Article written by Food NI CEO, Michele Shirlow for FarmWeek on 21st April 2016

One of our most important activities is encouraging and assisting artisan and smaller food companies to take part in major consumer events that provide an effective platform to increase sales. Being face to face with a customer is a great way to get feedback too!

Our Food Pavilion, at the hugely successful RUAS event at Balmoral Park, is probably the best-known example of this key marketing role for Food NI. As I mentioned in last week’s column, companies that have taken part in the Food Pavilion achieve significant sales and also make invaluable contacts with the buyers we invite along.
Another example of this pro-active support is the development of the Taste of Ulster shop at Belfast International Airport, now featuring almost 30 local producers. Aelia, the global business that runs the airport duty-free shop, has been tremendously supportive. Management responded quickly and very positively when approached to consider such an initiative- see more on our ‘Taste of Ulster TV’ You Tube channel.

In addition to artisan products in the shop in Departures, Aelia is showcasing spirits being distilled here including Dunville Irish Whiskey, The Quiet Man Irish Whiskey, Jawbox and Shortcross gins and Ruby Blue Vodka, It has several local craft beers and plans to introduce ciders very soon.

We are also working closely with the organisers of the BBC Good Food Show, one of the biggest consumer-focused exhibitions in the food and drink calendar in the UK, on the show at the Waterfront Hall in Belfast in October. This event promises to be a huge attraction and a great opportunity for smaller companies, in particular, to reach out to consumers from Northern Ireland, the Republic and even Great Britain. We are determined that the show will be an outstanding success.

To enable smaller producers to take part, we have agreed with the organisers to arrange a unique and very exciting Year of Food and Drink Village at the Show, which will take place in Northern Ireland for the first time between 14th and 16th October.

The event is set to attract over 12,000 to the newly developed Waterfront venue. Our village producers will allow businesses to showcase our quality food and drink producers and celebrate the Year of Food and Drink overall. Our initiative will increase awareness of the quality and breadth of local products and lead to sales.
We’d love to take the Northern Ireland Food Village to the other BBC Good Food Shows in Birmingham, London and Glasgow as well as the Speciality Fine Food Fair in London. Northern Ireland really should have a significant presence at these events at the heart of the biggest market for our food and drink.

This highly prestigious BBC Good Food, 78 per cent of visitors to which are in the ABC1 socioeconomic bracket, is a wonderful opportunity for our local producers – from the smallest to the largest – to promote their top quality products.

Based on figures from other hugely successful BBC Good Food Show events in cities across the UK last year, we expect an average spend from the mainly female visitor of over £100, which leaves plenty of opportunity for sales and, just as importantly, exposure.

To be eligible for a stand in Food NI’s Year of Food and Drink Village applicants must be a Northern Ireland food or drink company with products made here, using local ingredients where possible, and sourcing, using and promoting Northern Ireland produce. Companies should also be enhancing the reputation of Northern Ireland as a quality food and drink destination.

The show will be a major focal point of Northern Ireland’s Year of Food and Drink celebrations and will bring the best of our food and drink to life, from demonstration theatres featuring talented local chefs, to this dedicated Food Village which will play host to regional producers. Tickets are a great idea for a gift for any foodie and I encourage you to book early. Further details of this and other events are available on our website at www.nigoodfood.com.

LEADING foodmarket convenience brand, SuperValu, has launched a new partnership with a top Northern Ireland chef as part of a major investment into its local offering.

The announcement of Noel McMeel as SuperValu’s new Ambassador Chef was made at a special event at Tedfords Kitchen in Belfast to celebrate Northern Ireland’s Year of Food and Drink earlier this month.
Throughout 2016 McMeel, who is currently Executive Head Chef at the prestigious five star Lough Erne Resort in Enniskillen, will share his passion for local produce with SuperValu customers, promoting its extensive range of fresh, local and quality ingredients and encouraging consumers to shop local.

As part of the partnership, a series of ‘Meet the Makers’ in-store events, hosted by the new SuperValu new Ambassador Chef, kicked off on Saturday 16th April at McCool’s SuperValu, Ballymoney. Showcasing over 60 local producers including Broighter Gold, Chocolate Manor, Donnybrewer Butter, Ruby Blue Vodka and Mash Direct, Chef McMeel was on hand to offer culinary inspiration with cooking demonstrations throughout the day.

The Meet the Makers in-store series will roll out across all 35 local SuperValu stores in Northern Ireland this year as part of the retail brand’s ‘We Believe in Local’ campaign.

SuperValu is also rolling out a major upgrade of its 35 stores across Northern Ireland over the next 12 months, which will see a significant increase in its fresh offering in store and a wider range of quality produce to appeal to all customers.

SuperValu stores, which are owned by independent retailers, currently sell in excess of £105 million of local products annually. Some 60% of everything sold in SuperValu stores is produced or sourced in Northern Ireland and more than 75% of all fresh ranges are sourced locally. One hundred per cent of SuperValu’s beef, pork, lamb, milk, cream and eggs are sourced in Northern Ireland, which equates to £50m of locally produced fresh foods annually.
Michael McCormack, Managing Director of Musgrave NI, which operates the SuperValu brand announced the partnership:
“SuperValu has always been at the heart of the local community, supporting real food and real people. We are currently implementing a major upgrade programme which will be rolled out across all of our 35 stores to offer customers the best in fresh, quality local convenience food.

“As part of this investment, we are delighted to partner Noel as he is a passionate ambassador for local produce and wholeheartedly embodies our ethos at SuperValu of using simple, local ingredients to produce the best of fresh, quality food.”

Chef McMeel said: “I’m very excited to team up with SuperValu and its independent retailers as they represent the heart of the community in Northern Ireland, with their support of local produce, jobs and suppliers.
“SuperValu, like me, is all about keeping it real – real food for real people, so I am delighted to be able to bring my recipes, top tips and cooking twists to homes throughout Northern Ireland.”

SuperValu is part of Musgrave Northern Ireland (MNI), which comprises the retail and wholesale segments of Musgrave Group in Northern Ireland and supports 360 independent retailers through the SuperValu, Centra, Mace and Day-Today brands and 2,800 wholesale customers through the Marketplace brand across the province.

Beannchor – Ireland’s largest hospitality group and owners of Belfast’s award-winning Merchant Hotel – has announced plans for expansion of its restaurant and hotel portfolio.

New sites are currently being explored for the Group’s Little Wing Pizzeria chain, which currently includes six restaurants across Northern Ireland.

Commenting on the news, Little Wing Managing Director, Luke Wolsey said: “The Little Wing brand has gone rfrom strength to strength in recent years. Its success has proven that this is a good business model and we have ambitious plans for growth in the coming years.

“We are reviewing options for further expansion of Little Wing, with a number of sites being investigated across Northern Ireland. Looking to the future, we see the time arising whereby we will have reached a level of critical mass in Northern Ireland and will need to consider options in other markets for further growth. We are already tentatively looking at site locations in both the Republic of Ireland and Great Britain.”
In addition, Beannchor has announced exciting plans for phase two of its new Bullitt hotel concept. The Group has acquired Annsgate House on Ann Street;, the property adjoins Lagan House, which is currently being redeveloped to create the hotel.

Drawing on nearly 40 years of expertise in the industry to create a new and vibrant hospitality concept for the city, Bullitt – named after the Steve McQueen movie of the same name – will be an exciting new addition to the city’s social scene when Phase One opens later this year.
Bullitt will epitomise urban chic with stylish, contemporary surroundings, alongside affordable room rates. Located in a prime city centre location, wrapping Victoria Street, Ann Street and Church Lane, the hotel is a stone’s throw from Belfast’s shopping mecca, Victoria Square and the lively Cathedral Quarter. The hotel will be a social hub for city workers, locals and tourists alike, bringing a fresh approach to work, rest and play.

Phase one will feature 44 stylish mod-con clad bedrooms and a lively ground floor café, bar and restaurant will open later this year. Phase ttwo, which is expected to open in 2017 (subject to planning), will add in excess of 30 rooms to the exciting new development.

Commenting on the announcement, James Sinton, Finance Director, Beannchor said:
“Recent acquisitions have emanated from our trading confidence in the local market and our ability to create an exceptional new hotel concept for Belfast.

“Subject to planning, the addition of Annsgate House to our Bullitt hotel development will complement the existing footprint of Lagan House to deliver an 80 bed hotel in the heart of the City centre.”
The Beannchor Group owns pubs and hotels across Northern Ireland including The Merchant Hotel, The National Grande Café/sixty6, The Dirty Onion, Cuckoo and The Hillside, as well as six Little Wing Pizzerias, employing over 650 people.
In April 2016, The Merchant Hotel celebrates a ‘Decade of Decadence’ with a suite of luxurious offers to mark its 10th anniversary. For further information, visit www.themerchanthotel.com

“BEER is like cooking, it’s all about trying different recipes,” says Speckled Hen propertior Martin Caldwell, who is about to launch his own Black Mountain Brewery ales and largers.

“The smallest breweries are labelled as micro, well ours is nano, it’s even smaller,” he laughed. The popular Derriaghy pub which has collected a host of awards since it was rebranded and bought over by Martin and his family, will soon be offering its patrons a sup of homebrewed Mountain Dew black larger, Divis Diva strawberry beer, Lambeg Willie honey porter or Derriaghy Darling cream ale.

“What we are trying to do is go back to local beers for local people,” explained Martin. “A pub like this, dating back to 1660, would’ve had it’s own brewery at one time, it’s about bringing that feature back to the bar.”
With the Black Mountain as the public house backdrop and the canisters, kegs, hops and recipes stored in their own specially built brew hut, Martin and staff member John Dingwall, have been busy onsite “coming up with a lot of different combinations.”

“Our capacity is probably about 200 to 300 litres a day, it’s roughly a tenth of what the micro breweries are doing. Our Divis Diva is a strawberry beer and we have been adding pineapples and raspberries to the Derriaghy Darling and so far it seems to be the black larger that is standing out the most as we have had good comments about it.”

Martin says there’s a new and growing willingness amoung punters to “try something different” and that the Speckled Hen, famed for its vast selection of craft beer and ciders is only too happy to satisfy that demand.

“The sales of craft beer are up by 35 per cent, it’s all about choice, flavour and quality. A lot of the core brands of beer taste the same everytime you brew them. They are chilled as cold as possible and the colder it is the less flavour you taste. Choice for us is important as we want to give our customers the broadest possible range.”
“Myself and John are brewing in a simple way, it’s like being a chef really and it’s not going to be break the bank stuff, the quantities we are producing are very manageable.”

Customers will be able to sample the Speckled Hen’s home brews from May as tasting sessions have been going very well.

“We’ve loads of volunteers who want to taste the beer, don’t worry about that,” laughed Martin, who is himself teetotal – “we’ve no shortage of them at the moment.”

The management and staff of Lough Erne Resort are no strangers to picking up prestigious awards and 2016 started no differently for the multi-award winning resort.

Lough Erne Resort has collected an unprecedented number of industry awards since the turn of the New Year across a variety of disciplines to further justify its place at the top of Northern Ireland’s best resorts.

In January, the Resort picked up an ASI gold award (Irish Accommodation Services) Award for achieving excellence in accommodation standards and recently was recognized by the Northern Ireland Hospitality Federation (NIHF) as their overall winner in the over 90-room category.

In March, the hotel’s popular Executive Head Chef Noel McMeel collected the award and title of ‘Best Chef for Fermanagh’ at the Ulster regional final of the Irish Restaurant Awards 2016, not only that, the award-winning Catalina Restaurant in the heart of Lough Erne Resort was awarded ‘Best Hotel Restaurant’ at the prestigious event, where some of Ulster’s leading restaurants were recognized for their outstanding achievements.

In its eighth year, the Irish Restaurant Awards are the largest and most coveted accolade in the Irish Restaurant Industry and honour Ireland’s premier restaurants following a rigorous selection process with the final scheduled to take place next month in Dublin and hopes are high for further success.

Under the guidance of Executive Head Chef Noel McMeel, 6 members of the Catalina Restaurant team have continued in Noel’s award winning footsteps, taking three gold, one silver and two bronze awards at this year’s IFEX, Northern Ireland’s premier food, drink, retail and hospitality event, in Belfast where chefs and service staff are judged on a specific set of skills around technique, preparation and presentation in their job roles.

On the recent success of the Catalina restaurant, Noel said ‘We are thrilled with the recent achievements for Catalina and our team, there is so much passion behind the team which we bring to all the elements of our dishes, we pride ourselves on creating wonderful experiences for our guests and it’s wonderful to be recognised for our hard work.’

Experience Noel and the team’s award-winning cuisine for yourself at the elegant and sophisticated Catalina Restaurant at Lough Erne Resort, providing diners with spectacular panoramic views of Castle Hume Lough. Having worked with some of the world’s top chefs – Jean-Louis Palladin, Jean Pierre Moule and Alice Waters – Noel has taken inspiration from his experiences and applied it to every detail of the menus at Lough Erne Resort, where he and the team continue to espouse his passion for the best seasonal, local ingredients cooked and presented simply but exquisitely.

To book visit www.lougherneresort.com or call +44 (0)28 6632 3230 for more information.

Spring edition of FOOD MATTERS which provides a flavour of the knowledge, technology transfer and training support services available at Loughry Campus.

In this edition, we will continue to highlight how we can support your business. This edition focuses on health and well-being and the business opportunities in this area. We also introduce our Food Innovation team and showcase the services they provide.

Further details on our support services can be found at www.cafre.ac.uk

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