the market leader in quality, convenient ‘field to fork’ vegetable and potato dishes ranging from traditional accompaniments of mashed potato and champ to complete ready-meals.
The company were named Company of the Year at the Food Manufacture Excellence Awards 2016 and won the SIAL Gold Innovation Award in the Middle East for their Crispy Vegetable Bakes, a first international award for the company.

The new deal will see five of Mash Direct’s products go into 73 Tesco stores across England starting on the 14th June 2017. 

Mash Direct are celebrating the opportunity of being showcased on the end of aisle in Tesco stores by launching their products with a special, introductory price of £1 per pack.

Already available in over 160 Tesco outlets across Scotland and Northern Ireland and an additional 130 stores in the Republic of Ireland, Mash Direct are setting the trend for convenient and healthy vegetable side-dishes.

Sales Director, Lance Hamilton said: “This is such a great opportunity for us to showcase the heritage varieties of vegetables on our family farm, grown specifically for their superior flavour. We already have a strong working relationship with Tesco and we are looking forward to building our reputation in these new stores.”

The five products launching into the Tesco stores from the 14th June are: Chilli Baby Bakes, Green Cabbage, Crispy Vegetable Bakes, Potato Croquettes and Potato Cakes, RRP £1 per pack.

Comber Earlies Food Festival Among Most Successful Local Food Festivals

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Column by Michele Shirlow for Farm Week

The good news for potato lovers is that the quality of New Season Comber Earlies, one of our three EU protected foods, is excellent and they are already in the shops. Our potato processing members are expecting a good season…and they deserve a decent return on their investment in time and other resources. This sets us up well for the annual Comber Earlies Food Festival on Saturday, now among the most successful and enjoyable of local food festivals.

Held in the square and the car park of St Mary’s Church of Ireland, the event attracts thousands of people from across County Down and Belfast who have an opportunity to sample the very best of local food and drink being handcrafted largely by dozens of artisan firms, most of them Food NI members.

This year the festival is hosting a delegation from the Mayor of Qrendi in Malta. Qrendi is a region which also celebrates its local potatoes and artisan foods. It’s highly encouraging that the council is collaborating internationally and comparing and contrasting how we promote the local produce of each region.

There’s also plenty to entertain youngsters visiting the show and lots of delicious street food. Plus an opportunity to see demonstrations from Paula McIntyre, Lucas Hollweg, Danny Millar and to spot Charles Campion who will be circulating among the crowd.

The historic Comber Early, harvested from farms within the area, of course, is the main attraction. It’s an important celebration which is helping to revive interest in earlies, the first of locally grown tubers, and potatoes in general. It’s an event I enjoy enormously and one Food NI has supported from the very start.

What’s also important about the annual festival is the focus it provides on how companies here are using potatoes to come up with innovative products that make it easier than ever before to include these in meals at home. Restaurants are also including Combers in their dishes and listing the potatoes on their menus, a practice we’ve been working strenuously through imaginative initiatives such as our chefs’ steering group, to encourage.

This practice is hugely important because it helps to create awareness of the variety of tasty food and drink now being produced here by an ever growing network of creative businesses, many of them deeply rooted on the family farms that we committed to promote and support in our Taste the Greatness strategic action plan for the growth of our most important industry over the next five years.

The Comber Earlies Food Festival is also the first in a series of similar events celebrating the quality and provenance of our excellent food and drink. The other EU protected foods – Lough Neagh Eels and Armagh Bramley Apples – will also be showcased over the summer and early autumn.

They are all worthy of your support, because the future of these and other local food and drink products is heavily dependent on support from local consumers. Comber Earlies certainly deserve as much popular support as possible, because growing the potatoes, to ensure they are available early in the summer, is expensive and margins tight. As a result, the number of growers has been declining over recent years and there are now fewer than 20 farms producing earlies. Reversing this decline is essential to protect this iconic local food.