Cloughbane Farm: Lasagne & Shepherd’s Pie made from Beef reared on the Dungannon home farm
A successful, multi- award-winning farmshop in the heart of County Tyrone is reaping the rewards of its commitment to local produce with a major supermarket supply deal. Cloughbane Farm uses only locally sourced vegetables, potatoes, milk and flour in its pies, the poultry in its roast dinner meals is reared on local farms and the minced beef in its lasagne and shepherd’s pie is sourced from cattle reared on the home farm in Pomeroy. This local provenance is proving to be a big seller with Tesco shoppers.
The 180-acre Cloughbane Farm is a fourth-generation, family-run beef and lamb farm outside Dungannon. Ten years ago, owners Sam and Lorna Robinson established an on-site Farm Shop and Butchers, from where they began selling home-cooked pies and take away meals in 2006. Through increased demand from independent retailers and the new development of a farm shop kitchen, they have gradually increased the scale of their production, all the time sticking to the tried and tested family recipes and a firm commitment to local produce.
Following months of preparation, Cloughbane started as a new supplier to Tesco in December 2012, with seasonal Turkey & Ham parcels, stuffed with their Great Taste Award-winning stuffing and a range of heat-and-serve Roast Beef, Chicken and Turkey Dinners with creamy mash, local veg, and home-made gravy. In January it introduced its Chicken & Broccoli Bake, made from chicken breast from local poultry farms and broccoli grown by farmers based in the Cooktown area. But it is the local provenance of its lasagne and shepherd’s pie ingredients that are proving the brand’s biggest selling point now.
Lorna Robinson of Cloughbane Farm said, “We aren’t doing anything different now than we have always done. We understand the importance of the provenance and quality of food – it’s our life and our living. Even the breadcrumb we use on our savoury bakes is sourced from Irwin’s, the whole milk, butter and flour in our white sauce are locally produced and everything is made from scratch in our Farm Kitchens. The minced beef in our lasagne and shepherd’s pie comes directly from our own beef herd reared on the farm here in Pomeroy and as demand has grown, we’ve been able to support other neighbouring farmers too. We have complete traceability from farm to fork. We know precisely what’s in it and exactly where it came from. ”
Sandra Weir, Buying Manager, Tesco NI said, “We are delighted how the Cloughbane Farm products are going down with our customers. This supplier epitomises everything we are doing with the Tesco Taste NI campaign – showing Northern Ireland shoppers the tremendous range of high quality local ingredients we have right on our doorstep. They, like us, are committed to sourcing as much locally as possible. Northern Ireland has an amazing agri-food industy, which is delivering fantastic quality tasty foods, produced with hard work, with pride and without compromise. We are so pleased that Tesco shoppers are recognising this in Cloughbane’s products and responding so positively to it. The Cloughbane Farm range is now available in 19 major Tesco stores. The journey direct from the Robinson’s farm to our shelves is one we are very pleased to support and promote.”
For more information on the Tesco Taste NI campaign, visit www.tasteni.com or follow onwww.facebook.com/tastenorthernireland

…for whatever tickles your fancy really! Voting starts on Monday 25th February

CLICK HERE TO VOTE NOW!

Food and drink lovers across Northern Ireland are being invited to have their say in this year’s Northern Ireland Food and Drink Awards which are taking place next month to celebrate the resilience and growth of the sector across the province.

The awards, which are considered the most important awards in Northern Ireland’s business calendar, honour the work of our home grown producers and celebrate the contribution which the agri-food industry plays in our economy.

This year, Food NI, our region’s promotional voice for food and drink producers, are sponsoring two awards – The People’s Choice and Taste of Ulster Restaurant of the Year 2013.

For The People’s Choice award, producers, from across Northern Ireland, have been asked to put forward the product which they feel deserves recognition and are now putting its fate in the hands of the public.

As well as that, independent inspectors for Food NI have been busy anonymously assessing Northern Ireland’s top restaurants to score their food quality, use of local produce and standards of service. The top 20 Taste of Ulster Restaurants, selected from independent assessors scoring, will be nominated for the public vote via social media. The restaurant achieving the highest level of votes will win the Food NI Taste of Ulster Restaurant of the year award for 2013.

Michele Shirlow, chief executive of Food NI, said: “This is the 12th Northern Ireland Food and Drink Awards and we are delighted to be sponsoring two categories. It has been great fun getting the nominations in. Food and drink producers play a massive role in our economy. We all love something nice to eat and drink and somewhere nice to dine out. But the public can now have their say on whether it’s bread or butter, yoghurt or ice cream or burgers or steak or, indeed whatever, which tickles their fancy, by nominating online.”

In Northern Ireland, over 100,000 private sector jobs depend on the success and continued growth of the agri-food sector which has an estimated turnover of £4billion.

To vote for your favourite produce and your favourite restaurant visit www.nigoodfood.com. Voting is open from Monday morning (February 25) at 9am and runs through til Friday, March 8th at 5pm.

See Monday’s update for the full list of nominations.

The heat is on for the next generation of budding chefs as the deadline approaches for entries to the Dairy Council for Northern Ireland’s Young Cook of the Year competition.

Open to all Key stage 3 and 4 pupils across Northern Ireland; the competition has a closing date of 1st March 2013 so there’s still time for the next budding Jamie Oliver or Nigella to apply!

To celebrate that Derry/Londonderry has been awarded the honour of the first ever UK City of Culture for 2013, the popular cooking competition is inviting students to chose an event from the calendar of activities and prepare a two course meal to entertain friends who will be watching the celebrations.

To be in with a chance of winning a cash prize for both themselves and their school, entrants will be required to demonstrate their cooking skills as well as highlight the importance of incorporating dairy products as part of a balanced diet to produce a nutritious meal.

Dr Mike Johnston, Chief Executive of the Dairy Council for Northern Ireland, said: “Each year we look forward to starting our search to find the next promising culinary talent in our schools.

“We recognise that 2013 is an exciting time for Northern Ireland so we want students to help celebrate this by producing a balanced meal, using locally sourced products including dairy ingredients. As the deadline for entries is fast approaching, we would encourage any pupils who are still keen to do so to enter by logging on to www.dairycouncil.co.uk

The competition has been developed in consultation with the Education and Library Boards and supports the Home Economics curriculum at Key Stage 3 and Key Stage 4.

Winners will be chosen from each Education and Library Board area, with the overall category winners and the Young Cook of the Year announced at a special cook-off in March 2013.

Linden Foods has received a top ‘green’ accolade from Business in the Community’s ARENA Network by achieving Quintile One status at this year’s 14th Northern Ireland Environmental Benchmarking Survey Results Launch.

The Survey, carried out by ARENA Network and supported by the Northern Ireland Environment Agency, annually assesses top businesses in Northern Ireland for environmental management, performance and assurance.

Environment Minister Alex Attwood commended all participants for their leadership and achievement saying:

“This year the ARENA Network Survey has produced a high average score with the top performing sectors being those that have the greatest potential to impact the environment. It shows that participants are taking appropriate measures in order to reduce their environmental impacts and improve their efficiency.

“The ARENA Network Survey is an important measure for businesses and public sector organisations as they develop a stronger economy. ARENA Network continues every year in its efforts to encourage companies to take part in benchmarking and realise true business benefits. I commend all of the participants for their positive contribution to good environmental stewardship and their commitment to reducing environmental impacts and managing resources efficiently.”

Stepping down from Chair of ARENA Network after five years, Phoenix Chief Peter Dixon, added: “As Chair of ARENA Network, I’m delighted to have witnessed the continued commitment and leadership from Northern Ireland’s leading responsible businesses to the environmental agenda.

“For those companies who are already taking the environment seriously, I would encourage them to keep up their good work. For those not yet involved, I would urge them to get in touch with the ARENA Network team and discover the benefits for themselves.

The top results (in order of scoring) were achieved by: Belfast Harbour, Seagate Technology (Ireland), Bombardier Aerospace, Clarehill Plastics Ltd, John Graham (Dromore) Ltd, Larne Borough Council, Banbridge District Council, Farrans (Construction) Ltd, IKEA Belfast, Royal Mail, BT, Northern Ireland Assembly and Translink.

To find out who else participated and how they scored, visit www.arenani.org.uk

David Gavaghan, Chief Executive, Titanic Quarter was revealed as the new Chair of the ARENA Network at the event and Fleet Financial was announced as the Survey’s new private sector sponsor for 2013.

Please e-mail rosie.barnett@bitcni.org.uk at the ARENA Network if you are interested in taking part next year.

 

Caption – New NIEA Chief Executive Terry A’Hearn, Mael Wilford, Environmental Manager, Linden Foods and ARENA Network Chair, Peter Dixon 

Emerging artisan food businesses encouraged to enter

Three new Golden Fork trophies have been added to Great Taste for 2013 – the world’s largest and most respected blind-tasted food and drink awards scheme.

Chefs working in delis and farm shops are being encouraged to enter their favourite signature dish; producers making artisan foods using heritage breeds or varieties will be honoured with a special Nigel Barden Award, and one emerging new artisan business will receive valuable mentoring as part of its prize.

“In 2012 we had a handful of completely new artisan producers who entered Great Taste including one producer in Cumbria who achieved a 3-star Award for an exceptional sweetmeat, and we would like to encourage more to come forward and take part in Great Taste 2013.  Even if a producer is working completely on their own or with one other person to produce food or drink that is exclusively sold through farmers’ markets or local shops, we would very much like them to take part.  The winner will be offered an opportunity to receive valuable mentoring from established food experts.  Great Taste has been credited with changing the lives of the winners of the Supreme Champion Award, and while we want to hear this kind of great news from our winners, we also want to encourage very small artisan producers,” said John Farrand, organiser of Great Taste 2013.

Also, the growing number of micro-breweries and UK and Irish winemakers will be able to enter into an expanded drinks category.

Since 1994, Great Taste has been organised by The Guild of Fine Food and over the last 19 year over 70,000 products have been blind tasted by judges including top restaurateurs, chefs, food critics, fine food retailers, buyers and cookery writers.

In 2013 over 10,000 entries are expected and the robust judging process will ensure only the finest food and drink will be declared worthy of the Great Taste stars. The announcement of the Supreme Champion 2013 sponsored by Harrods, will be made on the 9th September.

For further information please contact any of the following:  Joanne Myram at Positive PR on:joanne@positivepr.co.uk 01935 389497

Or tortie.farrand@finefoodworld.co.uk  or john.farrand@finefoodworld.co.uk  orbob.farrand@finefoodworld.co.uk | 01963 824464

Guild of Fine Food, Guild House, Station Road, Wincanton, Somerset BA9 9FE

www.finefoodworld.co.uk www.greattasteawards.co.uk

Notes

Nigel Barden is a food and drink broadcaster and chairman of the Great Taste judging panel. He is well known for his culinary slots on BBC radio and is a huge supporter of heritage varieties and of lesser known fish!

What do Great Taste judges look for?  

They look for great texture and appearance. They judge the quality of ingredients and how well the maker has put the food or drink together. But above all, they look for truly great taste. Working in small teams, experts taste 25 foods in each sitting, discussing each product as a coordinating food writer transcribes their comments directly onto the Great Taste website which producers access after judging is completed. Over the years, numerous food businesses, start-ups and well established producers have been advised how to modify their foods and have subsequently gone on to achieve gold standard.  Any food that a judging team believes is worthy of a star is judged by at least two further teams. Only when there is a consensus will a star be awarded.  For 3-star Gold, every single judge attending the session, which can be as many as 30 experts must unanimously agree the food delivers that indescribable ‘wow’ factor.

★★★ EXQUISITE. WOW! TASTE THAT   ★★ OUTSTANDING  ★ A VIRTUALLY FAULTLESS FOOD

Breakfast at the Culloden Estate & Spa? Local cereal producer White’s has joined forces with Hastings Hotels to offer more than 300 fabulous prizes which can be enjoyed across Hastings’ six hotels throughout Northern Ireland. To be in with a chance to win tuck into a promotional pack of White’s Speedicook Porridge 1.5kg from now until the end of April and you too could be enjoying breakfast at the Culloden, spa days at the Slieve Donard, weekend breaks for two at Ballygally Castle, dinner for two at the Stormont Hotel, or cocktails for two at the Europa! Pictured breakfasting in style at the Culloden is model Ciara McStravick.