Linden won best product for large company for the LIDL N. Ireland dry aged steak range and a second place ‘highly commended’ for their M&S lamb crown.

The dry- aged company within the group KETTYLE IRISH FOODS also picked up coveted NIFDA award for the innovative range of new products.

Overall a very successful night for the FANE VALLEY GROUP of companies.

The multi award-winning meat processor and retail manufacturer Linden Foods from Dungannon picked up the ‘Best Product’ award and a second placed ‘Highly Commended’ for their innovative and delicious products at the recent NIFDA awards.

“To win such a prestigious award in front of our industry peers and colleagues was a real honour. We have a tremendous team at Linden and Kettyle and we work really hard to develop and produce the best quality, innovative and delicious products for our customers. We are very excited that our LIDL N. Ireland dry aged steak range won this NIFDA award. This premium steak product is a family favourite across the province, because of its taste and price and the fact it is local beef from our local farmers.” Commented Jacqueline McNally – Senior Retail Account Manager

On Thursday 6 April, Comber Farmers’ Market will be celebrating Spring by welcoming ‘Alice in Comberland’ to the town and planning all other sorts of curious goings on!

Comber has a lot to offer for the discerning explorer, especially the recently awarded Best NI Local Market.
The award winning artisan food event will have everything needed for the perfect Easter feast and tasty treats as gifts for friends and family over the holidays.

Traders at the market will have the very finest array of meats, fruit and vegetables, jams and chutneys, home baked goods and breads, cheeses, speciality teas, sauces and syrups, seasonal plants, chocolate, sticky toffee puddings, free range eggs, granola, raw Jersey milk and more – all produced in Northern Ireland.

Comber Farmers’ Market organiser and Mayor of Ards and North Down, Alderman Deborah Girvan is thrilled that the market continues to grow in popularity with more and more visitors attending every month.

“As word spreads about the quality local produce available every month at Comber Farmers’ Market, we are finding a significant increase in visitor numbers to our award winning event. It is a testament to the hard work that volunteers from the community put in to making the market happen, that it is becoming such a popular attraction, bringing people from far and wide to the town of Comber.”

Comber Farmers’ Market is held on the first Thursday of every month in the car park at St Marys Church in Comber Square from 9am to 1.30pm. Car parking can be found at Parkway on Killinchy Street or in 1st Comber Presbyterian car park on High Street.

For further information on the popular market go to www.combermarket.co.uk or find Comber Farmers’ Market on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.

Entries are officially open for this year’s British Cheese Awards, to be held at the Royal Bath & West Show in Somerset on 31st May

As well as the Supreme Champion, the Reserve Champion, Country Awards and the eight Main Category Awards, this year’s event sees 13 Special Awards, with a new Best Specialist Cheesemaker Award brought into the fold.

The 2016 competition had over 900 entries from 148 cheesemakers, with cheese entered from over 54 different countries across the UK and Ireland.

For 2017, 70 judges will work their way through 136 classes of cheese in nine categories. Judges score the cheeses on presentation, texture, aroma, flavour and balance, and depending on the scores that each cheese is given, gold, silver or bronze medals are awarded.

A British Cheese Marquee will also be in operation, where British cheesemakers who have entered the awards can sell their products to visitors of the event. As well as purchase cheeses directly from producers, visitors can attend cheese tasting events and talks throughout the day.

For details on how to enter the awards visit britishcheeseawards.com

Article written by Food NI CEO Michele Shirlow for Farm Week 23rd March 2017

We launched ‘Taste the Greatness’, our new strategy for the next five years to build on the resounding success of Year of Food and Drink during 2016. The new strategy, presented to processors, retailers, government representatives, especially our colleagues in Invest NI, and other supporters of local food and drink, aims to drive our most important industry forward in Northern Ireland and also in Britain and international markets.

Our vision is “a thriving local market that is the seedbed for the food and drink stories of tomorrow”. Our commitment in Food NI is to showcase them on “a world-class platform to create standout and credibility within and far beyond our borders”. Our mission is to tell these stories and create a name for ourselves nationally and internationally that underpins and supports all the excellence that is emerging from these shores”.

We look forward to continuing to support Invest NI on measures to boost export sales especially in Britain and to assisting Tourism NI in promoting food and drink as part of the tourism message.

Interestingly this re-iteration of our strategic focus on promoting our food and drink professionally here and abroad coincides with a recent report by GSI, a supply chain body in Britain, which highlighted a growing trend towards authentic local food and drink among consumers concerned about provenance and local heritage, two of the strongest features underpinning our produce.

It found that: “Heritage, provenance, and traceability are no longer nice-to-haves but increasingly important factors that can make the difference between where consumers choose to spend their money.” Smaller companies were benefiting most from the trend towards local food and drink. Craft beers and gins had become among the most important developments in the drink category. This is replicated, of course, in Northern Ireland where we have a thriving craft beer, cider, and gin sector.

Two of our smaller producers, MacIvor’s In Portadown and Tempted in Lisburn last week won medals in the International Brewing and Cider Awards in Britain.

As I’ve written many times in the past, Britain is a market of huge potential for our food and drink producers. There are some 65 million mouths to feed there in a marketplace which is still only around 64 per cent self-sufficient in food products.

Currently, Britain imports around £40 billion in food and drink and exports less than £20 million. As a result, the food deficit is huge. A slice of this would be tremendously beneficial for the Northern Ireland.

A key element in our new strategy is to take the message about just how great our food and drink really is to Britain….and then beyond. Our work will be focused on helping to preserve family farming, on celebrating our world-class ingredients and promoting the explosion of authentic and innovative producers.

As Taste the Greatness says “it’s putting greatness on plates and in glasses”.
We aim “to campaign for and champion Northern Ireland produce and to increase national standout for Northern Ireland food and drink by 2020”. And it’s an objective we are confident can – and will – be achieved.
I believe that Food NI is perfectly positioned in terms of knowledge and experience in the industry here and has the expertise especially in digital technology to take Northern Ireland food and drink to the next level as a driver of marketing and communications activity, a networking resource hub and a source of expert food knowledge.

Article written by Sam Butler

Islander Kelp, a small business from Northern Ireland, has been shortlisted for the Future Food Award in this year’s prestigious BBC Food and Farming Awards.

Islander’s kelp is grown in a Marine Conservation area off the Rathlin coastline, near Ballycastle in county Antrim. The small company was formed by Kate Burns, a business consultant with vast experience in sea vegetables, and son Benji McFall, a fisherman on the remote island.

From starting off the kelp plants in its nursery to packing our fresh kelp products; it all takes place in their facility on Rathlin Island.

Once they harvest it from their organic farm the kelp is kept fresh and never dried. They blanch it to bring out its vibrant colour and remove unnecessary salt and then freeze it to allow for a one-year shelf-life. Their kelp products include noodle cut, tagliatelle cut, salad cut, minced and whole leaf and they also make kelp pesto with over 60 per cent. kelp.

The BBC Food & Farming Awards were launched in 2000, to mark the 20th anniversary of Radio 4’s The Food Programme. The mission statement then (which remains true to this day) was “to honour those who have done most to promote the cause of good food”.

The Future Food award recognises cutting-edge innovation and pioneering work that could influence how the UK’s food will be grown, distributed and sold in future. The award is for an ambitious and ground-breaking idea found within the food supply chain; from initiatives by national retailers and major food and drink manufacturers to new models being put into practice by farmers and producers.

The first judging team included Derek Cooper, the founding presenter of the Food Programme. Subsequent judges have come from a cross-section of the food world – chefs, academics, retail analysts, writers and campaigners.
Originally comprising seven categories, the number has increased to nine to reflect changes in British food culture, new ideas, businesses and trends (for example Best Drinks Producer was added in 2010 to reflect the renaissance in British brewing, cider making and distilling.)

Once the judges receive the nominations (thousands come in from every region in the UK) they select a short list of three finalists in each category which has to be signed off by the entire judging panel.
Working in pairs the judges travel to meet their chosen finalists (over the years this has involved visits ranging from the Isles of Scilly to the Isle of Islay).

A few weeks later, after all the visits have been completed, the team gathers at the final judges’ meeting; stories are exchanged in detail, businesses explained and flavours described. The panel, working as a team, decide on the eventual winners.

Article written by Sam Butler

Mac Ivors Cider, one of Ireland’s leading craft cider producers, launched its award winning Traditional Dry Cider in Paris during the recent St Patrick’s Day celebrations.

The county Armagh based cider producer, which sells its cider through 1,000 outlets in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland gave Paris a taste of Armagh’s famous apples.

Pallets of Traditional Dry arrived a few weeks ago with French distributor C-Bev which will be importing and distributing the dry cider to wholesalers all over France.

To mark its arrival for St Patrick’s Day, a tasting event was hosted in WH Smith in Paris close to Jardin des Tuileries and the Louvre.

Lucie Niffle, of C-Bev, who hosted the tasting, said: “This is so exciting now to have Mac Ivors Traditional Dry here in Paris for a launch especially on St Patrick’s Day. This Irish cider tastes great and is so popular in Ireland so this is a perfect time for us to launch.

“WH Smith is the biggest and oldest English bookstore in Paris. They have a grocery shop dedicated to UK and Ireland products and have just opened a new tearoom for brunch and lunch. This store is very much appreciated by the Parisian people who will no doubt also greatly appreciate Mac Ivors Traditional Dry which is now available for purchase in the grocery area and the restaurant.

“This is very exciting for people in France as the apples in Armagh are world famous and now we can taste this fantastic product here in France.”

Greg MacNeice, the cider maker and fifth generation apple grower, said: “We had a great week because our launch in Paris came days after we were awarded three gold medals in the International Cider and Brewing awards 2017.
“My mum is French and we used to drink gorgeous French cidre when I was growing up and I couldn’t understand, what with all the gorgeous apples here in Armagh, why we didn’t have an equivalent.

“And we are now bringing our great cider to France where my relatives will be loving how we are sharing our heritage.”