Fresh seafood chowder, tangy rum-infused and orange smoked salmon and two new pates – smoked salmon and smoked mackerel – are delicious foods just launched by the iconic Ewing’s Fishmongers in Belfast.

Based on the Shankill Road, Ewing’s, a Food NI member, is one of Northern Ireland’s most successful fishmongers, a supplier of the broadest range of fresh fish and seafoods since 1911.

The family business has a longstanding tradition in the development of healthy foods and has won widespread acclaim for its smoked salmon, generally sourced from the award-winning Glenarm Organic Salmon in Co Antrim, and cod loins from local trawlers.

The new products, according to commercial director Crawford Ewing, have been created by the company’s four-strong team of qualified chefs. “We’ve been working on several new products with those just launched,” Crawford explains. “All the new foods use only the very best ingredients sourced from our established local suppliers.

“We’ve our own kiln for smoked fish and have been doing so for more than a century. So, there’s nothing we don’t know about smoking fish for superb flavours,” he adds.

Rum from Copeland Distillery in Donaghadee is used to infuse the new smoked salmon.

The chowder, he continues, uses only quality fish and vegetables “without any trimmings” for a rich and delicious taste.

The company, which supplies 400 restaurants here, has been “very busy this year because more have been dining out again and seeking natural meals, especially fish and seafood”.

“Our shop on the Shankill Road has also been very busy due to the demand for naturally tasty foods that are easily cooked. Our smoked salmon, which is available in supermarkets like Sainsbury’s and delis, has won UK Great Taste Awards and continues to be extremely popular, particularly during the Christmas season,” adds Crawford.

This commitment to excellence has led to the company achieving the highest global standard for quality food, processing and safety for consumers, the

the British Retail Consortium (BRC) hugely important double A star rating, its highest certificate for a food business.

The First Family of Northern Ireland food recently celebrated 30 successful years of the pioneering Yellow Door food catering, hospitality, artisan food production and retaiIing in Portadown at a gala charity event in Belfast.

Celebrated chef Simon Dougan, wife Jilly and other family members have been tremendous champions of local food and culinary excellence over the past three decades. Other artisan food and drink producers have also shared in their outstanding success of their catering and deli operations. Jilly, who produces her own honey and other products, has become a stalwart of green campaigns particularly in local education. Both are active Food NI members.

The Yellow Door first opened its doors in 1993 in a small restaurant in Gilford, Co. Down that set a new standard in local hospitality. It was a restaurant driven by the commitment and talents of Simon to creative meals that were superb taste experiences.

Led by the talents of Simon and his cousin, Andrew Dougan, Yellow Door has grown successfully over the years as a true family endeavour, expanding its footprint in Portadown and Belfast, including a stand-alone wholesale bakery supplying fresh and innovative breads and patisserie daily across Ireland.

“The creativity and quality of foods our fantastic producers are now coming up with is very exciting. There has been an acceleration and new-found confidence in the world class produce we have all around us and talented individuals who want to make stunningly tasty products from the beautiful raw ingredients from farmers,” says Simon.

A native of Armagh, Simon gained his culinary qualifications at Belfast College of Business before sharpening his skills in Britain, France and Belgium. Returning home in 1990, he started creating fantastic food for diners and shoppers through the Yellow Door.

For many years,  Yellow Door has catered for members of the Royal family and visiting dignitaries from across the world at Hillsborough Castle and other venues throughout Ireland and beyond.

The company also nourish the Ulster Rugby team on a daily basis and has been crafting memorable experiences at some of Northern Ireland’s grandest events and weddings. 

Simon continues:  “There is no doubt that there have been many triumphs as well as challenges in the last 30 years. We want to extend our heartfelt gratitude to our loyal customers, trusted suppliers, and our incredible team who have been instrumental in our success over the years.”

The company also nourish the Ulster Rugby team on a daily basis and have been crafting memorable experiences at some of Northern Ireland’s grandest events and weddings. 

The gala celebration event in Belfast City Hall raised awareness of and significant funds for two important local charities, the NI Cancer Fund For Children and NI Chest Heart and Stroke.

Three talented sisters in east Belfast are hand making fudge which Ireland’s biggest retailer reckons is Simply Better.

Multi-award-winning Melting Pot gourmet fudge from sisters Dorothy Bittle, Jenny Lowry and Cathy Johnston, owners of Blackthorn Foods at Ballymacarrett, has just been listed by leading Irish grocer Dunnes Stores, which has an impressive reputation for premium food and drink.

The quality conscious retailer has placed a significant order for traditional butter fudge, salted caramel and vanilla flavours developed by the enterprising trio.

The order, Melting Pot’s biggest to date, will see the fudge an integral part of the top retailer’s premium Simply Better range in more than 100 stores in the Republic and its five stores in Northern Ireland.

“We’re absolutely delighted to be working with Dunnes on our fudge for its premium range,” says Jenny Lowry. “It’s a marvellous opportunity and endorsement for our products by the prestigious retailer and offers us tremendous scope to market our fudge throughout the island of Ireland. The Republic, in particular, is a target market for us. So, winning business with Dunnes Stores is exciting and a volume breakthrough for us there,” she adds.

A winner of UK Great Taste and Blas na hEireann awards, Melting Pot fudge is also available in Great Britain and in export markets. The company is a Food NI member.

The sisters set up Blackthorn Foods in 2004,  their second successful small business together. They previously established and sold  a popular enterprise specialising in prepared salads.

“We work well as a team, with each of us having different strengths,” says Dorothy. “When we started the fudge business we all had young children and working together gave us the flexibility to work the hours that suited each of us best. We also loved working together.

 They had loved making fudge with their father as children and subequently decided to develop this as their second business together. The sisters continue to hand craft fudge using traditional techniques and their father’s original recipe,”  adds Cathy.

Green Fingers Family in Larne is experiencing significant growth in sales of its hand crafted granolas and energy balls in the Republic of Ireland especially in Dublin’s most successful grocers.

The small business, which is owned and run by husband and wife team Zsolt and Andrea, both originally from Hungary, has also won exciting business from Odaois Foods in Dublin, one of Ireland’s leading food distributors.

“We are now directly supplying local independent food stores and farms shop across Northern Ireland as well as selling online via our e-commerce website,” says Andrea. “Our business with Odaois is immensely encouraging and is strengthening our presence in the Republic, our most important market outside Northern Ireland. We have been supplying Odaios Foods with our energy ball and granola products since June, providing products to foodservice customers in the Dublin area and across the Republic of Ireland.

“We are also supplying around 140 food stores with our retail products across Ireland with our distributor partner, Taste The View, also based in Dublin. Our high-profile customers include high-calibre retailers such as Avoca and Donnybrook Fair,” adds mum of three Andrea.

Green Fingers Family, a Food NI member company, is now a multi-award-winning food production business established in 2020 by the enterprising couple.

 “We are producing 100 percent natural, gluten-free, plant-based granolas, energy balls, and healthy, no added sugar treats,” she continues. We do not use any additives, preservatives, or processed sugars, only natural ingredients in our products. All our packaging is eco-friendly, plastic-free, fully compostable or fully recyclable,” she adds.

Based outside the Co Antrim town, Green Fingers Family, she continues, is pursuing a vision of “a world where delicious food experiences seamlessly intertwine with environmental sustainability”.

“We aim to lead the way in redefining the food industry by embracing innovative, eco-friendly practices in our packaging, ensuring a healthier planet for generations to come,” she says. “We both deeply care about our environment and so there was no question when it came down to packaging.

“There was only one way to go and that was the eco-friendly channel. The challenge was to find plastic -free alternatives that were airtight to keep the granolas fresh,” she adds.

Green Fingers Family was the joint winners of the NIFDA Environmental Sustainability Award in 2022 in recognition to its efforts in using environmental friendly, compostable packaging for premium granola.

 In addition to its own successful manufacturing products, the small company has expanded its business to offer services and production for brands looking for a partner. It also offers a range of eco-packaging options for other producers.

“We provide the facilities to enable other companies to create and bring their own products to life from ingredients to packaged product.”

 Resident in Larne for more than 15 years, Andrea’s decision to start a small enterprise in 2020 was born out of her decision to take charge of her own health and wellbeing.

A garden of over half an acre at their home outside Larne enabled Andrea to start growing her own healthy vegetables. “Homemade food just tastes so much better, and when you produce all the ingredients as well, something truly magical happens,” she says.

She came to realise that with “the right food, right exercise and the right mentality, my body would do what it’s meant to do itself…. heal. It wasn’t only my body that needed healing, but my thinking and attitude too,” she explains.

It was Andrea’s sweet tooth that was to lead her to start developing her own range of granolas. “I had to change the way I make and bake sweet snacks in my home. I replaced sugar with natural ingredients. My favourite snack is granola. I was shocked to read that the ingredients in many of the brands available were bulked up in different forms, and full of sugar and artificial flavourings,” she says..

She continues: “I’ve been making my own granola for many years now and gave it as presents to everyone who came my way. The feedback has always been amazing. So, I’ve since created a range of different granolas – well one is a granola porridge to be fair so I could encourage my kids into eating seeds and nuts too. All contain only natural ingredients, no secret additives, and the granola is sweetened with only a drop of maple syrup.”

 All granolas are homemade by Andrea “to make sure I can add that special pinch of love”. Two of the granolas have also won UK Great Taste Awards. The business, in addition, has won a Silver Level Innovator Award from Mid and East Antrim Borough Council for the commitment to eco-friendly packaging.

K

arri Kitchen, the Armagh specialist in South-East Asian meals, has signed an agreement that will see its products in the chillers of EUROSPAR and SPAR convenience stores across the country.

The latest distribution deal for Karri Kitchen is with the Henderson Group in Newtownabbey, one of Ireland’s biggest food wholesalers.

A Food NI member, Karri Kitchen, which is owned and run by husband and wife team Chris, an experienced businessman, and Shera McAloran, a talented chef, and based in Portadown, is now Ireland’s fastest growing provider of a delicious range of healthy ready-meals with rich South-East Asian flavours.

EUROSPAR and SPAR shoppers are now able to enjoy eight ready-meals that have been crafted by Shera, who created the recipes from her own upbringing in Indonesia, and her team at Carn Industrial Estate, one of Northern Ireland’s leading food processing hubs.

The restaurant quality dishes include the multi-award winning mango chicken curry, spicy coconut chicken curry, black pepper beef and Mongolian beef noodles. They are being launched in the vast network on a two for the price £9 offer.

Formed in 2019, Karri Kitchen is a remarkable success story of enterprise and innovation in food development and production. It now includes many of the leading retailers here and in the Republic of Ireland among its customers.

“We are thrilled to have been listed by the Henderson Group for such a range of our convenience meals. It’s a major endorsement that will offer access to many thousands of shoppers across Northern Ireland,” says Shara, who has vast experience of South East Asian cuisine from food preparation at home near Jakarta, the Indonesian capital. Her dishes are high-protein and low calorie. They have also won UK Great Taste and Blas na hEireann Irish National Food awards.

The small company achieved gold in the ready meals category in the highly influential Irish Quality Food and Drink Awards this year, an event watched closely by top grocery retailers.

“We decided to approach Henderson’s when we heard that there was an opportunity for the healthy and nutritious ready meals that we have been creating and processing here in Portadown. They subsequently placed a contract after sampling and enjoying our dishes. It’s a very exciting development for us,” she adds. 

The company has been awarded Best Poultry Ready Meal in Ireland for its mango chicken curry and a Healthy Product Innovation Award at the Irish Food Awards. The tasty and nutritious meals were also a hit at the  Northern Ireland Food and Drink Awards, winning the Healthier Product Innovation Award and Highly Commended in the Small Company Award.

Karri Kitchen – Karri is the Indonesian for curry – has supplied ALDI, the German supermarket chain in the Republic. Other major customers include LIDL, SuperValu, Mace NI, Centra, NISA Northern Ireland and Morrison’s in Britain.

Shera moved to Sydney in Australia from her home in Indonesia for her education and earned a degree  in business management and marketing at the respected Australian Pacific College (APC).

She worked in hospitality during her time at APC. “I had always been interested in running my own small business and had no hesitation about a career in hospitality on graduation. Hospitality and clean, healthy eating have always been part of my life. It’s how I’ve been raised, my work experience, and our lifestyle,” she says. Overall, Shera lived and worked in Sydney for 12 years.

She met husband Chris, who has a successful garage in Portadown, during his visit to Australia and they subsequently married. The couple, who now have a young son choose to set up home in his home town and soon started a small food business there.

Shera pursued her career in management but was then encouraged to think seriously about food preparation by family and friends who loved the distinctive Indonesian and other Asian themes and flavours of her meals.

She brought to the start-up experience and authentic recipes gained cooking alongside her mother in the kitchen at home on traditional dishes that are rich in flavours, colourful and depend on fresh vegetables, meats, rice and a variety of fruits. Shera’s passion for good food is firmly rooted in those days.  

“I’ve carried this focus on fresh and local ingredients into the dishes within the Karri Kitchen portfolio,” she continues. “We endeavour to us as many ingredients from local suppliers as practicable,” she adds. Local suppliers include Lynas Foods in Coleraine; M&W Meats; and Gilfresh, both Portadown.

 “All of our food is healthy and perfect for those who want to eat a balanced, healthy and nutritious diet,” Shera adds

I was shocked…and saddened… by Michael Deane’s decision to close his acclaimed Eipic Michelin star restaurant in the next few months. Belfast which has been striving to enhance its reputation as a global food destination, a prime objective of Food NI/Taste of Ulster, can ill afford to lose a restaurant of such outstanding quality.

It’s also a blow to the wider food and drink industry here, because Michael, a longstanding supporter of our work in Food NI, is a tremendous backer of food and drink processing here. He’s offered many of our artisan and smaller companies opportunities to provide ingredients for the superb dishes crafted by chefs of the calibre of Alex Greene.

Alex, I understand is leaving his position in Eipic to set up his own restaurant in Co Down. We wish him well in the new venture.

Michael Deane’s decision on Eipic, his gourmet restaurant in Howard Street, is a further – and most striking – indication of the severe problems being faced by the hospitality sector here. There have been many closures already of restaurants and cafes across Northern Ireland from the problems of spiralling costs, staff shortages, financial issues and the slow recovery of eating out. I fear there may be many more in the months ahead.

A talented innovator, Michael has been a leader in the hospitality sector, raising the international profile of Belfast and Northern Ireland as a global location for innovative and delicious food.

He was the first chef here to achieve the exacting and prestigious Michelin status and thereby pulled Northern Ireland into frame as a place for great food. His knowledge and talents inspired hundreds of young chefs over the past 25 years, many of whom trained under him and began careers in his and other restaurants particularly in Belfast.

Michael’s achievements also influenced other chefs in restaurants here to work towards Michelin and Bib Gourmand status. We now have two Michelin star restaurants in the city and around 10 with Bob Gourmand accreditation. Hosting three Michelin star restaurants is remarkable for a city of Belfast’s size. He deserves much of the credit for the city’s standing.

While Michael has highlighted the difficulties being experienced by the sector over many months, his warnings have largely been ignored regrettably by the relevant authorities.

As he has pointed out, the financial problems of the pandemic and its lockdowns were exacerbated by the current cost of living crisis which has meant people no longer have the disposable income to spend on gourmet restaurant meals. Price has become more important than ever before. It’s worth adding too that spending on corporate hospitality has declined sharply as meetings have reduced and more business contacts are conducted digitally by zoom. Many staff, who would have lunched in restaurants, continue to spend more time working  – and dining – at home.

It’s good to know that Michael’s popular Love Fish and Meat Locker restaurants in Howard Street will continue. And that successful Deane’s at Queen’s will also continue to shape food in the city.

I am confident that innovator Michael will regenerate the Eipic site with an original and exceptional food offering in the months ahead that will provide something for diners here to enjoy. We look forward to encouraging and promoting his enterprise and initiative.