Food NI member Wilson’s Country, the leading Northern Irish potato supplier has launches two new ready-to-eat potato mash products exclusively at Tesco Northern Ireland outlets

The innovative products are: Wilson’s Mash and Wilson’s Naked Mash. Both come in 400g microwaveable packs and are available exclusively in Tesco stores.

The Naked Mash offering has nothing added, is vegan compliant and suitable for a dairy free diet, Wilsons’ Country said.

Wilson’s Mash, on the other hand, is a rich, tasty, mashed potato blended with cream, butter salt and pepper.

Both products are hand-crafted in small batches to ensure a homemade taste and texture.

Wilson’s sales and marketing manager, Joanne Weir, says: “Both products reflect the growing demand for high quality potato products that also deliver on convenience. They have been specifically developed using carefully chosen potatoes to consistently deliver for local consumers in terms of their overall quality and taste.”

Joanne also confirmed that Wilson’s Country is now supplying pre-prepared mashed potato into Northern Ireland’s catering sector.

She continues: “This is another example of adding value to locally grown potatoes. This is good news for consumers: it is also good news for our growers.”

Demand for potatoes is on the rise, she adds. This trend is being reflected in terms of both retail and catering-related sales.

“From a catering perspective people are going out again, after the hiatus created by the Covid pandemic,” she adds. “More generally, potatoes are being recognised for their healthy and nutritious properties as well as being good value for money.”

Taste of Ulster members succeed in hospitality awards

Our strategically important hospitality sector, which continues to face testing challenges, especially in input costs and staff shortages, is demonstrating tremendous resilience. It’s encouraging then to see the ongoing commitment of the sector to innovation and quality recognised in national and international awards.

A fine example of this commitment is the recently reopened Ulster University’s splendid Academy Restaurant in Belfast, a Taste of Ulster member.

The restaurant, which has deservedly won widespread acclaim for its superb food and excellent service, has had its commitment to sustainability and measures to protect our precious environment with paperless menus, installing water-saving appliances and low carbon approach, has been awarded the prestigious Green Key certificate, the first restaurant in the UK, for this inspirational focus.

To achieve Green Key recognition, the Academy has met the more than 60 imperative criteria stipulated by the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE) and operates to the high environmental standards expected by Green Key organisation. 

The Academy team, I am sure, will readily provide their advice and support to any other hospitality establishment seeking accreditation which may well become an essential requirement in the longer-term from the developing international focus on the environment. The Academy, in addition, is making a significant contribution to hospitality education here.

Congratulations to a most valued Taste of Ulster member.

The impressive work of another Taste of Ulster member, the excellent Killeavy Castle Estate Hotel and Spa, has deservedly led to another award recently to its cache with the 4 Star Lux Hotel of the Year at the Irish Hotel Awards.

The 4 star Lux Hotel nomination is a new category in the awards which have been running many years.

Another encouraging initiative of this excellent complex is a farm shop specialising in superb artisan from the local area including many products used by the hotel restaurant in its enticing menus.

The spectacular hotel has become a major destination within the Mournes and continues to attract visitors from all over the island of Ireland and from further afield. I congratulate the visionary team at Killeavy Estate Hotel and Spa. It’s a wonderful addition to hospitality and especially tourism here.

Taste of Ulster is all about connecting people with the finest food and drink from Northern Ireland. We are delighted to promote people who produce it and those who serve it in our cafes, restaurants, bars and hotels.  We know we have world-class ingredients and chefs. We secured Best Food Destination at the International Travel and Tourism Awards at World Travel Market.   

We’ve checked every single Taste of Ulster establishment to ensure it meets our strict criteria and is committed to maintaining our charter before receiving a coveted plaque. We don’t just let anyone in! So whatever county you visit, there’s a choice of handpicked places to taste the very best of Ulster.

Killeavy Castle Hotel, in addition, won Fine Dining Experience of the Year, Great Irish Breakfast of the Year and Castle Hotel of the Year for Ulster. It’s certainly well worth a visit for a luxurious stay and/or a delicious meal.

The other big winners in the awards were Manor Country House Hotel in Enniskillen and Titanic Hotel, Belfast.

The Manor House Country Hotel won Waterside Wedding Venue of the Year and Breakfast Venue of the Year. Frances Cathcart won Breakfast Manager of the Year, Ulster and all-island. Josata Zostautiene won Housekeeping Manager of the Year, Ulster. Una Monaghan won Wedding Planner of the Year.

Titanic Hotel won Wedding Hotel of the Year and Gourmet Getaway of the Year for Ulster. Staff awarded were Nigel Mannion, Chef of the Year; Courtney McLaughlin – Event Manager of the Year for Ulster and Yvonne McIlree Marketing Manager of the Year.  William McIlroy was Concierge of the Year for Ulster and Overall winner.

Neil Walker from the Seagoe Hotel, Portadown, won Bar Manager of the Year and Corick House Hotel and Spa in Tyrone won the Country House Hotel award in Ulster.

These outstanding awards reinforce Northern Ireland’s standing as a worldclass destination for great hospitality and superb food and drink. WE are proud of all our hospitality sector has..and continues to, achieve.

Food NI member Two Stacks has won double gold for its recently launched Irish Double Cream Liqueur in the prestigious World Liqueur Awards.

The Newry-based blender and bonder won gold for its unique Double Irish Cream Liqueur and gold for innovation in the global awards.

Two Stacks took the cream liqueur market to a new level when it launched a premium product that features significantly more whiskey, including, for the first time, a pot still distilled spirit, with fresh butter cream, ingredients all sourced from Irish suppliers.

Shane McCarthy, a founding director of Two Stacks, an independent specialist in whiskey blending and bottling, says the small company is “thrilled’ by this important recognition.

 The new cream liqueur is the outcome of work over more than a year “to create a luxurious, complex and, most of all, delicious Irish cream liqueur”.

“Our aim was to create a cream liqueur unlike anything that has come before it”, adds Shane, who set up Two Stacks in 2020 with business partners and close friends Liam Brogan and Donal McLynn.

“What, we believe, sets our cream liqueur apart as a luxury taste experience is the unique blend of eight times the whiskey and twice the butter cream as compared to the market standard,” he explains.

Two Stacks bonds and blends a range of whiskeys including single malts at Newry and exports them throughout the world. The company developed Dram in a Can, the world’s first whiskey in a can.

Northern Ireland’s Dale Farm, a Food NI member, was the only local success in the recent World Cheese Awards. Held at Trondheim in Norway, Dale Farm, Northern Ireland’s biggest dairy business, was among over 4,000 cheeses entered in the global competition.

Dale Farm, best known for its Dromona range of cheddars, gained a bronze medal for its extra mature block. The award was the most recent for Dale Farm, which produces its cheddars at Dunmanbridge, near Cookstown, in international competitions.

The Northern Ireland company is among the biggest cheese processors in the United Kingdom, using milk from local farms to produce a wide range of successful cheddars.

Organised by the Guild of Fine Food, the World Cheese Awards draws entries from up to 31 different countries each year.

Cheeses of all shapes and sizes make their way to the venue where cheese experts taste and grade over 3,000 in a single day – giving Bronze, Silver, Gold and Super Gold awards to worthy entries.

A final judging panel then debate the top 16 cheeses in front of a trade and consumer audience before crowning the World Champion Cheese. This year’s winning cheese came from a dairy in Norway.

Award-winning family-run Bertie’s Bakery in Magherafelt, a Food NI member, is creating 12 jobs after securing a £2 million-a-year deal to have 12 of its lines initially available across 19 Tesco Express stores across Northern Ireland.

This will involve the roll-out of 30 lines into 24 of Tesco’s main superstores later this year.

Bakery industry leader Brian McErlain opened Bertie’s Bakery in 2020, and it operates from a 15,000 sq ft site outside Magherafelt.

The new jobs will be across the business including bakery and sales personnel, bringing its total staff to 45.

Brian said: “Bertie’s Bakery is named after my mother who, with my father Joe, were founders of the original McErlain’s bakery in 1968. Her mantra was ‘don’t sell anything you wouldn’t love to eat yourself’, and it is that core value which is driving us today.

“We have sourced the best flours, oils, seeds and grains to produce both traditional breads, cakes and snacks and new interpretations of old favourites. All our products are hand-crafted and hand-finished which stays true to our artisanal ethos.

“Securing this listing with Tesco marks another significant step forward for Bertie’s Bakery, making our products even more widely available to consumers across Northern Ireland and enabling us to create more jobs locally.”

Gareth Morton, head of category commercial NI at Tesco, added: “We’re proud to support local suppliers, and our new partnership with Bertie’s Bakery reflects our commitment to continually improving and expanding our offering.

“Bertie’s is a local business with a long history in Northern Ireland and we are excited to be able to provide their products to Tesco customers.”

Bertie’s Bakery’s new 90 products include hot plate goods, baps and rolls, oven bread and scones, cakes and pastries.

The bakery’s wee sodas and sliced wheaten picked up Great Taste awards in August, adding to 2022 awards for big pancake and toaster wheaten.

Eggs, sauces, vinegars and pickles from Northern Ireland have been voted among the best food and drink in Britain.

Four local artisans – all Food NI members – have won gold, silver and bronze awards in the annual Great British Food Awards for eight foods, the most ever won by local
companies.

The overall Northern Ireland winner was Cavanagh Free Range Eggs in
Newtownbutler, Co Fermanagh which won the title as “Sustainable Egg Producer” of the year. The family-run business also collected two silvers for its six breakfast eggs and 12 medium eggs.

The judges praised “the delectable taste of Northern Ireland’s eggs with this pack of 6 Breakfast Free Range Eggs. Bursting with flavour” “They make every breakfast delightful treat. The quality is apparent in their rich and vibrant yolks, a testament to the hens’ welfare. Knowing they are well looked after only adds to the satisfaction of enjoying these delicious eggs.”

Cavanagh Free Range Eggs is owned and managed by husband and wife team John and Eileen Hall, who said they were “delighted by this outstanding recognition of the Fermanagh company’s success”.

The other big winners in the awards were Burren Balsamics of Richhill, Co Armagh; and Lo and Slow BBQ Sauces from Derry. Burren, which is run by founder Susie Hamilton Stubber and Bob McDonald, both respected chefs, gained gold awards for three products – pickled tomatoes; proper digestive biscuits and wild garlic, salt and pepper mill.

Raymond Blanc described Burren’s proper digestive biscuits, as “a Great British Biscuit, showcasing modern artisanal baking”.
Derry’s Lo&Slo BBQ Sauces, owned and run by Emily McCorkell, won gold for its Screaming Banshee Ghost Chilli and Seaweed Blend and silvers for Chilli Mop Sauce and Sweet and Smoky. Gary Stewart, head chef at the Tartine restaurant in the Distiller’s Arms in Bushmills won silver for his pickled sauce and bronze for his raspberry and apple sauce.

Launched in 2014 the Great British Food Awards to celebrate the country’s finest artisanal produce, as well as the hard-working people behind the scenes. This year, the awards were bigger and better than ever, with lots of new categories and amazing celebrity judges such as celebrity chefs Raymond Blanc, Oliver Marlowe; Michel Roux Jnr and Shaun Rankin.