I read with considerable interest the comments of Kevin Sheridan, chair of the Taste Council of Ireland and co-owner of Sheridan’s Cheesemongers in Dublin, at the council’s recent summer school. He remarked that specialty food producers, along with family farms and fishing communities, offer” a real and sustainable future for Ireland’s rural communities”.

Sheridan added that “the rich natural resources of Ireland’s lands and sea, together with our people’s ingenuity and creativity, are the perfect mix for a thriving food based rural economy”.
Interestingly, his comments coincided with an important Mintel Artisan Food Ireland 2016 report on the industry showing that these companies already contribute more than £600 million to the Irish economy and projecting that the sector will grow by around 10 per cent by 2021.

I am convinced that there are significant opportunities to grow the speciality sector here in terms of greater business especially in neighbouring markets such as Great Britain and the Republic of Ireland.
Year of Food and Drink has enabled us to showcase the contribution being made by speciality food and drink companies to the wider Northern Ireland economy and especially to rural communities which are seeking to ensure a sustainable future. I’ve seen impressive smaller businesses with smart ideas and innovative products at agricultural shows, food fairs, and other community events across Northern Ireland.

And what Year of Food and Drink is also encouraging is a greater engagement between these businesses and the predominately rural communities in which they are located. Connecting producers with local communities, as well as with consumers in the Greater Belfast region, to a much greater extent than ever before was one of the key objectives of Year of Food and Drink. I think it’s fair to say that this has largely been achieved. We will build on this next year and in years to come.
Food is now seen as a key driver of faster economic growth. It is, after all, our biggest and most successful manufacturing industry and one with substantial growth potential in terms of its contribution to local communities in boosting employment opportunities and overall economic wellbeing. It is market-focused and innovation-led because speciality companies, in particular, are well aware of the need to set themselves apart in fast moving markets.

The strong connection between food and tourism, another growth industry, is now well recognised especially by Tourism NI and Tourism Ireland. Tourism NI, of course, has embraced the industry and is driving Year of Food and Drink here and in international terms with tremendous enthusiasm and great creativity.
Year of Food and Drink has brought food and tourism together very effectively and this collaboration is providing greater opportunities throughout Northern Ireland and particularly in rural communities. Much of our food and drink production, both large and small scale, is carried out in these communities. It’s their business. Their future. And, of course, our future.

I believe that our rural areas are becoming more dynamic, thriving, prosperous and harmonious communities by being encouraged and supported to develop and supply the safe and wholesome food and drink consumers here and abroad increasingly demand. We have something special here in Northern Ireland in terms of the burgeoning quality food and drink that we are now able to provide.

Great Taste Supreme Champion 2016 is awarded to Glenarm Shorthorn 4 Rib Roast from Hannan Meats

From 10,000 entries in Great Taste this year, the prestigious honour of Great Taste Supreme Champion 2016 has been awarded to Hannan Meats’ Glenarm Shorthorn 4 Rib Roast. Hannan Meats is the first producer in the 22-year history of Great Taste to take the top award for a second time. Produced in Armagh, Northern Ireland, this exceptional piece of beef is dry-aged in a Himalayan Salt Chamber for a minimum of 28 days. Great Taste judges heaped praise on its outstanding flavour and succulence.

This victory for Hannan Meats’ Glenarm Shorthorn 4 Rib Roast comes in a year that saw many Great British Sunday lunch favourites shine in Great Taste, such as the 3-star winning Tracklements’ Tewkesbury Hot Mustard and The Traditional Free Range Egg Company’s Waddling Free Duck Eggs, which make the fluffiest Yorkshire puddings, with Dunnes Stores’ All Butter Sticky Toffee Pudding and Jess’ Ladies Organic’s Double Cream coming together for an epic traditional dessert. It was Hannan Meats’ beef that stole the show though, with judges commending its “sweet, juicy and oozy flavour that travels through the meat and fat” and dubbing it the star of any Sunday lunch.

Unprecedented in the 22-year history of Great Taste, Hannan Meats’ second Supreme Champion accolade follows the producer first lifting the prize in 2012 for its Moyallon Guanciale. No flash in the pan, Peter Hannan and his team have been perfecting this salt chamber dry-aging process for the best part of a decade, with this award the culmination of many years of dedication. Once again, Hannan Meats’ world-class butchery and maturation methods wowed the judging panel, who were bowled over by this very special cut of meat and couldn’t “believe that beef could taste so good”.

John Farrand, Managing Director of the Guild of Fine Food, organisers of Great Taste, explains; “Hannan Meats’ much celebrated butchery skills have been honed over many years and this incredible level of dedication has resulted in consistent Great Taste success, along with two Supreme Champion titles to boot. This extraordinary Glenarm Shorthorn 4 Rib Roast is testament to Hannan Meats’ carefully refined dry-aging and maturation process, which saw it fly through day-after-day of blind-tasting, winning over hearts and palates at every stage of Great Taste. It really did blow the final judging panel away and they’re not an easy bunch to impress.”

The Supreme Champion award, which is sponsored by Harrods, was presented to Peter Hannan at the Great Taste Golden Forks Dinner held on Monday 5 September at the Royal Garden Hotel in Kensington, where over 300 guests from the world of fine food gathered to hear the results of many months of rigorous judging.

For more information about Hannan Meats, please contact Peter Hannan, +44 (0) 2892 619790, www.hannanmeats.com.

Two meat producers have won prizes in the first ever Northern Ireland heat of the British Street Food Awards which was held at Hillsborough Oyster Festival.

Downpatrick-based Pheasant’s Hill Farm, which specialises in free-range and rare breed meat and game won the People’s Choice Award. It was voted for by the public on the day. They have a weekly stall at St George’s Market and a mobile van for events.

“All the products served by their trailer are butchered and cured at their farm – come and see what a real happy meal tastes like” said Richard Johnson, founder of the British Street Food Awards.

The runners up in the People’s Choice Awards were the Fabulous Food Factory and Linen Hill Kitchen who took Second and Third place respectively.

Broughgammon Farm’s goat meat creations impressed the Celebrity Judge, Paula McIntyre who awarded them a prize for an unusual creation. The Cole family from Ballycastle sell kid kebabs, billy burgers and an award-winning Goat Gammon. They too have a mobile catering unit and sell at farmers markets and events.

“They made a kid offal and chorizo taco. Their burger was good, but it was the taco, with its fresh cheese base, that BBC Radio Ulster chef Paula McIntyre really loved” said Richard Johnson who added that “London traders can only dream of having access to producers like the traders in Northern Ireland. It’s why street food has such a future here”.

“We now have so many street food members in Food NI that we have had to do a separate Guide just for them. Both Broughgammon and Pheasant’s Hill Farm are superb examples of what street food should be” said Food NI CEO, Michele Shirlow.

Both of these winners will be taking part in the finals of the British Street Food Awards in Birmingham on the 17th and of 18th September.

Twenty Belfast chefs have contributed recipes to a stunning new book called “Belfast on a Plate”. It was launched last night at Belfast City Hall and hosted by Taste of Ulster/Food NI. Described as “a flavour of the city in recipes and stories, the 220-page hardback book was created by food photographer, David Pauley. It was written by Joanna Braniff.

“I had the idea of this book for some time and with 2016 being NI Year of Food, it seemed to be the perfect time to make it happen” says David Pauley

“Back in January this year, we drew up a list of 20 people we would like to feature in the book and my partner Cheryl Johnston and I went to see them all and explained our idea. We had to convince them that we were the right people to do a book that they would want to be associated with and to our delight all twenty agreed.

“We already had our little team in place. Dean Pauley, my son, is a graphic designer based in London and specialises in book design. Our friend Joanna Braniff, who is a journalist, would write the stories of the chefs and restaurant owners and Cheryl and I would do the photography”.

Each restaurant has ten pages in the book. Chefs supplied three recipes of their choice to showcase their style of cooking. The featured chefs hadn’t seen the finished book before last night’s launch.

“The editorial part of the book is really about the chefs and their culinary journeys and celebrates the talent in our kitchens. All of the photography and interviews with the chefs and restauranteurs took place in the restaurants themselves” says David Pauley.

Chefs and restauranteurs featured include Coppi, Deanes Eipic, Deanes at Queens, General Merchants, Graze, Howard Street, Home, Hadskis, James Street South , Mourne Seafood Bar, Neill’s Hill, OX , Saphyre, Shu , The Barking Dog, The Ginger Bistro, The Merchant Hotel, The Muddlers Club, Tedford’s Kitchen and Zen.

Food writer Joris Minne said “This is the book I wish I had written. I’ve eaten in each one of those mentioned in the book and every review and comment made by author Joanna Branniff is forensically clear.”

“This book is a great reflection of the talented chefs we have here in Belfast” said Sharon Machala from Food NI.
“Everyone involved had one thing in common- creative passion. It is this passion like this which has driven the Year of Food and Drink in Northern Ireland.”

Belfast on a Plate is priced at £25 and will be available to buy from all the featured restaurants, in good bookshops and on Amazon.

Winning the Great Taste Supreme Champion award for the second time is an outstanding achievement by Food NI member Hannan Meats, Food NI Chief Executive Michele Shirlow said today.

Welcoming the award for Hannan Meats, Mrs Shirlow praised the Moira meat processor’s commitment to quality, outstanding taste and innovation, and the support from Chief Executive Peter Hannan for the local food and drink industry. It was achieved against “fierce competition” from companies from across the UK, Ireland and other parts of Europe.

Mrs Shirlow said: “Hannan Meats is a remarkably successful company which has now become the first ever in the history of this prestigious and influential competition to win the Supreme Award twice. Hannan Meats is an outstanding role model for other smaller food and drink companies of just what can be achieved from a commitment to excellence across a business. In addition to two Supreme Champion awards, Hannan Meats has now won more gold stars for its products than any other company in the UK and Ireland.

“The latest achievement follows its success in 2012 and is particularly timely coming as it does during our first ever Year of Food and Drink, an initiative supported enthusiastically by Peter Hannan.

“The award will help to raise awareness of the quality of our food and drink to another level especially in Great Britain, our most important external market.

“The award to Hannan Meats capped another marvellous year of achievement for Northern Ireland companies in the Great Taste Awards.”

Article written by Sam Butler

Food NI member Hannan Meats has been named Supreme Champion 2016 in the prestigious Great Taste Awards for its Glenarm Shorthorn Four Rib Roast and also gained the Northern Ireland regional Golden Fork Award.

The Northern Ireland meat processor is the first to win the Supreme Champion Award twice.

The Supreme Champion Award, the most prestigious of its kind in the food industry, was presented to Peter Hannan, managing director of Hannan Meats, at the Great Taste finals at a gala dinner in London.

Mr Hannan said: “We are delighted to have won the Supreme Champion Award for the second time. It’s a tremendous endorsement by a panel of expert judges of the quality, outstanding taste and innovation underpinning all our products.

“It’s great to bring the award back to Northern Ireland especially during our first ever Year of Food and Drink.”

The annual event was hosted by the UK Guild of Fine Food, the organisation which runs the Great Taste Awards. Invest Northern Ireland is the sponsor of the regional Golden Fork.

Hannan Meats is one of the most successful companies in the Great Taste Awards and was previously Supreme Champion in 2012. The company, which is based in Moira, county Down, gained a record breaking 59 gold stars for 36 meat products in this year’s Great Taste Awards.

The small business, famed for its Himalayan salt chamber for ageing meat, now has more gold stars than any other company in the UK and Ireland.

Hannan Meats also had three products listed by the UK Guild of Fine Food in this year’s Top 50 Foods. It has won the Northern Ireland regional award in 2012, 2013 and 2014.

The company’s products were among 13 from eight Northern Ireland firms to win the top prize of three gold stars from the guild’s expert judges.

In total, 212 products from Northern Ireland won stars. Abernethy Butter, Thompson’s Family Teas, Kearney Blue Cheese and Dale Farm were among the others who secured the top, three-star badge of quality.

This year’s awards were chosen from 10,000 food and drink products from the British Isles and parts of Europe.