I was dismayed last week to hear that three fine restaurants are closing due to the challenges from spiralling costs and the problems being experienced by people everywhere. Every week seems to bring more depressing news for our hospitality sector.

The latest restaurants to pull down the shutters are Sooty Olive in Derry, Clenaghan’s at Aghalee and Broker in east Belfast and They were all excellent establishments that added much to the sector especially in terms of creative dishes.

Many others have already closed, some without any publicity because of a crippling cocktail of higher costs from energy, business rates and staffing. In addition, VAT continues to be another serious problem for the companies. Consumers also have less money to spend and, as a result, are not eating out as much.  Among earlier closures was EIPIC in Belfast, once one of our most acclaimed Michelin star eateries.

I fear there are likely to be more closures in the months ahead. We all know what the sector needs – action on rates, help with VAT and staffing.  Restaurants in Britain have discounted rates of 75 percent and in the Irish Republic VAT is lower than it is here. 

Restaurateurs, including many in our successful Taste of Ulster scheme, tell me it’s harder now than ever to make an acceptable income in the sector. Margins are wafer thin. Many have invested heavily over the years in great food, quality services and superb facilities for local diners and visitors from abroad. They are a vitally important component in our tourism marketing campaigns.

We all know the huge contribution tourism makes to the economy. It’s widely acknowledged in the ‘corridors of power’ what is needed to accelerate the growth in tourism to help in regenerating our economy.

Research shows that tourists are significantly influenced by the availability of great food and drink when looking for a holiday destination or a short break. In Northern Ireland, however, the options for potential visitors…and locals, are being reduced because of a continuing failure to accord the hospitality sector the support and recognition it certainly deserves. It’s not seeking handouts but wishes support that will enable it to continue to contribute to the local economy.

Hospitality is, after all, our fourth largest private sector employer and has a turnover of £2bn.  Our £5bn food and drink industry also depends on business with hospitality. The hotel sector alone has invested more than £1bn over the last two decades, with the potential for a further £300 million to be invested by 2025.

I acknowledge that the Northern Ireland Executive is facing financial demands from every quarter and hasn’t a big enough budget to cover everything.  Greater consideration, however, of the needs of the hospitality sector would make good sense, because it would be one of the fastest ways to generate revenue for the economy from the individual businesses, their employees and suppliers in the local food and drink sector. The Restaurant Association of Ireland estimate that every closure costs takes £1.3m out of the economy, a stark reminder of the impact that shutting restaurants has.

NearyNogs, the Newry stoneground chocolate makers, showcased a range of handcrafted artisan chocolates at the big Craft Chocolate Experience in San Francisco’s Palace of Fine Arts.

The small company was invited by the organisers to show their unique Irish Collection of fine chocolates at the event with dozens of chocolate makers and experts from across the world.

Craft Chocolate Experience, held last weekend, brought diverse voices together and united the global chocolate community in the sweet pleasure of cacao while also discussing poignant issues like using chocolate to promote conservation, biodiversity, and supporting cacao farmers through transparent supply chains.

NearyNogs, an acclaimed craft business run by husband and wife team Shane and Dorothy Neary, has a longstanding commitment to environment preservation that includes using solar panels to power the plant’s chocolate making equipment and eco-packaging.

Shane Neary says: “We were delighted that the quality and outstanding taste of our handcrafted chocolate was recognised by the organisers who also backed our eco-initiatives at our small chocolate factory near Rostrevor in the Mournes. It’s quite an accolade to be invited to be part of the exhibition and dialogue at the Craft Chocolate Experience.”

The company was the first producer in Ireland of stoneground chocolate using cacao beans sourced direct from growers in plantations in the Caribbean and South America. It has won a host of quality and taste awards for its chocolates.

The Northern Ireland Food to Go Association, the trade body which represents and supports
takeaway and food to go businesses, has appointed a new Chairperson to lead their expert
Board for 2024/25.

Kiera Campbell, Sales Director at Henderson Foodservice, a leading supplier to the
hospitality industry across Ireland, has been named Chairperson and will help form and lead
the Board that will be made up of several key industry experts, including Michael Henderson,
who founded the organisation five years ago, and has been lobbying on behalf of the
Association’s 750+ members, and the wider sector ever since.

The NI Food to Go Association, which has recently rebranded from its former NI Takeaway
Association moniker to be more representative of the ever-evolving industry here, provides
an expert voice, advice and advocacy under its “unite, support, grow” ethos, while upholding
industry standards for businesses working in the sector across Northern Ireland.

A recent survey of the Association’s members highlighted key priorities for the board to help
lead their business members through, with 70% of respondents stating recruitment remains
a major issue due to the skilled workers definition leading to a workforce shortage. Other
issues included business rates, insurance, utility bills and sustainability.

Mr Henderson commented; “For the past five years, we have been lobbying on behalf of a
sector that has seen resilience in the face of huge challenges, while it continues to provide
vital career prospects for the future food to go entrepreneurs of Northern Ireland, but there is
still more to be done.

“I am delighted to welcome Kiera Campbell to Chair our Board, which will be carefully
selected to provide expert support for members of our Association, from HR queries to
financial advice, rates relief, and filling job vacancies – all the most important priorities for
our members. Kiera is a well-respected and prominent voice of the industry through her
career with Henderson Foodservice, which supplies to thousands of food to go customers,
many of whom are members of our Association.”

Kiera Campbell has over 20 years’ experience within the food and drink industry, and has
been a Director at Henderson Foodservice for 10 years. Engaging with hospitality
businesses on a daily basis, Kiera is well placed to lead the Board in providing expert advice
and support for members.

Commenting on her new role, Kiera said this is a sector of her industry that has been
underrepresented and she is looking forward to getting to work with some key priorities.

“Northern Ireland has one of the most thriving food to go industries in the UK, they are an
innovative group who are growing the sector after spotting some fantastic opportunities
through a very challenging few years. The sector has many of the same issues that the
wider hospitality industry is facing, but without a valid trade body to support them through the
complicated areas of the issues,” says Kiera.

“I’m proud to lead the NI Food to Go Association’s Board through its first year in situ, working
with members to provide expert advice, with wider groups lobbying on their behalf. This is a
much needed Association for our food to go businesses here and I look forward to meeting
even more members in the coming weeks and months.”

The NI Food to Go Association will work with local MLAs to create all-party advisory panel at
Stormont to help resolve industry issues within the Executive and Assembly at Stormont.

A new taste experience for cider lovers has been created from a unique collaboration between our biggest brewery, a top cider producer and an apple farmer.

The new Session Cider is the first outcome of the link-up between the multi-award-winning Whitewater Brewery in Castlewellan, Co Down and Armagh enterprises Tempted Cider and successful apple grower John McAllister, both based near Portadown.  Whitewater and Tempted are both FoodNI members.

“We had been talking about a business collaboration between our companies for some considerable time,” explains Bernard Sloan, the founder and managing director of Whitewater Brewery, now Northern Ireland’s largest and most successful independent brewery. ”The chat led to a decision to pool our resources, experience and knowledge in an original new craft cider at the brewery, the first draught cider produced here.

“It is the first artisanal draught cider in Northern Ireland, a four percent Session Cider which is already on sale in hotels and pubs around Northern Ireland. It’s proving immensely popular with some of the best hotels and bars,” adds Bernard.

Another important outcome of the discussion was an agreement that Whitewater will bottle and distribute the range of award-winning Tempted Ciders, among the first craft ciders here. Whitewater also has the technology to produce the ciders in cans and kegs.

Tempted was launched by Davy Uprichard in Lisburn in 2009 and subsequently moved to John McAllister’s apple orchard, where the handcrafted ciders have previously been produced.

Whitewater Brewery, established by Bernard in 1996 on the family farm, near Kilkeel, now operates from a state-of-the-art brewery in Castlewellan, Northern Ireland’s most modern brewery, where a range of stouts and lagers is bottled, canned and produced in kegs.

Whitewater, Bernard continues, is collaborating with Tempted to take on the bottling of the cider and is distributing the products across its extensive network here, in the Republic and Great Britain. The brewery has also sold beers to key European markets.

The brewery, furthermore, operates a successful visitor centre and a programme of visits which will now include Tempted Cider.

Comber-based Mash Direct, a market leader in potato products, vegetable sides and convenience foods last week strengthened its position in Britain, its most important market outside Northern Ireland, with another significant deal with major supermarket chain Morrisons.

The local family company, FoodNI member, also supplies most of the other supermarkets and grocers there, around 9,000, and stores abroad including in the US, Europe and Middle East.

As a result, the Co Down farm-based enterprise is now one of our most successful and innovative food producers.

As Mash Direct currently celebrates the 20^th anniversary of its formation by husband and wife team Tracy, an experienced marketer, and Martin Hamilton, a successful local farmer, the company is now recognised as a remarkable local success story and an ideal role model for other smaller food and farming enterprises here.  

It owes much to the experience of the Hamilton family which has been farming the fields around Strangford Lough, now a conservation area, over six generations. The Mash Direct team has a wealth of understanding and knowledge of the area, its soil, produce, growing conditions and other food operations.

While Martin and Tracy are still involved, the business is now run by sons Jack, the chief executive, and commercial director Lance.

Lance says: ”It has been a journey fuelled by passion, dedication, and a strong sense of community. We’ve grown, adapted and innovated, always honouring our roots and the authentic taste of home that defines Mash Direct.”

Widely acclaimed for the quality and outstanding taste of its mashed potatoes and vegetables, the company has also gained international recognition for innovations such as beer battered chips, beer battered onion rings and chilly baby bakes that make it easier for everyone to enjoy fresh food and especially healthy and nutritious veggies.

The family-run business began in the farm kitchen in Comber and started selling from a stall at the iconic St George’s Market in Belfast. It now exports around 70 per cent of its award-winning potato and vegetable sides to major supermarkets and grocers worldwide.

The progressive and successful business has won a host of awards for quality and taste including the UK’s most prestigious Food Manufacturing Excellence Award and the Gold Award for Innovation from SIAL Middle East in Abu Dhabi, a first-time win for any Northern Ireland company. 

Mash Direct has also won a series of awards from Great Taste, Quality Food, Grocer New Product, Free From, and Blas na hEireann Irish Food Award.

“Innovation for customers is in our DNA and underpins everything we do. It drives our business forward,” continues Lance.

It’s a flexible and visionary business that’s geared to the requirements of retailers and customers in the dynamic global food sector. Mash Direct has striven successfully to set itself apart, especially from bigger businesses, in all the markets in which it is currently operating and in those targeted for growth in both short and long-terms.

The family enterprise successfully offers retailers food solutions for their customers. This means working closely with them to identify their requirements and coming up quickly with original and value propositions.

The remarkable business is now a long way from 2004 when Tracy and Martin began producing champ from their own potatoes. The champ, initially launched by them at markets here and in the Republic, followed extensive market research into what was then available and a series sampling sessions.

The popularity of the champ led the family to invest in facilities, products, markets and people in Comber. It has continued to do so and now operates from a sophisticated processing complex, shipping container loads of local products across the world. It’s a driven business that’s always exploring opportunities and developing exports to top retailers and online stores.

The outstanding achievements of Mash Direct ‘field to fork’ products highlight the growth of consumer demand for high-quality and versatile foods that can be incorporated into everyday family meals.  The full Mash Direct range is now low in saturated fat, 100 percent gluten-free and free from artificial flavourings and colourings.

The company is also committed to environmental management and assists in restoring farmland and biodiversity to improve the quality of water, air and soil. All packaging is 100 percent recyclable, ensuring that is has improved its environmental footprint as part of its ongoing commitment to sustainability.

Mash Direct has developed a vast solar collection system to provide sustainable energy to power the operations at the plant. Eco labelling has been developed to help consumers make more sustainable choices.  All Mash Direct products are grown and manufactured on site ‘from field to fork’ so the company has full control over the entire process.

Consumers benefit from backing our worldclass beef

An interesting survey from our friends at The Livestock and Meat Commission (LMC), on a survey of Northern Ireland eating habits, found that 90 percent of consumers in the country said they enjoyed eating red meat…. and presumably do so on a regular basis.

This is reassuring news for the farming industry, still our biggest and most successful food sector in international markets. The LMC statistic was drawn from a recent independent omnibus survey that it commissioned to examine the current eating habits of consumers here and to evaluate their awareness of Northern Ireland Farm Quality Assured (NIFQA) beef and lamb, as well as their familiarity with the Commission’s advertising campaign, Good Honest Food. 

The survey comes as the industry is preparing for the RUAS at Balmoral, the biggest showcase of the year for red meat and other food sectors. Around 100 food producers, including some meat processors, will be featured in our FoodNI Pavilion next month. I hope you’ll take the opportunity to visit the pavilion.

Red meat is also an important component of our own widely acclaimed Our Food: Power of Good marketing and promotional campaign. It’s a sector we value greatly and wish to see prosper.

There’s nothing I enjoy more than a good sirloin steak from a local supplier, and we have many excellent beef farmers rearing animals on rich pasture land, and quality conscious processors now exporting our beef across the world. However, I am always conscious to ‘balance it out’ with some fresh local veg, and maybe mushrooms as well.

The beef industry’s efforts will benefit from the recent EU PGI accreditation for grass fed-beef reared on the island of Ireland. Researchers have indicated that grass-fed beef is packed with nutrients and minerals and is generally healthier. I still remember being asked by American visitors if our beef was grass-fed, and looking puzzled at the question, but now understand the benefits.

We have some of the world’s most respected processors here, including several FoodNI members such as Hannan Meats in Moira and Kettyle Irish Foods in Fermanagh, both are investing heavily in the quality and outstanding flavours of their meats.  Maurice Kettyle and Peter Hannan are world class innovators in meat

Kettyle recently secured a significant contract to supply a range of premium cuts to Tesco Ireland. Peter Hannan, probably the most ‘decorated’ beef producer by organisations like UK Great Taste, Blas nah Eireann and World Steak Challenge is a keen supporter of local artisans including the multi-award-winning Abernethy Butter, a business he recently acquired and plans to expand.

Carnbrooke Meats in Moira and Dromore have outstanding farm shops, showcasing their own quality beef and lamb in many delicious meals and Lisdergan Meats in Fintona is an outstanding supporter of local producers, as well as a name that is now regularly seen on the menus of fine dining restaurants across Northern Ireland.

Other red meat processors like Dunbia and Linden in Dungannon and Foyle Foods at Campsie are also successful in global markets and are enhancing our reputation as a producer of delicious and nutritious beef.

Consumer commitment to eating and purchasing red meat remains steady. In terms of alternate diets, according to LMC. There hasn’t been any notable variation to the number of consumers reporting to follow vegetarian and vegan diets over recent years.

Interestingly, just two percent of local consumers claimed to follow a vegan diet, perhaps a surprising statistic in view of all the claims in the media.

The survey would seem to suggest that consumers now recognise the health and other benefits of eating quality red meat as part of a healthy, balanced diet. And for me, that is the key, everything in balance is vital for health and wellbeing.

The survey also found that 85 percent of consumers believe Northern Ireland Farm Quality Assured beef is high quality and 77 percent agree it is a natural source of vitamins and minerals. Our beef, lamb, pork and poultry is world class in terms of quality, texture and taste. And the farmers who rear the animals are also now making an important contribution to the environment and overall sustainability.