As the competition in the league intensifies, Dublin GAA is getting a healthy boost by partnering with the award-winning health food company, Linwoods. In a bid to ensure its athletes’ nutrition is as carefully managed as their on-pitch performance, this is the second year of a two year partnership which sees Armagh-based Linwoods as its Official Health Food Supplier.

The partnership ensures that each player’s diet will now contain essential fatty acids, vitamins, and minerals, which are all core elements of Linwoods’ product range, consequently complementing each player’s performance on and off the pitch in a positive, energy-driven way.

The Linwoods Superfoods range, which includes a selection of milled and blended seeds, nuts and berries includes products that have the addition of Bio Cultures, for healthy digestion and immune system; and the co-enzyme Q10, which helps to produce energy from every cell in the body. The products can be added to any kind of meal or snack for a nutritional boost.The versatility of the range ensures players have access to essential Omega-3 fatty acids which will aid response time and muscle repair while performing effectively both on and off the pitch.
Speaking about the partnership, Linwoods’ Head of Marketing Sarah Shimmons said: “We have built a reputation for providing high quality healthy foods and we have respect for the dedication, commitment and passion within Dublin GAA – we see these same values reflected within our own company since we were established in 1965. We understand the importance of nutrition not only within sport, but in everyday life and we have been developing innovative convenient healthy products for Irish consumers that will allow them to reap the health benefits of Omega 3, protein, iron and essential fatty acids in their diets naturally.”

“Our Superfoods range has gone from strength to strength – demonstrating the public appetite for healthy food which does you good and tastes good! We look forward to our latest venture with Dublin GAA and hope that our healthy blends will help to deliver healthy scores in the seasons ahead for both the football and hurling teams. We also believe this is a strategic step forward for the company as we seek other opportunities within the sporting world to provide our nutritious foods to competing athletes.”

Daniel Davey, Dublin Senior Football Performance Nutritionist has worked with a host of elite athletes across a range of sports, developing specialised nutrition strategies designed to help both individuals and teams achieve performance-related goals. Daniel welcomes the healthy partnership adding; “Linwoods products are a rich source of essential nutrients such as essential fats, vitamins, minerals and antioxidants that can be used in a variety of ways to improve the nutritional value of main meals and homemade snacks. They are excellent for adding to homemade breakfast cereals, muesli, yoghurt, porridge and smoothies as well as making healthy treats! GAA athletes often have both demanding work and training schedules which makes meeting nutrition goals more challenging. Linwoods products are a great solution for these athletes in particular, as they can help them to more conveniently meet their energy and essential nutrient requirements on a daily basis.”

Tomás Quinn, Commercial and Marketing Manager, Dublin GAA: “We are delighted to be partnering with Linwoods for a second year. As a leading Irish company in a growing market sector, we are well aware of the benefits their products have for our players. We believe this partnership is another sign of our desire to help the players meet the needs of balancing inter county football and hurling with their day to day lives.”
For more information on the Linwoods product range, health benefits and mouth-watering recipes see www.linwoodshealthfoods.com, or follow Linwoods on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.

As Northern Ireland’s Year of Food & Drink continues, one local wholesaler has gone back to its market roots to celebrate the month of ‘Heritage and Traditions’ this March.

John Agnew, Henderson Group Chairman and Grandson of John Henderson, the founder of Henderson Wholesale, a company owned by the Group, returned to St. George’s Market to recreate his Grandfather’s stall, from which he operated his wholesale business in the early 1900s.

John Henderson started selling butter, cheese and eggs from his market stall in 1897, and moved from his premises on Royal Avenue to the traditional covered markets of St. George’s alongside many other wholesale dealers a few years later.

Mr Henderson sold the products that he had sourced from local dairy farmers here.

Almost 120 years later, Henderson Wholesale still prides itself on sourcing fresh, local produce from farmers, growers and suppliers on the island of Ireland, primarily in Northern Ireland.

Today, 75% of Hendersons fresh produce is sourced here and sold through the SPAR, EUROSPAR, VIVO and VIVOXTRA brands that the Group owns in Northern Ireland.

To celebrate Hendersons return to St. George’s Market, local chef and SPAR brand ambassador Paula McIntyre will be cooking up samples with Mr Agnew for market goers to enjoy on Friday 25th March 2016.

Returning to the spot where his Grandfather had early success with the business was reflective for Mr Agnew, as he looked back at the heritage of the company as a whole.

He commented; “John Henderson was my mother’s father, I am named after him and am proud to continue to be involved in the business through my role as Group Chairman.

“Hendersons heritage is never forgotten, nor taken for granted. We are a local company that will always support local workers, farmers, suppliers and producers, and that will continue into our future legacy. Heritage is an important part of Northern Ireland, and I’m delighted to be able to share ours this March during Northern Ireland’s dedicated Year of Food & Drink.”

Lucy Cairns from Food NI, who joined Mr Agnew on his return to the Market, added; “It was lovely to meet Mr Agnew and hear about the heritage Hendersons has here in Northern Ireland and at St George’s Market. We’re delighted the company is backing the Year of Food & Drink, especially during this month of Heritage and Traditions. We will be down at the Market on Good Friday to sample some of the great local produce the company supports, cooked up by Paula McIntyre.”

Paula McIntyre will be situated by the clock in the Market, and will be using the same produce John Henderson sold during his market days; butter, cheese and eggs, amongst the many other products the company offers its retailers and customers today.

Paula commented; “Hendersons is a huge supporter of local food suppliers and I am delighted to be part of this one-off event, celebrating their heritage in Northern Ireland alongside the fabulous traditions and heritage of our local food. I look forward to cooking up some recipes for market visitors to sample, using our fantastic local ingredients alongside enjoy local eggs collected in Ballymena by Ballygarvey Eggs and enjoy local cheese and butter from Dale Farm.”

To learn more about Henderson Group’s history, visit www.henderson-group.com. Visitors to St. George’s Market on Friday 25th March can sample local food from Paula McIntyre from 10am – 11am.

Article written by Food NI CEO Michele Shirlow for Farm Week 17/03/2016

Top chef Michael Deane did a marvellous job last week by promoting the best of our food and drink at a series of banquets at the renowned St Regis Hotel in Bangkok city centre.

One of our most respected and innovative Michelin chefs, Michael was invited by the hotel to bring the flavours of Northern Ireland to Bangkok and to craft highly original and outstandingly tasty dishes for hundreds of influential diners, business people and food writers from Thailand and other parts of South East Asia.

I’ve seen the menu for the banquets in the five-star restaurant in what is one of Bangkok’s most popular hotels and I can see why every evening of his week-long stint was booked out. The menu was awesome!

Michael designed a wonderful seven-course banquet and then cooked it with his talented team. All the ingredients were sourced from Northern Ireland suppliers, mostly artisan enterprises.

He also selected fine wines to pair with the dishes. What a tremendous boost it was for our Year of Food and Drink, a campaign that features a strong international dimension designed to support Tourism Ireland and Tourism Northern Ireland as they seek to accelerate the growth in tourism here.

This exciting campaign has already been launched in London, Dublin and New York and reached out to chefs in other regions including the United Arab Emirates.

An enterprising Michael Deane has now taken the messages about our food and drink to the heart of South East Asia.

He shaped a spectacular menu that showcased Shortcross Gin Cured Salmon, Copeland Island Scallops, Lough Neagh Smoked Eel in Bramley Apple Caramel, Barbecued Cheeks of Fermanagh Pork and Black Pudding. Abercorn Estate Pigeon with Scallion Potato Bread and Carrots in Irish Whiskey, Peter Hannan’s Sugar Pit Cured Beef Rib with Yardmaster Ale and Burnt Onion, Young Buck Cheese in Seaweed Oat Cake and Fresh Rhubarb Poached in Heather Honey and Ice Buttermilk. That’s a menu to savour. I’d have loved to have been there to lend him support! Virtually every region of Northern Ireland was covered.

Michael Deane, of course, has helped to revolutionise the eating out scene in Belfast over the past 15 years. He has held a Michelin Star for 12 years, the longest ever in Ireland and gained this coveted recognition for EIPIC in Belfast last year….and deservedly so. His dedication and achievements have encouraged and stimulated many others across the province and together they have transformed Northern Ireland into a global centre of culinary excellence, a hub for creative, delicious and safe food with heritage and provenance. If you want to see him in action he will be at LegenDerry this Sunday 20th March in Guild Hall Square where you can also see a developing cadre of highly talented chefs who are creating original and authentic dishes from the superb ingredients from our processors and local farms and fishing families.

Our chefs, furthermore, are working increasingly closely with producers on measures that add significant value to their products.

I believe that the best route to growth for many of our smaller and ambitious businesses is through foodservice, developing relationships with individual chefs and distribution operations to see how existing products could be used on their menus or as ingredients for meals or other foods. Brokering such contacts between our members, chefs, producers and foodservice businesses, is one of Food NI’s strategic priorities for 2016 and beyond.

The Ulster Regional Final of the Irish Restaurant Awards took place in The Main Hall, at The Guildhall, Derry last night and named the top restaurants in the nine counties for 2016. Over 500 restaurant owners and staff celebrated their hard work and achievements at the Awards, which saw many well-known restaurateurs of Ulster turn out to see if they had won one of the prestigious awards.

Speaking at the awards, Chief Executive of the Restaurants Association of Ireland Adrian Cummins said; “The Irish Restaurant Awards celebrate their eighth year this year and have become the Island’s biggest food awards. The credibility that these awards have is reflected in the amount of nominations they received this year – over 70,000 individual nominations were cast across fourteen categories, showing that these are the awards that everyone wants to win.

Speaking at the awards, Chief Executive of the Restaurants Association of Ireland Adrian Cummins said; “The Irish Restaurant Awards celebrate their eighth year this year and have become the Island’s biggest food awards. The credibility that these awards have is reflected in the amount of nominations they received this year – over 70,000 individual nominations were cast across fourteen categories, showing that these are the awards that everyone wants to win.

“The Irish restaurant scene is internationally recognised for its high calibre of restaurateurs and chefs. These awards celebrate the people that make the restaurant sector the dynamic and exciting industry it is. They are the people who provide 72,000 jobs to our economy and generate revenue in excess of €2 billion. We’re recognising the talent, hard work and commitment that everyone here gives to the food industry. Tonight, everyone is a winner.”

Food outlets were nominated under the categories of Best Customer Service, Best Gastro Pub, Best Casual Dining, Best Hotel Restaurant, Best Chef, Best Restaurant, Best Wine Experience, Best Restaurant Manager, Best Kids Size Me, Local Food Hero, Best Emerging Irish Cuisine and Best Newcomer as well as two new main award categories – Best Café and Best World Cuisine.

All County winners now compete for the Regional and All Ireland Title which will be announced at the Irish Restaurant Awards in the DoubleTree Hilton Hotel, Dublin on Monday 16th May, 2016.

View award winners here- Ulster Regional Awards

Balloo House in Killinchy, Co Down kicked off a series of exclusive dining events on Monday night with Scottish Michelin star chef Tom Kitchin at the helm. The Four Seasons at Balloo events, part of the NI Year of Food Drink 2016 celebrations, will run throughout the year bringing four acclaimed chefs to the Balloo House kitchen to create four unique menus showcasing Northern Ireland’s finest seasonal produce.

Balloo House chef Danny Millar first met Tom while appearing alongside him on the BBC2 Great British Menu series along with the other chefs taking part in the Four Seasons at Balloo events, Glynn Purnell, Nigel Haworth and Stephen Terry. Speaking about last night’s dinner Danny said: “Tom is a world class chef and we have really enjoyed working with him to create an unforgettable dining event. It was a fantastic opportunity for the team. We were also proud to introduce him to Northern Ireland’s amazing produce and artisan suppliers, with the NI Year of Food and Drink 2016 the perfect platform for these unique dining events at Balloo House.”

Chef Tom Kitchin said: “As a chef, a lot of my inspiration comes from visiting new places, trying new ingredients and meeting new suppliers, so the Four Season’s event has been an incredibly memorable experience for me.
“I still get a buzz when my local suppliers meet me at the door of our restaurant The Kitchin in Edinburgh with produce straight from the Scottish land and sea, so it was really exciting to be a part of the process at Balloo House, sharing my ‘From Nature to Plate’ ethos and working alongside Danny and his team with some truly outstanding local produce.”

The three remaining dining events in the series are: Glynn Purnell dinner 23rd May, Nigel Haworth dinner 8th August and Stephen Terry dinner 14th November.

Mourne Mountains Brewery has announced that it will brew its second special edition beer of 2016 to celebrate its sponsorship of the Coast to Coast multisport race this May.

Organised by 26 Extreme, the event will see cyclists, runners and kayakers travel the 316km route from Enniscrone, Co. Sligo to Newcastle, Co. Down on 14th and 15th May.

Connaire McGreevy, founder of Mourne Mountains Brewery said: “We have decided to produce a special beer that will be named after this iconic event, to mark our second year of sponsorship.

“The Coast to Coast Ireland brew will be an amber ale at 4.5% ABV, using hops from New Zealand to recognise the fact that the original Coast to Coast event took place in New Zealand.

“We challenged ourselves to create something really different for Coast to Coast to celebrate our sponsorship in style, and this will be a complete departure from our core beers and other seasonal specials to date. We’ll be at the finish line with a free bottle for each competitor, so if that doesn’t encourage you to sign up and give it your best shot I don’t know what will!”

Ian Cumming, Race Director of Ireland’s Coast to Coast event, said, “We are absolutely delighted to have Mourne Mountains Brewery as a sponsor for our event.

“Coast to Coast is designed to showcase Ireland as a destination to our international racers, however, it’s an opportunity for local producers to showcase their products to our local competitors. Many of them will not forget that first beer after such a tough event, and this year, it’ll be their own custom brew.”

To find out more about Coast to Coast and to sign up to take part, visit www.26extreme.com

Visit www.mournemountainsbrewery.com for more from Mourne Mountains Brewery. #jointheclan