Ireland’s oldest ice cream producer, Morelli’s Ice Cream, a Food NI member, has
partnered with Devil’s Churn and North Coast Smokehouse to create a brand-new
ice cream flavour to tickle the tastebuds of sweet – and salted – treat fans this
summer.

The limited edition ‘Devil’s Churn Ripple’ flavour is now on sale and will be available
at selected Morelli’s Ice Cream outlets, while stock lasts.

The ice cream starts with Morelli’s multi award winning Double Cream Vanilla as a
base and is rippled with Devil’s Churn Campfire Salted Caramel Sauce.
 

Named after an iconic landmark and natural sea cave in Ballycastle, Devil’s Churn is
part of Naturally North Coast and Glens, an award-winning social enterprise
committed to supporting small businesses and revitalising urban and rural times
through the delivery of artisan markets. 
 

The Devil’s Churn Campfire Sauce used for the collaboration is a rich dairy caramel
sauce, handcrafted in small batches using the finest quality Northern Irish
ingredients.
 

The sauce contains beechwood smoked sea salt, which is produced by North Coast
Smokehouse in Ballycastle , award-winning Économusée, also located in
Ballycastle.
 

In addition to the salt, the sauce features generous amounts of Northern Irish dairy
products, including fresh cream and real butter, creating a decadent and smoky
flavour. Morelli’s Ice Cream, Devil’s Churn and North Coast Smokehouse are all
Great Taste Award-winning producers.
 

“We are excited to partner with two fantastic brands to create ‘Devil’s Churn Ripple’
in time for summer,” said Daniela Morelli, Sales and Marketing Manager at Morelli’s
Ice Cream. “We’re very proud of the new flavour and we’re looking forward to our
customers trying it at selected Morelli’s scoop ice cream stockists.”
 

“It’s an honour to partner with one of the most iconic ice cream brands in Ireland to
create this flavour,” added Eoin McConnell from Devil’s Churn. “Our award-winning
Campfire Sauce is the perfect pairing with Morelli’s Double Cream Vanilla, and we’re
so pleased with the finished product. Get yourself down to Morelli’s and give it a go!”
 
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.

Newry born chef duo, to invest half a million pounds in expanding their retail
brands ‘The Food Market’ and ‘The Food House’ restaurant and doubling
their workforce by the end of the year.

Friends Mark Haughey and John McCartney, the chef duo behind Just Good
Grub (wholesale), have announced plans to expand their retail brand, The Food
Market and its restaurant derivative, The Food House.
The businessmen have secured close to 5,000 sq. ft. foot premises at Plaza
Retail on the Belfast Road as part of their ambitious plans to grow their retail
footprint.

They will launch The Food Market this summer (the second in the brand
portfolio) and, pending planning, PHASE II will see the addition of The Food
House seated restaurant in late 2024/early 2025 – the second for the
company, which has another located in Banbridge.

John explains: “The Food Market will open late June, with the restaurant to
follow later in the year. The Food Market will retail breakfast options, freshly
made sandwiches/subs and melts to order, serving Barista style coffee
alongside a wide range of fresh ready meals and desserts from our Just Good
Grub brand.”

It’s a significant investment by the duo who launched their food partnership in
2018, borne out of a desire to work independently, having both gained
decades of experience working in hotels and restaurants across the Down and
Armagh region.

Speaking ahead of the opening, Mark said it was an exciting first step in the
next phase of business development for their retail brands, The Food Market
and The Food House.

“We are excited to secure this prominent site in the City after some years
looking for the ideal premises. The food offering in The Food Market and its
offshoot, The Food House restaurant, will stay true the ethos of our origins –

providing simple, delicious, fresh food – created by chefs. Following on from
the success of The Food House restaurant in Banbridge, we’re delighted to
announce our plan to expand that offering to our home town and create new
employment opportunities .”

From their bespoke kitchen facilities at WIN Business Park the company cook
over 25,000 meals every week, available in 140 retail outlets. There are 250
menu options, which are regularly updated – including family favourites,
breakfast pots, Asian inspired dishes, Calorie counted meals and freshly
prepared desserts.

Their commitment to ‘fresh produce, quality ingredients and great taste’ will
be evident on the menu for the new The Food House restaurant when it’s
launched late 24/early 25, occupying a footprint close to 4,000 sq. ft.

John said: “Creating local employment and working with local suppliers has
always been a cornerstone of our business. We currently employ 65 staff
across Newry and Banbridge, and we are very proud of our team who have
supported us in our growth. The addition of a second The Food Market & deli
and a second The Food House restaurant will see that staff level double by the
end of 2024,” he adds.

The Food Market (Retail) at Plaza Retail, Belfast Road will open end June 2024.
The Food House (Seated Restaurant) at Plaza Retail, Belfast Road will open end
of 2024/early 2025, pending planning.

Newry, Mourne and Down District Council is delighted to host ‘Eats & Beats’ in Donard Park, Newcastle,
Co. Down on Saturday 7 and Sunday 8 September 2024.

If you are interested in exhibiting in the Producers Pavilion, please contact tourismevents@nmandd.org for an application and state FoodNI in the subject line

Eats & Beats is a celebration of food and music as it showcases the best of local and world food and music.

To highlight the best of our local and national cuisine, Donard Park will feature a Homegrown and World
food area. The Homegrown area will host the best of our local and national food whilst the World area will celebrate Northern Ireland produce through world food dishes. As part of the Homegrown area, there will be a ‘Producers Pavilion’ which will showcase the best of Northern Ireland produce. The ‘Producers Pavilion’ will be open for trading from 10.30am – 5.30pm each day.

https://www.visitmournemountains.co.uk/whats-on/giant-adventures/eats-and-beats-
festival-newcastle

Shoppers in Marks and Spencer stores in Northern Ireland and the Republic of
Ireland will soon be able to enjoy artisan fudge handcrafted by three sisters in
Belfast.

Fudge from Melting Pot in east Belfast has just been listed by the prestigious retailer
for its 50 food halls in both parts of Ireland in a significant deal from the recent
Balmoral Show. Melting Pot, which was among around 100 local companies in the
huge Food NI Food Pavilion at the show, will see its fudge on the shelves in M&S in
September.

Jenny Lowry, one of the three founding partners of Melting Pot, continues: “This is
very exciting news that will enhance our business in both Northern Ireland and the
Republic. It’s a tremendous endorsement of the quality and taste of our products by
one of the most respected food retailers in the United Kingdom and Ireland, a great
way to celebrate 20 years in business.

“We were invited to pitch for business with an M&S buyer. It was a marvellous
opportunity that has now led to a listing for two of our fudges, traditional butter and
salted caramel, in the retailer’s food halls,” adds Jenny, who established the small
business with sisters Dorothy Bittles and Cathy Johnston in 2004.

The new business follows an earlier contract to supply a range of fudge to Dunnes
Stores for supermarkets in Northern Ireland and the Republic.
Melting Pot is an artisan fudge brand developed by Blackthorn Foods, the business
formed by the sisters, and is actually the second successful enterprise they’ve
established together.

The first venture, Salad Fayre, a producer of gourmet salads and desserts, was
formed in Newtownards in 2003 and subsequently sold at a profit. They then formed
Melting Pot was using a recipe for butter fudge developed by Patrick, their father, a
surveyor. The fudge has also won UK Great Taste Awards.

“We share a passion for premium fudge made using traditional, handcrafted
techniques,” explains Jenny. “Our fudge is all handmade and hand wrapped in small
batches, using the finest ingredients and natural flavourings. We have also
developed a gluten-free range.”

Going Dutch with our message about the importance of good food.

Food NI’s and the industry’s success in raising the profile of our food and drink
especially, in support of tourism, has attracted the attention of many regions across
the globe and has helped shape many important initiatives.

As a result, due to our measurable outputs during the Northern Ireland Year of Food
and Drink in 2016, and then winning Best Global Food destination in the International
Travel and Tourism Awards 2018/19, an achievement that still brings a smile, we are
now seen as a model of food/tourism development especially in emerging regions.
There’s widespread recognition of the extent of the food and drink revolution in
Northern Ireland during two decades.

The most recent region to seek guidance from us on the importance of indigenous
food and drink within tourism was Achterhoek, part of Gelderland in the Eastern
Netherlands, close to the German border, and a region of around 500,000 people
smaller than Northern Ireland, but with many similarities. A rural region with many
solid hard-working farmers who ‘just get on with it’ and don’t brag about what they
are doing, despite having innovated and pivoted their businesses and having won
many food and drink awards.

I had the privilege recently of taking part in a series of important discussions there
about food and drink tourism. Achterhoek shares with Northern Ireland a strong agri-
food industry that’s dominated by meat, dairy and other crops such as potatoes and
grains. Among other notable products is Grolsch beer and they even have their own
vineyards. I was delighted to meet a pig farmer turned wine-maker with a range of
wines named after local castles in the Achterhoeck region. Also, a leek farmer who
was growing pumpkin and poppy seeds for the bakery sector while running a farm
shop selling produce from the area.

As traditional agriculture has been downsizing, the focus on outdoor tourism has
flourished and the area is increasingly being seen as a destination for active tourism
– cycling, canoeing, hot air ballooning and lakeside retreats. The majority of visitors
are drawn from Germany, Belgium, Denmark and the Irish Republic, and I spotted
many of them cycling their way through the beautiful landscape of fields, canals,
traditional farmhouses and windmills.

My visit included meetings with food producers and tourism bodies included the
Achterhoek Food Platform which is on a journey that we’ve been travelling for many
years here in Northern Ireland.

The platform aims to assist Achterhoek on its journey to become a food region
whereby it’s citizens, employees and visitors can choose healthy and sustainable
food whilst producers take into account their impact on the climate, biodiversity,
landscape and animal welfare. We share their commitment especially the focus on
sustainability, biodiversity and animal welfare.
Achterhoek has the ambition to become “the healthiest and most vital region in The
Netherlands and Europe”. It is keen to work with other bodies, such as Food NI,
within “an international network of leading food regions and with Achterhoek Tourism
on an internationally distinctive profile for tourism there”.
Platform Achterhoek Food wants to strengthen the Achterhoek’s network of
entrepreneurs, farmers, schools, culinary teachers and students in the food
business, tourism, social organisations, food developers and sports clubs, which
automatically creates new and innovative partnerships and business opportunities.
Food NI can certainly relate to this strategy – it reflects much of what we have been
working on since our formation in 2016. I found the visit stimulating and worthwhile
and look forward to sharing experiences and ideas with Achterhoek. There’s much
that Northern Ireland and Achterhoek can benefit from through such an ongoing
collaboration in Europe.
As always on these journeys, you leave with the intention of explaining what you
have done, and you end up learning as much as you leave behind. I was highly
impressed at the link between health and food, the work they are doing on social
programmes, using food as a method of helping people return to education or
employment. I also met the inspirational Lena Friblick, the founder of the
Botildenborg Foundation which uses food to resolve social challenges in Malmo, and
Chef Bjorn Massop of Restaurant Lokaa in Doetinchem. Connections which I hope
will last for many years.

– Michele Shirlow MBE

Applications to trade at the Hillsborough Summer Fair (formerly Hillsborough Honey Fair) on 24th – 26th August are now open

Applications close 9am Wednesday 19th June. Click below to find out more and complete an application.

Food/Drink/Crafts Producer Application

Food to Go/ Tea/Coffee / Dessert Application

Contact oonagh@nigoodfood.com with any queries