Visit The Argory on Saturday 4 June for the second of this years’ line up of Good Food Markets. Following the success of their first Market in April, The Argory will once again showcase some of the best local produce that Northern Ireland has to offer in this the Year of Food and Drink.

The historic courtyard will be filled with a number of artisan stalls selling everything from chutneys and jams, homemade cupcakes and fudge, cordials, ice cream, local Dexter beef, waffles, chocolates, cider and home grown produce.

As part of the Year of Food and Drink, June is ‘Love Dairy’ month. With the amount of lush grassland that covers Northern Ireland it’s no wonder that our dairy products are award-winning. Kicking off the programme at The Argory is Deane Weir, proprietor of Weir’s Organic Raw Milk in Tandragee. Deane will be talking about how the milk is produced and visitors can sample it for themselves and buy some on the day.

The Argory will also play host to a special demonstration from Granny Shaw’s Fudge Factory; watch and learn how they make some of the creamiest fudge in the country. Live cooking demonstrations will also feature on the programme. Neil Bradley, a renowned award winning chef for over 25 years will be demonstrating how to produce tasty and healthy food. Mary Faulkner from Cookstown will also be showcasing the art of traditional bread and butter making. The Argory would like to thank Flo Gas for sponsoring the cooking station for the event.

Live acoustic music will fill the courtyard throughout the afternoon and children can have a go at milking a cow and follow the dairy trail. The grown-ups can also enjoy a tour of the house or see The Argory in a whole new light on a guided estate tour.

The Argory’s Courtyard Coffee Shop will also be open and visitors can enjoy a variety of homemade cakes, scones and paninis. Treat yourself to something nice in the gift shop, packed with an extensive range of products. For the foodies among us, take a look at the range of kitchenware, including Harchwood Couture and the Cottage Garden kitchen range, inspired by the Gardens of the National Trust. Thomas Powell will be selling his hand thrown pottery including tea pots, mugs, butter dishes and sugar pots. Bedding plants and shrubs grown in our Walled Garden at The Argory will also be available to buy.

The Argory’s Good Food Market promises to be a fantastic day out for the whole family. The Good Food Market will take place on Saturday 4 June from 11am-4pm and again on Saturday 17 September. Adult £5.50, Child £2.50, Family £13.50. National Trust Members Free.

For further information call 028 8778 4753, find us on facebook.com/NationalTrustMidUlster or visit www.nationaltrust.org.uk/argory

Northern Ireland’s leading coffee chain, Ground Espresso Bars is on the lookout for aspiring photographers to participate in their campaign to capture the region’s most cherished Ground coffee moments.
This one-of-a-kind initiative will invite fans of Ground Espresso Bars to submit themed stills for inclusion in a beautifully bound coffee table book, which will be sold and all proceeds given to The Ground Honduras Project. The aim of this campaign is to capture shots that range from favourite Ground drinks, to a precious memory shared at Ground, and even quirky snaps of Ground’s coffees and signature tray bakes out and about at NI’s famous landmarks. The initiative welcomes participants at all levels of photography from smartphone users to professional shutterbugs.

Co-Founder of Ground Espresso Bars, Darren Gardiner said: “Ground Espresso Bars is located in the heart of communities across NI and this campaign gives people the chance to show us their perception of what Ground means to them. Our social media engagement activities sees hundreds of people tweeting, instagraming and sharing their visits to Ground each year, and we love being able to see Ground through their eyes. The intense interactivity of our supporters, coupled with the rising coffee culture of ‘snap before you sip’, means we’re sure to get some fantastic and unique entries.”
As an act of gratitude for 15 years of support, the initiative will shortlist 12 runners-ups who will be announced in August 2016. Each runner up will receive a premium prize package of Ground treats including a £100 Ground gift card, brew-at-home coffee kits, and some bespoke branded products. In addition to this, the overall winner will receive a complimentary weekend break in New York City with flights and accommodation courtesy of Ground Espresso Bars*. All winners will also have their submissions included in Ground’s first coffee table book, which will be available for sale to the public at the end of year.

For further information and to join the campaign visit www.groundcoffee.net

The Food NI Food Pavilion at the RUAS show at Balmoral Park was another outstanding success for participating companies. Sam Butler talked to some of the artisan businesses after the show closed its doors to find out how they fared this year.

More than 60,000 people sampled the best of local food, juices and ciders in the Food NI Food Pavilion over the three days of the recent RUAS show at Balmoral Park. It was the largest ever showcase of local food and attracted what was probably the biggest support from the public.

Some 100 companies, mostly artisan enterprises but also including major businesses such as Dale Farm, Karro Foods/Cookstown, Irwin’s Bakery and Mash Direct, had pitches within the colourful Food Pavilion. But did the impressive turnout translate into good business for companies? Those companies I spoke to were united in saying that it was excellent and generated sales and good business leads.

Claire Kelly, who runs the award winning Passion Preserved business producing relishes and chutneys in Lisburn, for instance, says: “The Food Pavilion was fabulous. The branding on the outside for the Year of Food and Drink was stunning, and I was so proud to be there. Inside it was so bright and airy and very well laid out – a big contrast to the very dark Eikon Centre.

“The Food NI team was brilliant – they were all really helpful – the girls worked so hard. I found it a really good opportunity to publicise my brand and let people know where I had stockists. Indeed, I signed up new stockists as a result of the event and made worthwhile sales.”

Christo Swanepoel of City Cheese in Millisle agrees: “The pavilion was excellent. It gave me a marvellous opportunity to increase awareness of my cheeses and to talk to a great many customers about how they are made. It was the best way to reach a huge audience. I also sold cheese and met several interested retailers.” He also won the Best Overall Food Product award at the show for his ‘Young Culmore’ raw milk cheese.

Another award winner, Dromore’s Krazibaker Mark Douglas recognised as the Best Stand, also scored with the public and sold plenty of freshly griddled sodas and potato farls. “I was hectic. I could hardly keep up with the demand for my griddled breads. Business were certainly very good.”

Andrew Rooney, commercial director of Rooney Fish in Kilkeel, who was in the pavilion supporting the Sea Source presentation, agrees. “The show is probably the biggest and best opportunity for the local seafood industry to demonstrate the quality of our products and to encourage more people, especially children and teenagers, to taste what we have to offer.”

Another smaller business successful at Balmoral was Cavanagh Free Range Eggs of Newtownbutler. Director Eileen Hall says: “The atmosphere was great and as always Food NI did an excellent job with organising everything and making sure everyone was happy. The location of the pavilion was also very good with easy access to the facilities needed.

“There were some good enquiries especially from the Republic of Ireland, with Invest NI making introductions to various companies including exporters to the Middle East and further afield. We got a lot of positive feedback from those who tasted our eggs. So, I would say we got a lot out of it.”

First timer at Balmoral, Fiona Lydon, managing director of recent start up Seriously Juicy of Magheraveely in Fermanagh, a business specialising in cold-pressed raw vegetable and fruit juices, found the show “a great launchpad”. “It was the best opportunity we’ve had to sample our range of healthy juices. It increased awareness and led to sales. Overall, it was a great experience and tremendously encouraging for a new business.”

Jane Harnett of Harnett’s Oils in Waringstown, a pioneer of culinary oils such as hemp and rapeseed, and chairman of Ulster Artisans, the networking body set up by smaller producers, believes the event showcased the scale and innovation of what is a fast developing sector. “We’d be lost without the Food NI Food Pavilion because it’s a marvellous platform for smaller producers and helps create awareness of the vast range of top quality food here.” Jane used the show to launch the company’s new Duvillaun Irish Sea Salt.

Balmoral this year also saw glorious weather in which ice cream producers prospered. Glastry Farm’s Will Taylor, from Kircubbin, chose the show to launch a new coffee flavoured ice cream developed with Robert Bell of SD Bell’s in Belfast, another participant in the Food Pavilion. “We were extremely busy and sales were exceptional. It was a tremendously worthwhile,” he says.

Selling products when major processors were giving away samples free couldn’t have been easy for artisan companies. What it does is to condition the public to look to the Food Pavilion as somewhere to go for a ‘free feed”, according to one artisan business. I heard one visitor telling the kids to eat us as they could because it was free and he wasn’t buying them burgers!

But it’s clear from companies the positives far outweigh any negatives and that the show met their objectives by creating greater awareness and in business generated.

Anyone who spent time in the Food NI Food Pavilion at the recent Balmoral Show will surely have been impressed by the scale of innovation and the enthusiasm of our food and drink companies of all sizes and in every sector of what is now our biggest manufacturing industry. I’ve had an opportunity over the past few days to reflect on some of my experiences from the show.

I spent three days there with exhibitors and was struck by their ideas about innovative products and the markets they are keen to access especially in Great Britain and the Republic of Ireland.

Unfortunately there are some observers who still see food and drink as a something of a “sunset’ industry. It’s anything but. In fact I believe that it’s one of the most vibrant ‘sunrise’ industries here. While it may not appear to some to be ‘techy’ enough, there are companies, both large and small, heavily involved in new market focused technology.

Most companies now see adding value to the wonderful ingredients available here as the way ahead and are investing in technology to manage production and improve overall performance.

It’s an industry with a very bright future that’s increasingly being driven by people with smart ideas who are close to their markets and to both existing and potential customers. It’s an industry growing in confidence and self-esteem, characteristics being encouraged and justifiably celebrated by the Year of Food and Drink initiative. Furthermore it is deeply rooted here.

Most of the companies are also locally-owned and connected to the community especially the farming sector which provides essential and premium quality ingredients with heritage and provenance. It’s already a £5 billion industry that sells more that 60 per cent of its products beyond these shores and employs upwards of 100,000 people throughout an extensive and increasingly integrated supply chain focused on market requirements.
What the industry also faces is a tremendous market opportunity. How do I support this claim? It’s quite simple. As affluence rises, people everywhere will always seek out good quality food and drink.

The world’s population, for instance, is projected to grow by 1 billion in the next 15 years, at a time when cultivatable land will shrink. To meet this growth a 50 per cent rise in food production will be required. Interestingly, the growth is expected to be driven by a sharp rise in those likely to be described as middle class. Just under two billion people today are middle-class.

By 2020, there will be 3.2 billion, most of whom will live in urban areas. More than half of the world’s population currently lives in cities with better transport, storage and retail facilities. They are increasingly demanding high quality, nutritious and, above all, safe food and drink, a market requirement that Northern Ireland is well-positioned to meet.

I’ve also been impressed by the trend, apparent at Balmoral, towards greater collaboration between smaller companies and also with suppliers in the development of new products. A good example of this is the relationship that’s developed between Glastry Farm Ice Cream in Kircubbin and SD Bells in Belfast to create new ice cream. Brambleberry Jams in Lisburn has also been enlisted by Glastry to supply salted caramel for another ice cream flavour. Clandeboye Estate Yoghurt in Bangor has also worked with Around Noon Sandwiches in Newry to create a new snack pot product for customers in Britain and the Irish Republic. And Krazibaker Mark Douglas teamed up with Abernethy Butter to produce shortbread that earned him a UK Great Taste Award. Three craft breweries, Hillstown Farm, Pokertree and Farmageddon have also pooled their resources, knowledge and expertise to create a new beer for Britain.

Another of our great strengths is our support infrastructure that includes Invest NI and expert centres for scientific research and innovation at Loughry Campus in Cookstown and the Agri-Food and Bioscience Institute (AFBI).

It’s clear to me that the market opportunity for our food and drink industry is huge and we must do everything we can to help our companies to grasp it.

RNLI mascot Stormy Stan and Tony McAleavey, RNLI Lifeguard celebrate the success of the recent Mayday call for help which ran across Ground Espresso Bars stores to encourage everyone to fill a wellie with pennies. The coffee-fuelled fundraising campaign successfully raised £1,200 for the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) Northern Ireland. These vital funds will contribute to funding crew training, crew kits, and the running costs of a lifeboat station. For more information on the RNLI visit www.RNLI.org.

Summer is finally upon us and to celebrate, Bite to Savour are releasing their seasonal summer box on the 1st of June, which is full of Northern Irish artisan food produce. Bite to Savour are an innovative and dynamic business who are passionate about supporting artisan food and helping small producers develop their brands and businesses.

The forward thinking founder, Jenna Stevenson, 29 and mum of a beautiful baby girl Annabell, began this venture in 2014 with the dream of changing the homogenised food market and helping these micro business blossom into something formidable. Artisan businesses may be small but collectively they are a vital part of the economy and give tourists a true taste of our wee country, with most of the premium ingredients being grown & sourced locally.

Bite to Savour create seasonal subscription boxes delivered straight to your door four times a year, for less than £29 each. Open your taste buds to over 50 local food companies by subscribing to Bite to Savour’s subscription boxes at www.bitetosavour.com and receive wonderful surprises every season.

You can also create your own custom gift box in the fabulous Studio Souk in Castle Lane, Belfast. Here you can carefully select your own products to suit any special occasion, in the knowledge that you are supporting local sustainable businesses while trying something new and exciting, that isn’t mass produced.