Asda Commits to Year of Food & Drink with launch of Supplier Development Academy

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Trading doors open to local agri-food sector as part of celebratory event 

Asda Northern Ireland is the first major supermarket here to announce its support and commitment to Year of Food & Drink 2016 with the launch of a bespoke training and development programme for its suppliers.

The year-long food-focused event provides the perfect backdrop for Asda’s Supplier Development Academy (SDA)which will reinforce its already strong relationship with NI’s agri-food sector and help to build on the £300 million of products it annually sources from local food and drink companies.

The Academy, which is backed by Invest NI and Scotland Food & Drink, will be open to a number of Asda’s key suppliers.  Running over a four month period it has the potential to boost each participant’s trading potential by up to 30%, promote innovation, develop key skills and streamline bureaucracy and administration.

In addition to the SDA, the supermarket is rolling out a programme of activity which will offer both its local supply base and its customers the chance to embrace the many opportunities which Year of Food presents to those who are hungry to enhance NI’s reputation for food excellence.

To reflect the focus on food quality and product innovation, Asda will also open its doors to potential new suppliers by hosting a series of ‘Meet the Buyer’ events in regional towns throughout NI. These will offer smaller, artisan food producers the chance to ‘pitch’ their wares to the buying team and discover what it takes to supply a large multiple retailer.

Customers will also be able to benefit from Asda’s support for Year of Food with a number of local food-focused events scheduled for each of its 16 stores. These include ‘Great Taste of Northern Ireland’ promotions, a year-long local food sampling programme, a major presence at The Balmoral Show, a schools engagement programme, and sponsorship of the hugely successful  Bank of Ireland Open Farm Weekend.

Michael McCallion, Asda’s Head of Local Sourcing for Northern Ireland and Scotland said:

“We’ve always been totally upfront about our commitment to NI’s food sector and Year of Food provides the ideal platform to raise the bar – from both a supplier and a consumer perspective.  We’re proud to be taking a lead and relish the chance to further boost the reputation of food, farming and retail in NI.”

BBC Taste North with Trish Deseine

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Well done BBC on the exceptional Taste North initiative last week, the highlight of which was Trish Deseine’s splendid Doorstep Cooking television show.

This focus on local food and drink will have helped immensely to increase awareness of the taste, quality, wholesomeness and safety of the very wide variety of products readily available here.

I am sure that Trish’s series for BBC Northern Ireland and Home – Recipes from Ireland, her superb cookbook will encourage more people across the province to look closely at what local produce offers for meals and snacks.

It’s a book that honours the plain cooking of her Co. Antrim childhood on a beef farm, and the plentiful benefits of the Irish larder.

This beautifully illustrated book is recognition, too, of the great progress of our cuisine in recent years by producers and, of course, by the many talented chefs in restaurants across Northern Ireland.

A native of Ballyclare, Trish is a widely respected food writer with a string of cookbooks and television shows that have gained international acclaim especially in France, her home for 30 years.

What we are all working towards in the local food industry is to establish Northern Ireland as global culinary centre of excellence using our outstandingly wholesome, nutritious and tasty food and drink. Year of Food and Drink 2016 will enable us to lift this important campaign to a new level.

Trish is among a developing cluster of leading food writers who recognise what’s happening in food and drink here and are contributing to its success through award winning cookbooks, television and radio shows and reviews in international newspapers and high-end magazines.

Others championing local food include Portadown native James McIntosh, probably the best known name in European food in China and author of cookbooks which have been acclaimed in the annual Gourmand awards, BBC chef Paula MacIntyre from Limavady, author of the exceptional Down to Earth cookbook, Noel McMeel’s Irish Pantry is a delight and Londonderry’s Emmet McCourt, author of the award winning Feast or Famine, who recently carried the banner for local food and drink to the very heart of Chicago.

All four have been assisting smaller companies in bringing their products to market and in creating greater awareness among consumers of the provenance and versatility of our food and drink.

The support for our food and drink from highly regarded UK writers like MasterChef judge Charles Campion, Diana Henry and Xanthe Clay, two of the Daily Telegraph’s most influential writers, is also immensely encouraging. They are regular visitors to Northern Ireland and will be especially welcome during Year of Food and Drink. Tourism NI, Tourism Ireland and Invest NI are also funding visits by international food and drink writers to local food companies and restaurants for meetings with producers and chefs. The outcome of these visits is extensive coverage of our food and culinary culture in influential newspapers and specialist magazines abroad.

My colleagues in Farm Week also deserve great credit for the platform provided weekly for artisan and smaller producers. The newspaper is playing a tremendously important role in helping artisan and smaller enterprises to raise their profile among its readers.

Our role in Food NI is to harness the support of our friends, here and abroad, to promote Northern Ireland as a centre of outstandingly tasty and wholesome food and drink and a destination offering quality and original menus created by highly innovative chefs. It’s about our telling our story at home to those who haven’t heard it before and abroad to those who are key influencers and trend setters.

There are benefits from this imaginative campaign for everyone in Northern Ireland in the shape of greater sales here and abroad of our food and drink, which could mean more employment opportunities, as well as a significant increase in tourism revenue.

This is what Year of Food and Drink is all about. And this is why it’s worthy of the support of everyone here.

 

 

 

Chefs and producers from NI showcase delicious Northern Ireland produce at London’s Good Housekeeping Institute

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Award-winning chef Theo Randall joined well-known Northern Ireland chefs and producers at the Good Housekeeping Institute in London yesterday, for the launch of Northern Ireland’s Year of Food and Drink 2016. The event, organised by Tourism Ireland, was attended by top GB food and travel journalists and bloggers.

Theo Randall, proprietor of Theo Randall at the InterContinental London Park Lane and former head chef at The River Café, cooked up some of his signature dishes in the test kitchen at the Good Housekeeping Institute – using delicious Northern Ireland produce for the guests to sample. He was ably assisted by Niall McKenna of James Street South, Derek Creagh of Harry’s Shack, Will Brown of The Old Schoolhouse Inn, James Huey of Walled City Brewery, as well as the Krazi Baker, Mark Douglas.

Guests heard all about our world-class ingredients, talented chefs, wonderful restaurants and cookery schools – as well as Northern Ireland’s upcoming Year of Food and Drink. In 2016, Tourism Ireland will be taking every opportunity to highlight and celebrate our wonderful food scene, promoting Northern Ireland food in GB and elsewhere around the world – and giving more tourists an appetite to visit Northern Ireland.

Caption 18 November 2015: REPRO FREE: Award-winning chef Theo Randall joined well-known Northern Ireland chefs and producers at the Good Housekeeping Institute in London, for the launch of Northern Ireland’s Year of Food and Drink 2016. The event, organised by Tourism Ireland, was attended by top GB food and travel journalists and bloggers. Pictured here (l-r) Niall McKenna, James Street South, Belfast; Kathryn Thomson, Tourism NI; David Boyce, Tourism Ireland and Theo Randall, InterContinental London Park Lane. Further media information: Elaine Moore / Clair Balmer, Tourism Ireland Tel: 07766 52771
Pictured here (l-r) Niall McKenna, James Street South, Belfast; Kathryn Thomson, Tourism NI; David Boyce, Tourism Ireland and Theo Randall, InterContinental London Park Lane.

Vanessa Markey, Tourism Ireland’s Head of Great Britain, said: “Next year, Tourism Ireland will place a major focus on highlighting Northern Ireland’s Year of Food and Drink. We are inviting people across Great Britain to come and enjoy 366 days of culinary celebration – where they will discover the best of local produce and have the chance to experience the spectacular scenery and wonderful coastline which makes Northern Ireland so special. With so many great events planned for 2016, our message is that there has never been a better time to enjoy a true taste of Northern Ireland.”

Vanessa Markey continued: “The latest NISRA figures confirm that visitors from Great Britain to Northern Ireland increased by +5% in the first half of 2015. Tourism Ireland is determined to ensure that growth continues and our busy autumn campaign is now in full swing.”  

Local butchers O’Doherty’s set to serve up a royal feast for Hope for Youth

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Known for their high quality and diverse products served to the local community and beyond for over 45 years, award-winning O’Doherty’s meats, Enniskillen, will soon be serving up a meal fit for a duchess. On Wednesday 25th November, locally-raised specialty beef from O’Doherty’s will board a City Air Express plane for a star-studded affair, Speedo House of Lords v House of Commons Swim in aid of local charity Hope for Youth.

Now in its 27th year, the swim will include famous faces including Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Gloucester, chief patron of the charity, Ian Paisley Jr, Sport Minister Tracey Crouch MP, and a number of world-class UK swimmers, who will don their Speedos to take part in the gala event pitting swimmers from the House of Commons against the House of Lords. Following the swim and presentations, guests at the star-studded event will be treated to a top-notch menu featuring the unique slow-cooked beef dish supplied by The Meat Trades Journal’s 2015 Northern Ireland Butcher of the Year, O’Doherty’s.

All funds raised on the evening for Hope For Youth, will be put toward cross-community groups in Northern Ireland that will enhance the lives of young people aged 11-18. Projects supported by Hope For Youth NI have included: Lisnaskea Playground, Music Theatre For Youth NI, The Youth Lyric, Sport Changes Life – E Hoops, and the Northern Ireland Cancer Fund For Children, amongst others. The charity has been making a difference to young people’s lives for over 40 years with a range of events including the biennial charity swim, now in its 27th year.

Commenting on the upcoming dinner to be served at the prestigious Porchester Hall, London, Pat O’Doherty, owner, O’Doherty’s said, “We are honoured to be supplying the beef for the dinner at the House of Lords v House of Commons charity swim for Hope for Youth. Our beef represents the very best of locally-farmed Northern Irish meat, grass-fed on Ivan Morrison’s Farm, Maguiresbridge, and this high-profile dinner acts as a great platform to show off our unique product.

Hope for Youth Chairman, Noel Lamb added; “We are all looking forward to tasting the beef dish generously supplied by O’Doherty’s. This biennial event has gone from strength to strength and helps to raise much needed funds to enable Hope for Youth provide grant support to important cross community organisations throughout Northern Ireland, and through kind contributions of food and drink we are able to optimise the amount raised for the charity.”

For more information on Hope for Youth visit www.hopeforyouthni.com. To learn about O’Doherty’s speciality meats visit www.blackbacon.com.

Mount Charles Group named the UK’s fastest growing foodservice company

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The Mount Charles Group has topped the Foodservice Growth Report 2015, a list and league table for the fastest growing independent foodservice companies in the United Kingdom, prepared by AlixPartners and EP Business in Hospitality.

The report, now in its third year, assesses foodservice providers on their profits and accounts, measuring their growth rate over a period of three years and placed Mount Charles in the top spot with a compound profit growth of 32.5 percent from a turnover in excess of £25.5m.

A new entry on the list for 2015, Mount Charles placed first ahead of some of UK’s most established firms including Olive Catering Services, who were second on the list and CH & CO Catering in third.

The report also commended Mount Charles as a stellar new entrant that continues to set standards for customer service, and suggested that the company appears well placed to continue its growth trajectory in the coming years as a market leader in Northern Ireland.

Cathal Geoghegan, Managing Director of The Mount Charles Group said: “It is a real honour to be recognised in the Foodservice Growth report, and as a new entrant we couldn’t be happier to have topped the list.

“Being ranked as the UK’s fastest growing foodservice provider is a testament to the hard work of all of our employees who maintain the highest standards of service and continue to help us grow the business.

“It’s especially gratifying when you take into consideration the calibre of the competition and the fact that the report compares firms on a national scale.

“There are some established names on the list and it’s a highly competitive industry, as modern foodservice businesses are not only competing against each other, but they have to battle against high street brands as well.

“It is however a very rewarding sector to work in and although it maintains a somewhat low profile, it’s one that thousands of people come into contact with every day, whether it’s through food provision at their workplace, schools, healthcare facilities or other. The chances are that you come into contact with our services more often than you might think.

“For us, the goal now is to build on this success and continue to drive the business forward in all areas, not just food service and catering, and we will continually strive to improve and strengthen our offering.”

Headquartered in Belfast, the Mount Charles Group currently employs 1,800 people across the island of Ireland and Great Britain, providing a range of business support services including contract catering, cleaning, vending, retail and security services, to public and private sector clients.

Their ranking in the Foodservice Growth Report is the second national accolade the Mount Charles Group has received in recent weeks, as the firm also won the coveted Public Service Buildings Award at the 2015 Kimberley-Clark Professional Golden Service Cleaning Awards.

The award, seen as a hallmark for quality and excellence, is a benchmark for contract cleaning companies, and was presented for the quality of their work at the iconic Titanic Belfast.

Showcasing the best of Northern Ireland’s local produce!

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The hospitality sector has a key role to play during the series of activities planned to celebrate our superb food and drink in 2016. Our first Year of Food and Drink will be an immensely exciting showcase of the very best of everything produced here by our companies, both big and small and including the burgeoning artisan sector.

Our approach will be to work closely with the hospitality sector to ensure that local food and drink continues to be highlighted on menus across Northern Ireland. This will have positive benefits for all.

By raising the profile of local products within the hospitality sector we hope to boost the economy and continue to enhance the reputation of food from Northern Ireland. Food and drink, it’s worth bearing in mind, contributes around £5 billion to the economy.

We believe that the initiative will also provide a massive boost for our developing tourism industry and assist Tourism Northern Ireland as it seeks to drive tourism earnings to over £1 billion by 2020.

Interestingly, a recent survey found that 54 per cent of people who visit Ireland do so for the pubs. The study, carried out for the ‘Support Your Local’ campaign, found that visiting Irish pubs was the second most cited reason for coming to Ireland, just behind ‘culture and heritage’, for which 57 per cent of respondents said was the main reason.

Marketing firm iReach conducted the study, with a sample of 500 tourists from the USA, Germany, Canada, France and the UK, who visited or had plans to visit Ireland soon.

As well as excellent food, Northern Ireland now has a rapidly developing cluster of local producers of award winning craft beers, cider and distilleries producing Irish whiskey, gin and, mostly recently, a small batch potato vodka.

We’ve seen major investment in new restaurants; hotels and bars over the past few years….and more projects are planned. Our chefs are now regularly picking up prestigious awards in competitions in Britain and the Republic of Ireland.

Year of Food and drink is a tremendously important initiative that will showcase our best, the superb restaurants, hotels and bars and also the skills of our hugely talented chefs. It will be an opportunity for all sectors of the industry to pull together for the benefit of the entire community.