Tourism NI has launched a major initiative aimed at putting food and drink at the heart of the Northern Ireland visitor experience.

The Year of Food and Drink 2016 will be a yearlong celebration aimed at boosting Northern Ireland’s reputation as a destination.

The year will see a series of events and industry development programmes celebrating quality, innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship in the food and drink sector.

The initiative, led by Tourism NI and involving a wide range of partners and key organisations in the food and drink industry across Northern Ireland, is intended to stimulate trade, tourism growth and an increase in visitor spend.

Tourism NI is supporting the initiative with the development of masterclasses and mentoring programmes and a series of events and advisory roadshows.

It has also produced an industry toolkit to help anyone who wants to get involved in promoting their food and drink offer in their area.

In addition, its Tourism Event Funding Programme 2016/17 will incorporate the Year of Food and Drink Scheme. A total of £300,000 of funding has been designated within this scheme specifically for food and drink experiences at events.

The year will include a special food or drink theme for each month of the calendar.

There was a large attendance from the tourism and hospitality industry at the launch in Titanic Belfast.

Speaking at the event Tourism NI chairman Terence Brannigan said: “In the past few years Northern Ireland has experienced positive increases in tourism and has made significant progress in building a reputation for excellence in food production and hospitality. This initiative is a major opportunity to tie all of these successes together under the one banner for a year-long celebration of all that is good about our food and drink.

“Food and drink is an absolutely essential part of the visitor experience as it accounts for a significant proportion of visitor spend, and is therefore a key element of the economy. The Year of Food and Drink 2016 will highlight, celebrate and capitalise on our wonderful food and drink stories. I am confident this will make a large contribution both to the Northern Ireland economy and to the drive to deliver on the long-term aims of the industry to the end of the decade.”

Love your latte? Can’t live without your cappuccino? Besotted by black gold?

Around three quarters of adults in the UK can’t live coffee each day and more and more people search for Fairtrade or ethically sourced brands when it comes to their coffee.

Ground Espresso Bars are the largest independent coffee chain in Northern Ireland and pride themselves for their integrity, constantly searching for ethically sourced products.

The coffee chain employs more than 150 people in 14 outlets across Northern Ireland.

Now the brand has decided to give back to its producers, growers and co-ops around the world who produce, among other things, the trade-marked Ground Espresso Bars Purple Dragon triple certified coffee; so-called because it has been certified by the Fairtraide Foundation, the Rainforest Alliance and the Organic Food Federation.

The company announced in March the funding of a new educational hub in Honduras which would provide an IT centre with two full-time teaching staff for the use of the Capucas Co-op, growers of Fairtrade coffee.

The project was originally a small one with a budget of just $20,000 being raised through the Ground Espresso Bars throughout Northern Ireland.

However, thanks to a huge donation of more than $100,000 dollars from the University of Honduras, what was planned to be a small community hub will become an institution to transform the local area.

Thanks to the extra funding the hub will now be a large, permanent structure. The aim of the new building is to provide stronger links with the community and put an even bigger emphasis on education.

The centre will offer educational courses and even distance learning for those working adults who were never given the opportunity to go into further education because of their finances or physical location.

As well as boosting the local economy by providing construction jobs for local workers, when it’s up and running the hub will also provide permanent teaching jobs.

The hope of Ground Espresso Bars is that the hub will provide essential educational resources for everyone in a region still affected by poverty and with a literacy rate of just 75%. It will also connect the Capucas region to the rest of the world through the internet.

Karen Gardiner, Director, Ground Espresso Bars said of the project: “It’s wonderful to see what was a small project grow in to something that could change lives, thanks to the donation from the University of Honduras.”

She explained: “This is just one step in the Ground Espresso Bars Honduras Project and we’re looking forward to seeing similar projects get off the ground in other coffee-growing regions around the world in 2016 with the hope of making a real difference within the growers’ communities.”

Karen went on: “We want to ensure that all of the individuals in our supply chain, from labourers and farmers to exporters and their families are treated fairly and ethically in all stages of coffee production.”

“Fundraising will continue in all of the Ground Espresso Bars across Northern Ireland to enable similar projects to the one in Honduras.”

“Every donation is welcome, even the 5p change from a cup coffee in one of Ground Espresso’s Bars will help another growing community. ”

For further information or to donate to Ground Espresso Bars Honduras project to go www.groundespressobars.net or visit your local Ground Expresso Bars.

This year’s Tesco Taste Festival attracted more than 25,000 people – the largest attendance in the event’s seven-year history.

The event – which opened on Friday night for the first time as part of Belfast’s Culture Night – drew visitors of all ages to Custom House Square over last weekend.

As well as more than 60 local exhibitors, including many household brand names such as Tayto, Wilsons, Dale Farm and Irwins,the Festival included many small, artisan food and drink companies.

Link to video interview with Alison Seaney, Big Pot

Link to video interview with Angus Wilson from Wilsons Country

Link to video interview with Barbara Hughes from Hughes Craft Distillery

Link to video interview with Jackie McConnell from Skea Eggs

Those involved in the VIP preview were also treated a spectacular flash mob involving members of the highly acclaimed Belfast Community Gospel Choir whose director, Marie Lacey was visiting the Festival for the first time.

Link to video interview with Marie Lacey of BCGC

Tesco NI Marketing Manager Caoimhe Mannion said the event was the showpiece in the annual Tesco Taste NI campaign and it underlined the retailer’s credentials as a ‘force for good’ in Northern Ireland.

“As the largest purchaser of NI food and drink we’re proud to say our commitment to local – and this showpiece event – just gets bigger and better each year.

“Each year we spend in excess of £550m on around 1200 lines from approximately 90 local suppliers. This event is significant for the entire agrifood sector and presents a genuine opportunity for local companies to get their brands and products in front of consumers of all ages.”