Black Arch Gin, which has been created in Larne by three longstanding friends from school days, has been designed by them to reflect the rugged and rich landscape at the start of the famed Antrim Coast Road outside the town.

The entrepreneurial trio, all ‘graduates’ of the respected Larne Grammar School – Kerrie McKay, an accountant and financial consultant, Graham Boyd, a hospitality and entertainment professional, and Karen Fergie, a supply chain management expert – grew up in the coastal town and are passionate about the area’s natural advantages.

They spotted a gap in the market for a locally distilled gin and decided to develop an original product for Larne and further afield that reflected their hometown and the local area, naming it Black Arch Gin after the striking landmark. They continue to pursue their careers and produce the handcrafted gin on a part-time basis.

Developed during the global Covid pandemic and launched in October 2022, Black Arch Gin, according to Kerrie(33), who has held financial posts in Britain, was “inspired by happy childhood memories of growing up in an Irish coastal town, the power of friendship during challenging times and forward-looking ambitions of eventually escaping the nine to five”.

“We had been enjoying various local gins and were conscious of the craft spirits being developed in other parts of Northern Ireland. There was nothing available from our area and we agreed that we should develop one for the town and wider region,” explains Kerrie. “This led us on a mission to find out all we could about distilling gin and then to rent space in a local enterprise park that would enable us to come up with a spirit we all liked,” she continues. Two copper pot stills were subsequently purchased for the process.

The trio harvested the essential botanicals, including wild raspberries, blackberries and nettles, for the gin from around the Black Arch. “By combining local botanicals like blackberries and nettle that grow on the land above, with a subtle hint of seaweed, the gin, like the arch itself, perfectly bridges the land and the sea,” adds Kerrie.

Launched at the end of 2022, the gin, they believe, “encapsulates the rugged but bountiful landscape around the arch”.  Alana McDowell, a local design studio, helped them to devise an eye catching brand that focuses heavily on the inspiration for the gin – the Black Arch and the Antrim coast. The talented designer had previously worked for the successful Copeland Distillery in Donaghadee, a producer of gins, whiskey and rum for international markets.

 The Antrim Coast was designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in 1988 and in 2018 was voted Lonely Planet’s Top Destination for Visitors – and it’s not hard to see why.

“All aspects of the design and brand have been carefully cultivated or selected by us, with a conscious focus on sourcing as much as possible from local suppliers,” she adds.”

Kerrie continues: “Our tagline, ‘Where would you get it?’ is an irreverent saying familiar to most local folk. It was coined by a lifelong Coast Road resident, the late Jimmy Dobbin, a popular musician, to describe his home’s location and vicinity. His initials are hidden on every bottle. We now hope people will adopt the phrase when taking their first sip of our Black Arch Gin!”

She says another ‘unique aspect of Black Arch Gin is that the trio do absolutely everything themselves, from handpicking the botanicals and undertaking the entire distillation to bottling by hand and labelling each individual bottle”.  Their objective is to create a premium gin.

 “We have high standards about the quality of the product and only use the best materials and ingredients, including traceable and ethical water supplied locally by Clearer Water, a social enterprise, in nearby Magheramoune,” adds Kerrie.

Lacking a significant budget for advertising and promotion at this early stage in the business, they have depended heavily on social media channels, creatively promoting the product and its stockists, as well as engaging with our customers and followers. They’ve joined promotion body FoodNI to develop contacts and plan to sample the gin at this year’s Food Pavilion at the big RUAS show at Balmoral Park.

“We’ve been supported by local bars, hotels and off-licenses and had great feedback on the product so far, with customers citing the smoothness of the gin, it’s coastal notes, as well as the bottle design and story.”

While they have been focusing on developing business in the local area, expanding sales across Northern Ireland is another key objective for the ambitious trio.

Whiskey produced in what was once one of the world’s largest distilleries is set to be revived by the successful Food NI member Rademon Estate in Crossgar, home to the award-winning Shortcross gins and whiskeys, and now an outstanding export successes.

Master distiller of Shortcross spirits David Boyd-Armstrong, a leading innovator, and wife Fiona, the managing director, have been quietly working with the original mashbill (recipe) to rejuvenate whiskey from the Connswater Distillery in east Belfast, part of the city’s great heritage of distilling. Belfast was once the island’s biggest whiskey producer.

East Belfast born David, elected in December as chair of Drinks Ireland, the body which promotes Irish whiskey, explains: “We’ve been developing the lost Connswater whiskey since 2020. And now after almost 100 years we can say Connswater is back! It’s marvellous to be able to revive one of the great whiskeys from the city’s golden age of distilling.”

Connswater, once located on 12-acres near the Connswater river produced two million gallons of whiskey a year and used river barges to bring in barley and other raw materials and then to ferry the whiskey barrels to ships anchored in Belfast Lough for export to the US in particular

The distillery had been founded in 1886 by whiskey blenders and was one of two successful operations in east Belfast, the other being Avoniel, a producer of spirits for leading gin and whiskey specialists in Britain. Avoniel distilled around 850,000 million gallons of whiskey a year. The mashbill from Avoneil was subsequently used to produce Belfast 1912 gin.

They were among 18 distilleries in Belfast.

The introduction of prohibition (the ban on alcohol in some American states) in 1919 caused a massive drop in sales of Irish whiskey, then the market leader.  Connswater and some other Irish whiskeys were acquired by Scottish rivals to protect their sales and subsequently closed in the 1920s. Connswater and Avoniel both ceased production in 1929.

Shortcross expects to launch the revived Connswater whiskey, which is maturing in casks at Crossgar, within the next few months.

Food NI member Two Stacks in Newry, a leading blender and bonder of Irush whiskeys, has come up with another highly innovative but exclusive release, limited to 300 individually numbered bottles.

This exquisite single pot Irish single malt is a collaboration with James J Fox, the famed Dublin cigar specialist. The limited edition five-year old pot still whiskey has been aged in ex-bourbon casks with a final seven months in Red Ice Wine barrels.

The company says each bottle represents a cherished artefact capturing “the essence of this rare collaboration between purveyors of distinction”. Situated in the heart of Dublin, James J Fox is celebrated for its commitment of craftsmanship and tradition especially in cuban cigar.

Two Stacks has emerged as one of the most innovative blenders of Irish whiskey, winning a host of major awards for its single malt and blended Irish whiskeys.

It’s always a great pleasure for me to see local farm shops and delis recognised for their outstanding contribution to the food and drink industry and especially their support for artisan and smaller food and soft drink producers here. In fact, I would argue that Northern Ireland needs more of them.

While the network of supermarkets and convenience stores makes a huge contribution to Northern Ireland’s biggest and most important manufacturing industry, many smaller food producers are never likely to be listed by the supermarkets, either because they operate in a specialist area or because of the price point of their product.  

I certainly appreciate greatly the support the supermarkets continue to provide to producers here especially in terms of the introductions they have provided – and continue to offer – to shoppers in Britain and, indeed, further afield. It is encouraging to see operators such as Tesco invest in specialist buying teams focused on local sourcing.

Smaller producers also benefit enormously from the expert advice provided readily in areas such as product quality, packaging and marketing from farm shop and deli owners.

Many companies have been helped by owners and staff of smaller stores to take steps that have helped them attract the interest of supermarkets and C-stores.

Farm shops and delis, a developing locally focused network, offer something quite different in terms of products, knowledge and advice to shoppers. Many smaller companies have also begun their retail journey with these stores. Artisan and smaller food enterprises simply couldn’t do without the support of these businesses.

The tremendous support for the industry provided by four local food stores has been recognised in shortlisting in the prestigious Farm Shop and Deli Retailer Awards 2024 in Britain that is organised by the hugely influential Grocer magazine, one of the most important ‘voices’ in Europe for food retailing and processing. The awards are showcase how smaller grocers are meeting the rigorous challenges from the supermarkets.

In the running for the awards, the winners of which will be announced at the influential Farm Shop and Deli Trade Show in early March: are Coleman’s Farm Shop and Nursery at Templepatrick, Co Antrim; McKee’s Country Store, located just outside Holywood, Co Down; Millar Meats and Food Store, Irvinestown, Co Fermanagh; and High Street Harvest in Holywood, also Co Down.

The awards, covered fully in the opposite page, are highly respected in the industry for playing an important role in supporting, and celebrating, the UK’s independent, specialist retail market.

I am also delighted to say that we’ve a track record in the awards. The top award was won last year by Cunningham’s Butchers, Food Store and Steak House in Kilkeel, the first time the award has come to Northern Ireland.

And Millar Meats has gained the Butcher of the Year title in the past. Indeed, the butchery-led enterprise has earned a series of major awards.

The awards celebrate specialist retailers and recognises their achievements in the independent sector which has had to cope with the coronavirus pandemic before the cost-of-living crisis.

And congratulations are also due to three local delis and specialist food shops listed recently as winners in the Slow Food Awards 2023 for their work for consumers. They were Indie Fude, which has delis in Belfast and Comber; Arcadia Deli and Ewing’s Fishmongers, both based in Belfast. All three are Food NI members.

Two of our members were also listed as producers to watch by the influential Artisan Food Club in Britain, a distributor of original foods to hundreds of farm shops and delis across Britain. They are: Scott’s Crispy Onions and Whoosh Asian Foods, both from Coleraine. Congratulations to them on this significant recognition.

We’re delighted to announce the opening of the Grow with Aldi Programme 2024, which they are now seeking applications for.

The Grow with Aldi programme is an opportunity for producers to get their products on sale in all Aldi stores, with full support and mentorship from the Grow team and Bord Bia / Invest NI along the way.

The programme is open to all small / medium suppliers and offers the opportunity to have your branded product listed as a specialbuy in all 161 stores in Ireland (Don’t let the store numbers frighten you, Aldi will work with suppliers to ensure you can supply).

Aldi’s Grow team and Bord Bia / Invest NI will mentor from the start to the end of the supply process ensuring you get to showcase your product in all Aldi stores. This is a fantastic opportunity for any supplier wanting to push their product forward and reach a large customer base and have your product in front of customers in every corner of Ireland!

The first simple step is to fill in the attached application form and return to grow@aldi.ie

Food from two Coleraine artisan producers have been named ‘brands to watch’ in 2024 by a UK distributor to hundreds of delis and farm shops.

The companies – Scott’s Crispy Onions in Aghadowey and Whoosh Asian snack pots in nearby Coleraine has won the backing for the influential Artisan Food Club, which is based in Somerset and specialises in the supply of food and drink products from smaller suppliers.

Scott’s Crispy Onions introduced the product and has gone on to supply it to retailers here, in Britain and parts of Europe, the most recent market being Denmark.

Whoosh has developed into a leading in Asian snack meals for dining at home, takeaway and retail. The company also included Selfridges in London among its customers.

Both are Food NI members.

Marcus Carter formed the Artisan Food Club in 2012 “to search out exciting new artisan food and drink brands”.  It was based on his conviction that there were thousands of delicious food and drink products being made by talented artisan producers across the UK. Whilst the quality of the products couldn’t be questioned, many were untested beyond the farmers’ market, and were being overlooked by traditional wholesalers, which were only able to work with brands that had a proven sales background.