The “Feed Your Wellbeing Festival” at Elmfield Market is designed to combine the joys of good food, health, and nature. Set in the beautiful Elmfield Estate, Gilford, Co Armagh, this one-day festival on Saturday, 31st August 2024, from 10am-5pm, promises to be a holistic experience for all ages.

Building on the success of the Elmfield Market, which started in June 2021, the festival will feature over 40 local food and drink producers, along with artists, craftspeople, and makers of holistic products. The market will be the centrepiece of the festival, offering visitors the chance to explore a wide variety of high-quality, locally sourced products.

The festival will be packed with activities, including:

• Panel Talks: Experts will discuss the importance of food for health, offering valuable insights into nutrition and wellbeing
• Farmer Stories: Hear directly from farmers about their journey in producing nutrient-rich foods
• Guided Walks: Explore the estate’s biodiversity, learn about native birds and trees, and enjoy family-friendly activities like a bird walk with a workshop on making fat balls
• Children’s Activities: Fun with Drums workshops and engaging storytelling sessions will keep younger visitors entertained
• Live Music: Enjoy live music from local artists
• Delicious Food: savour a range of culinary delights from our producers and street food vendors and specialist coffee trucks
• Enjoy walks along the lakeside and through the trees of the estate.

The Feed Your Wellbeing Festival at Elmfield Market is an excellent opportunity for anyone interested in wellbeing, nature, and supporting local producers. For those familiar with the market, it is an opportunity to visit Elmfield Estate once again and shop directly with your favourite producers and makers all in the one place.

Tickets are £12 and are available online or visitors can pay on the day. Children 16 years and under are free.

For more information on who is trading and schedule of events, visit the Elmfield Estate website and keep an eye on our social media channels.

Sustainably harvested Dulse Sprinkles, a unique seaweed product developed by Michelle Wilson at Crawford’s Rock in Kilkeel, Co Down, has won the Vegan Choice Award, the most prestigious in the global vegan industry.

The awards are designed to help businesses get their vegan products, food or services into the hands of more people by providing them with a stamp of approval that they can use to build trust, credibility and increase interest.

​By highlighting award-winning vegan products, services and eateries to consumers, it aims to ensure a more likely movement toward veganism.

The awards were made by a panel of vegan evaluators of business professionals, marketing experts, dieticians, designers, authors, chefs, influencers and entrepreneurs with a vast knowledge of the vegan industry. 

​Michelle, commenting on the latest award for its natural seaweed products, says: “It’s a marvellous endorsement for our products from such an important champion of vegan foods.”

Crawford’s Rock is the first Northern Ireland company to win an award from Vegan’s Choice. The small company has also won a number of UK Great Taste Awards for its seaweed products harvested from the Co Down coastline.

Michelle’s small batch food products include an extensive portfolio of seasonings, salts, oils and seaweed shots for smoothies and juicing. In addition, she produces a unique seaweed bath for luxury hotels in the area and a natural soap.

There’s also seaweed capsules which she refers to as ‘vitamin sea’ and a range of seaweed teas including peppermint, nori chai, lemon detox, and a goodnight tea. She’s certainly demonstrating the versatility of local and natural seaweed.

Michelle established Crawford’s Rock seaweed company in 2018 from the experience and heritage of her husband’s family which has foraged part of the Down coastline for the seaweed that’s commonly called laver or nori for generations. Nori is known in Down as ‘sloke’, a dark black seaweed that is wrapped round sushi rolls for a tasty dish in Japan.

Michelle says that the health benefits of eating seaweed are now “well-known and widely accepted”. “Seaweed is rich in iodine to support thyroid function, is a good source of vitamins and minerals and can help to delay hunger. It may reduce heart disease and cuts down on the risk of type 2 diabetes by improving blood sugar control. 

“Seaweed is full of minerals and vitamins and is now regarded justifiably as a superfood the world over. Seaweed is now recognised as an incredibly high-energy and low-calorie food,” she adds.

Food NI member Moy Park is in line for a prestigious Grocer New Product/Packaging Award.

The Craigavon-based specialist in poultry products, Northern Ireland’s biggest and most successful food company, has been shortlisted for the final stages of the annual awards for a recently launched Fakeaway Buttermilk Chicken Tenders. The company is also in the running for an award for its innovative eco packaging.

The Grocer New Product and Packaging Awards has become the symbol of innovation in the UK food sector, and this glittering finals, will be held on Friday 8th November at Wembley Stadium, London, where we will hear the latest and greatest innovations that have hit the shelves in the past 18 months.

The event will recognise every shortlisted entry’s excellence, awarding a gold, silver or bronze medal in recognition of efforts to bring excitement and difference to grocery aisles.

Not only that, packaging innovation is also celebrated through eight additional awards which include Eco-Pack of the Year, Innovative Pack of the Year and Label and Pack Design of the Year.

Packed with flavour the Fakeaway range are frozen chicken breast fillets. Moy Park said there had been a notable increase in spending in this category as shoppers opt for more premium options and said there was a gap in the market for branded whole fillet frozen coated chicken.

The gardens of Hillsborough Castle will come alive during this bank holiday weekend, the final one of the summer, with the smells, sounds and sights of the Summer Fair. Around 30 food producers, invited in collaboration with Food NI, will conjure the taste of Northern Ireland for visitors this Saturday, Sunday and Monday 24^th – 26^th August.

Here are 30 products born, grown, created, poured and made in Northern Ireland that you have to taste if you’re headed to the Hillsborough Castle Summer Fair this weekend.

1. Pineapple and Chilli Jam by Shorthorn Kitchen. This is an uber-cool brand from local stalwarts of the restaurant industry, who have created a range of artisan sauces and condiments, all of which are influenced by the seasons and the delicious produce that can be sourced throughout the year to make them. We love the pineapple and chilli jam as it’s sweet, has a kick, and goes with absolutely everything.

• Long Meadow Cider’s Medium Cider. Unsurprisingly based in the orchard county, Co. Armagh, Long Meadow has just added two more Guild of Fine Food Great Taste Awards to their roster, one for their Medium Cider. Produced from their homegrown, hand-picked apples, the family behind the products produce a range of craft ciders, apple juice and apple cider vinegar. Their motto is “From Plant to Pour” and we couldn’t agree with them more!

• Omi Seasoning from Partie de Moi. This joyous company adds a pinch of excitement to everything they create, including their Omi seasoning, which is named after Stephanie’s German Grandmother, and it is a unique savoury hand blended seasoning of herbs, Mussenden Sea Salt, onion and garlic flakes which “adds a fresh, verdant flavour to countless savoury dishes” according to Stephanie herself, who makes all of her seasonings on the North Coast.

• Rosie’s Garden Gin by Shortcross. It is Ireland’s most awarded gin and is made by Shortcross Distillery, part of the Rademon Estate Distillery in Co. Down, Northern Ireland’s first award-winning craft distillery. The Summer Fair will be held in the beautiful gardens of Hillsborough Castle, so we suggest choosing Shortcross’s Rosie’s Garden Gin which is described by the team as “summer in a glass”.

• Confit Duck from Lecale Harvest. Yet another Great Taste Award winner, and with good reason. This clever product from Lecale Harvest, which is a family-run business based in Co. Down, does all the hard work for you – the vacuum packed ready to eat products are hugely delicious and satisfying with very little effort required. We cannot recommend sampling them at the Summer Fair more!

• Ginger & Elderberry Shot by Jackson Roze Ginger Wine. A fantastic little immunity boosting drink that is excellent for our gut and tastes delicious! Jackson Roze is a family-run, artisanal drinks producer of non-alcoholic ginger wine that has been passed down through family generations for 100 years. They’re a really unique and interesting company who are innovatively bringing their techniques to the health food sphere with these little shots and we are sold!

• Burren Balsamics Strawberry and Mint. Yes, it could absolutely be drizzled over a zesty summery salad, but we also love adding a dash to our summer prosecco! Burren Balsamics was founded with a passion for innovation using local ingredients and traditional methods. The company proudly champion Ireland’s exceptional produce by carefully infusing small-batch balsamic vinegar with locally sourced ingredients.

• Salted Caramel Meringues from The Fluffy Meringue. Could there be a more delicious summery treat? These are exactly what you would expect – a large, blooming meringue infused with salted caramel, and topped with chocolate. You can also try the chocolate orange, lemon, honeycomb and raspberry & chocolate flavours, but choosing a favourite will be hard!

• Armagh Bramley Apple Gin by Symphonia Spirits. We are nearing the end of the summer, which means we’re looking to all things apple from pies to pours, so we will definitely be tasting some apple gins from Symphonia Spirits. They’re a multi-award winning distillery in Moy, Co. Tyrone and create products that showcase the local countryside. So refreshing!

1. Honey Caramel Sauce from Marshall Beekeeping. We love bees! They’re the life force of our eco system and they also make incredible honey, which has been beautifully produced and jarred by Christine Marshall for her Marshall Beekeeping range of products. This is a recent Great Taste Award winner and is as deliciously sweet as you’d expect. You can drizzle it over anything you desire but could we suggest some vanilla ice cream?

1. Erin Grove Classic Lemon Curd. Where to even begin with this fresh and zingy delight? It is the taste of summer and comes from experts in preserves and chutneys, Erin Grove based in the heart of the Fermanagh Lakelands. Their small batch production means those simple, traditional yet important flavours do not get lost and are true to the way founder Jayne Paget’s grandmother taught her how to make jam when she was a little girl.

1. Shut Yer Gob toffees from Granny Shaw’s. Granny Shaw’s is a very appropriate stall to visit at the Summer Fair as they’ll be offering up a range of confectionary made with old Victorian recipes, many of which we’re sure were enjoyed within Hillsborough Castle by its residents over the years. Expect fudge, tablet, macaroon and coconut ices alongside their famous incredibly sticky yet completely irresistible Shut Yer Gob toffees, which will indeed, shut your gob for a good while.

1. Irish Black Butter. We guarantee you’ll have heard of Irish Black Butter but never actually tasted it, enjoyed it on top of a slab of cheddar, mixed in with ice cream… yes, it is that versatile. Created by Alistair Bell it is a non-dairy, rich, spicy apple conserve (made with Armagh Bramley Apples) which can be used as an ingredient when making bread, or just spread on top of a slice. Trust us, try it.

1. Ballylisk Triple Rose Cheese. Co. Armagh’s Ballylisk Dairies have upped their game with the Triple Rose – it’s like their signature brie, but creamier (hence the triple!), balanced by salty, lemony tones. The Wright’s produce their range of award-winning semi-soft cow’s milk cheese utilising milk from their family farm, just outside Portadown. Go the full hog and peruse their range of chutneys, preserves, oatcakes and local honey at the Summer Fair to create the ultimate cheeseboard.

1. Seafood Sauce from Pure Thai Sauces. This artisanal sweet and spicy sauce made from a family recipe is sweet and punchy, and doesn’t just go with seafood – dip everything in there, smother it over chicken, it works with everything. Pure Thai Sauces is a family run business in Bangor, and they come from a rich gastronomic and hospitality background, priding themselves in supporting local growers and working closely with suppliers and local food purveyors to produce quality sauces that give that authentic Thai taste.

1. Elderflower Cordial from Papas Mineral Company. It’s light, sweet and can be enjoyed with soda water or splashed into many summer cocktails to see out the bank holiday weekend. Papas produce award winning artisan drinks and speciality cordials, made in small batches with each flavour blended by hand and each bottle filled and finished by hand, too.

1. Chilli Bolognese Sauce from Peppup Sauces. Why just have normal Bolognese when you can have it with a kick? Exactly. Peppup Sauces also have the added advantage of being ‘clean’, meaning no added sugar, no added fat, no allergens, they’re IBS friendly, and have no thickeners or preservatives.

1. Beer Mustard by Indie Fude. Indie Fude pride themselves in their selection of carefully curated local artisan foods from local suppliers across NI, and this is a product of a collaboration with aforementioned Burren Balsamics. It’s tangy and sweet with a kick from the Irish stout infused throughout. The team recommend it with mature cheddar or “any pork dish” – imagine it on your barbecued hot dogs!

1. Loaded fries from Glaze and Roll. Is there anything better than chips topped with your favourite additions, that you can actually taste the quality of? And Glaze and Roll’s are iconic. Of course, chef and owner Wayne’s company ethos is to support local producers by using their products where they can, and showcase as much local produce throughout their dishes as possible. Make sure to stop by this weekend!

• Portavogie Scampi from Linen Hill Street Kitchen. You know when you see Portavogie prawns on a menu you have to order them, and Linen Hill’s scampi is absolutely on the money. Hot, fresh and salty, get them with a side of chips and really do it properly! The Banbridge-based caterers is run by John and Fiona Robinson who pride themselves on delivering an extensive range using the finest produce sourced from local suppliers.

• Sorbet from Lick Gelato. It’s obviously not just any sorbet when it comes from Lick Gelato, the handcrafted, artisan Italian style ice cream. You can choose from lemon & blood orange, orange & pineapple or orange & raspberry. Or all three, who are we to judge?

• Pork is the choice for Blaeberry Farm. Straight from their own Farm, Mary-Leigh and her team will kick off your morning with just what’s needed – a filled soda, breakfast bap… you name it! Mary-Leigh and her family at Blaeberry Farm rear rare breed pigs and produce an incredible range of pork products to try or bring home to cook yourselves.

• The Classic Burger from The Chef’s Mill. Jamie has been an award-winning professional chef for 18 years, so you can expect this classic to be the ultimate taste sensation. It’s made up of a 6 oz Lisdergan beef patty, Emmental cheese, topped with Kennedy’s ‘baconnaise’, and all within a lovely soft, brioche bun. The Chef’s Mill was born from pure passion and Jamie’s cooking reflects just that!

• A Chai Latte from Crumb and Beyond. Usually based on the North Coast, Crumb and Beyond will be driving their coffee box down to Hillsborough Castle and Gardens for the Summer Fair and we implore you to try their chai lattes. However Debbie never fails, whatever the order.

• A warming cuppa from The Fancy Fox coffee van…but no matter your choice The Fancy Fox will always deliver! Owned by Lorna O’Boyle from Castlewellan, they specialise in barista style Bro Coffee, Suki Tea, hot chocolate and serve up some great local bakes as well.

• A scoop from Ben’s Ice Cream Studio. They call themselves scoop engineers over at Ben’s, and we’re not surprised as they take their ice cream making very seriously, meaning it tastes extra delicious. Pick any flavour and all the toppings and you’re sorted. Everything is locally sourced and just the ticket to cool you down after a day of meandering around Hillsborough Castle and Gardens.

• Loaded Fries Seasoning by Crawford Rocks. The Crawford family has ben harvesting seaweed to create their award-winning seasoning products for decades, and we love this loaded fries seasoning. Obviously, it’s delicious topped on hot, crispy French fries with your additional toppings of choice, thanks to this sea salt with sea truffle, dehydrated olives and spices flavours.

• A Wagyu Sausage from Kingsbury Wagyu. Wagyu beef is a flavour and taste sensation in itself, but made into a sausage is just next level. The Kingsbury team have crafted these sausages from the finest Wagyu beef, blending a rich, succulent taste with a perfectly tender texture. Enjoy some samples at Hillsborough Castle’s Summer Fair, and take some products home for the final Summer BBQ.

• Cake Pops from Little Cake Works. It’s hard to choose just one thing from Little Cake Works as we could easily include one of their traybakes, too, but cake pops are just that little bit more exciting and fun, especially for the Summer Fair! Little Cake Works motto is ‘every cake deserves to be special’ and these yummy cake pops are testament to that!

• Ninth Wave Gin from Hinch Distillery. This is an award-winning gin and is as refreshing as it is tasty. Hinch is based in, you guessed it, Ballynahinch and is best known for producing whiskey and gin, while also hosting tours and events at their fantastic distillery venue. They’ve also just opened a new restaurant, Era, led by Head Chef Gemma Austin.

It’s not just locally produced foodie finds that can be enjoyed at Hillsborough Castle’s Summer Fair; browse art from Deborah Campbell, natural bathing products from Bathe Botanicals, lampshades with stories from around the world from The Lampshade Jungle, fabulous faux florals from Blossom Meadow and vibrant and bold accessories and jewellery from Fiddle Fig. There will also be a set list of live music throughout the weekend, while Hillsborough Castle’s award-winning gardening team will be on hand to share secret tips and tricks during their Gardeners’ Clinic. Book tickets now at hrp.org.uk/Hillsborough-castle.

Ireland’s oldest ice-cream producer, Morelli’s Ice Cream, has shipped a selection of ice cream to Casalattico in Italy as part of an annual festival celebrating Irish culture. 

Irish Fest, which takes place annually in August, is a festival that gives locals and visitors to Casalattico a taste of Ireland, while celebrating Italians who have relocated to the Emerald Isle.

Casalattico is a hilltop village in the province of Frosinone in the Lazio region of Italy. Many people who left Casalattico to work in Ireland founded fish and chip shops – including Morelli’s founder, Peter Morelli.

Morelli’s Ice Cream was started on Stone Row in Coleraine after Peter moved from Casalattico to Coleraine. The first shop sold fish and chips and sweets and even ran a taxi service, with ice cream only sold during the summer months.

For the first time in the company’s 113-year history, an array of flavours including Double Cream Vanilla and Honeycomb were sent to the town for Irish Fest. During the event, Casalattico locals and visitors could enjoy a range of Irish cuisine including a full and authentic Irish breakfast traditional fish and chips, Morelli’s ice cream and Guinness on draught. Guests were also treated to a performance from an Irish band along with some Irish whiskey tasting.

Daniella Morelli, Sales and Marketing Director at Morelli’s Ice Cream, said: “We’re so excited to have been a part of our home village’s Irish Fest. We are proud to support the event in this way and hope our award-winning flavours went down a treat with locals and visitors alike. The whole team wishes we could be there to enjoy the fun!”

Morelli’s Ice Cream, Ireland’s oldest ice cream producer, was established in 1911 by Peter Morelli. Since then, the brand has flourished and expanded. The company currently has five family-run outlets and eleven branded stores in Northern Ireland as well as supplying Tesco, Dunnes Stores, Sainsbury’s and various independent retailers all across Ireland.

For more information about Morelli’s Ice Cream visit www.morellisices.com or on the brand’s social media – Facebook, Instagram and X.

Three Food NI members have achieved outstanding success in the prestigious Irish Whiskey Masters. The successful members were: Hinch Distillery in Ballynahinch; Copeland Distillery in Donaghadee; and Rademon Estate Distillery in Crossgar.

The companies were among whiskeys from distilleries from across the island blind tasted by panel of expert judges.

Copeland in Donaghadee won silver for its Merchant’s Quay blend.

Hinch Distillery, Ballynahinch won two masters in the New Make category, Double Distilled and Triple Distilled and golds for its Small Batch Bourbon Cask; 5-Year-old Double Wood; 5-Year-Old Madeira Cask Finish; 15-Year-Old Sherry Cask Finish Craft and Casks Imperial Stout Finish; and Peated Small Batch.

Rademon in Crossgar won golds for its Irish Whiskey Bonding Company Grafter and Chancer and Distiller’s Duo.

 The Irish whiskey category, which has been a tremendous success story, continues to develop strongly especially in international markets. It’s an industry which has seen remarkable growth in a relatively short period of time. In 2013, for instance, there were only four distilleries in the country, including one in Northern Ireland, Old Bushmills in Co Antrim, but 10 years later this has expanded to 45 in operation and more planned. There are now around 12 in the North and many are exporting worldwide, especially Europe and other areas.

Emerging markets, furthermore, reported double-digit growth for Irish whiskey, including Nigeria (up by 59%), Poland (up by 21%), Singapore (up by 55%) and South Korea (up by 11%).

Old Bushmills in Co. Antrim, now widely acclaimed as the world’s oldest licensed distillery, emerged as the overall ‘Master’ for its unique 30-year-old single malt.

The innovation-led distillery also collected major awards for other products including the Black Bush premium blend, the 21-year-old single malt, 25-year-old single malt and the 16-year-old single malt.

Irish whiskey category, which has been a tremendous success story, continues to develop strongly especially in international markets. It’s an industry which has seen remarkable growth in a relatively short period of time.

In 2013, for instance, there were only four distilleries in the country, including one in Northern Ireland, Old Bushmills in Co Antrim, but 10 years later this has expanded to 45 in operation and more planned. There are now around 12 in the North and many are exporting worldwide, especially Europe and other areas.

Emerging markets, furthermore, reported double-digit growth for Irish whiskey, including Nigeria (up by 59%), Poland (up by 21%), Singapore (up by 55%) and South Korea (up by 11%).