Master brewer Bernard Sloan of Whitewater Brewery in Castlewellan, a Food NI member, has won acclaim and market success through a focus on coming up with original taste experiences. The most recent, a collaboration with Hinch Distillery in Carrydulff on a barrel-aged stout, won the coveted three stars in the UK Great Taste Awards.

The latest winning collaboration followed an earlier link up which led to Hinch’s award-winning Craft and Cask, an innovative range of three distinctive Irish whiskeys.

The range included an ‘Imperial Stout Finish’ based on Whitewater’s strong Kreme dela Kremlin Imperial Russian Stout, a winner of the Northern Ireland Regional Fork in Great Taste in 2020 and among its strongest of beers.

The winning stout was made using a selection of premium malts, hops and maple syrup, then aged in whiskey casks from Hinch, an important initiative by local entrepreneur Terry Cross.

 Rising to the top among hundreds of other entries from Northern Ireland, the latest stout was celebrated as the best tasting product from here at the Great Taste Golden Fork Dinner in London, where over 350 guests from the world of fine food gathered to discover the stars of food and drink.

 “The latest Great Taste recognition was tremendously important in helping to raise the profile of my beers especially in Great Britain, a hugely important market for us. We were the first brewery in Northern Ireland to win a regional fork in the highly influential process,” adds Bernard.

Craft and Casks whiskeys were finished in beer barrels from Whitewater to “disrupt the taste profile’ of the Irish whiskey scene”. And they did.

The hugely innovative collaboration widened the distillery’s growing portfolio and brought its collection of whiskeys to nine. The Craft & Casks range follows on from the distillery’s release of an 18-year-old single malt finished in Château de la Ligne Grand Reserve wine casks ahead of Christmas 2020. Further innovative collaborations are in the pipeline.

“I really enjoy working with Hinch Distillery on new drinks. There’s a great team there. We’ve developed a close relationship, and they are always willing to explore new ideas,” Bernard says. “I have long been keen to work with other artisan producers here and have links with Tempted Cider in Armagh and Corndale Farm Free Range Charcuterie in Limavady. The charcuterie is being used in pizzas for sale in the brewery. I love Corndale’s delicious nduja and Tempted’s range of local ciders,” he adds.

The pizzas are being developed by Bernard for visitors to the brewery and for the local community. “We’ve got a producer’s licence which enables us to sell our beers on-site to people visiting the brewery,” he explains. “It means tourists and other visitors can see how we brew our drinks and then enjoy a pizza with a beer in our purpose-built visitor centre,” he adds.

He has experience of the pizza business from the time when he owned the White Horse Inn in Saintfield with its Flaming Crust premium pizzeria.

Creating innovative flavours is Bernard’s passion. And it’s one which has produced considerable business success in the fiercely competitive and price sensitive beer marketplace. He’s been brewing his own beers for more than 21 years with wife Kerry and now operates from one of our most modern breweries.

Starting the new brewery in Castlewellan meant a switch of location from Kilkeel, the original site of what was then a craft brewery to nearby Castlewellan. Both share a picturesque setting nestled in the foothills of the iconic Mournes he loves.

Some of his popular beers carry brands reflecting the region. Maggie’s Leap, among his most successful, is named after a mythical figure there,  Ewe Rebel after the sheep that roam the mountains, and Hen, Cock and Pigeon Rock, a well-known landmark. Maggies Leap also collected an Irish Quality Award and an International Beer Challenge recognition. His Belfast Lager and Belfast Åle have gained a raft of major quality awards.

How Food NI helps companies build on successes in awards

One of my greatest pleasures associated with the annual Blas na hEireann awards in Dingle, Co Kerry was talking with a large number of local companies over the period of three days and exploring how we can help them to build on their achievements at the awards in the months ahead.

Our role is to support and encourage companies, especially our members, to develop and become more successful and profitable. We seek to do this by creating a promotional platform for them and by developing initiatives that will facilitate growth locally in preparation for global markets.

We are developing a flexible eco-system of support by collaborating with relevant bodies such as the Department for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs, InvestNI, TourismNI and local councils, all of which have been immensely supportive since the formation of Food NI ahead of the hugely successful Year of Food and Drink in 2016.

Once again, our companies, mostly small and medium businesses, excelled at Blas and returned with an impressive 74 awards including 23 Golds, 26 Silver and 25 Bronze at the celebration of the best of Irish food and drink. This is an excellent haul for a relatively small region like Northern Ireland. It followed outstanding successes earlier in the UK Great Taste Awards. Unlike Blas, Great Taste doesn’t involve a long event at which winners and others can meet and share experiences.

We would be keen to host such a platform event for the companies to show their products to potential buyers and, perhaps, the wider public, because it is vitally important that shoppers here should be aware of the breadth and quality local produce. All the very many national and international awards won over the months by companies across so many categories demonstrate that Northern Ireland food and drink really is world class and deserves to be enjoyed in homes, hotels, restaurants, cafes and canteens everywhere.

I shared the jubilation of companies winning significant awards at Dingle, including the Supreme Champion title that was deservedly scooped by Morelli Ice Cream in Coleraine for a stunning mango sorbet, and there is nothing better than seeing the winners collecting their awards on the day at this hugely important event for the food industry on the island of Ireland.

What was apparent was the tremendous camaraderie between our companies and a great willingness to support each other during the event. There were discussions between local companies on how they might be able to collaborate on future products and on sales. I know that many smaller companies readily exchange contacts in delis and farm shops ready to stock their products. Food NI also plays its part in supporting the development of delis and farm shops as an effective route to commercial success for these companies.

Food and drink is one of the great success stories of the local economy and has the potential to make an even greater contribution in the years ahead through innovation and export achievements. It’s an industry which, we believe, deserves further support. While we greatly appreciate the enthusiastic backing of bodies like DAERA, Invest NI, TourismNI and the UK Department for Business and Trade, Food NI supports more steps to promote more consumption of local food at home as well as exports by both large and smaller companies to markets such as Great Britain and Ireland.

It’s also an industry which can step up productivity quickly, given the right support. Food NI is a nimble, versatile and experienced organisation that can assist local companies to become more productive and successful faster and by working with DAERA, InvestNI, TourismNI and local councils, create a productive eco system to propel our award-winning industry forward.

A specialist in old-fashioned minerals and mixers from Belfast struck gold for outstanding flavours at last week’s Blas na hEireann Irish Food Awards in Co Kerry Wayne Adair, who began making non-alcoholic ginger wine as a youngster using a recipe from his grandmother, saw his small enterprise Papas Minerals and its subsidiary Longbridge drinks, a producer of tonics and mixers, named ‘Best in Co Down’ by the panel of judges at the international event in Dingle.

Wayne also collected gold medals for his handcrafted Cloudy Lemonade and Longbridge Extra Hot Ginger Ale. The company, which is based in east Belfast, produces old-fashioned beverages such as ginger wine, including a sugar-free version, as well as cordials with elderflower, clove and spiced winterberry flavours. It also makes a sarsaparilla and a traditional lemonade.

“I was delighted to have gained such encouraging recognition for my small enterprise at Blas. Such endorsement of the products is tremendously important for the two companies and our drive to boost sales particularly among leading retailers in the Republic of Ireland. It will also help as we endeavour to build on business we have in Britain,” Wayne says.

Papas was among 23 golds won by Northern ireland at Blas. Local products also scooped 26 silvers and 25 bronzes Wayne first began making cordials in Bangor, his home towm, in 2004, producing flavours from the past such as elderflower, clove, and sarsaparilla in an old ice cream parlour he had taken over in the town. “I reckoned the cordials would help offset the usual downturn in ice cream sales during the winter – hence winter warmers such as winter berry cordial. I could scarely have guessed that the drinks would become an all year round feature, which they have.”

He also launched the minerals and cordials, which are without artificial flavours, colours or sweeteners, at local markets such as St George’s in Belfast, where the company has become one of the long-term stalwarts at weekends.

Santa is coming to the Bramley Barn at Long Meadow Farm

Get into the festive spirit at Long Meadow Farm!

Drive through the magical orchard, under the stars, to the enchanting Bramley Barn.  The elves will welcome you into Santa’s Grotto with a smile and festive cheer, whilst you sip on hot chocolate, a Christmas story you will hear!

Whilst Santa is checking his list twice, there will be lots of festive fun for the family to experience!

• Make some Reindeer food for Santa’s busy reindeers
• Design your own Christmas plate or glass for when Santa visits on Christmas Eve
• Write your letter to Santa and post it in The Bramley Barn’s post box – ready to be delivered straight to the North Pole!
• Enjoy some hot chocolate or spiced apple juice while listening to a Christmas story
• Have fun with arts & crafts

Last, but not least, sit and chat with Santa himself and receive a selection box made by Santa’s Elves at the North Pole. One of his favourite elves will be standing by to take some photos for you and your family so you can cherish this magical moment forever.

Visit the link below to book your tickets! https://www.longmeadowcider.com/product/santa-bramley-barn/

Local food gold successes from Dingle to Amsterdam

Congratulations Morelli Ice Cream from Coleraine of what was a virtual clean sweep at this year’s Blas na hEireann, Irish National Food Awards in Dingle, Co Kerry, winning the prestigious Supreme Champion Award, the Shane McArdle Award for Best in Ulster and Best in Co Derry. It was a hugely impressive performance by a local company and the second Northern Ireland triumph in the past five years, following the success of Rooney Fish in Kilkeel for its Millbay Oysters in 2019.

I was lucky enough to be in Dingle for the awards. It was an amazing weekend with so much success for Northern Irish companies. Morelli won the top award for its stunningly delicious mango sorbet, a tremendous success following three gold stars in the UK Great Taste Awards for its pistachio ice cream, another superb product. It’s been quite a year for the popular family business, which I am delighted to say is one of our most enthusiastic and supportive member companies.

We are delighted to see the outstanding achievements of the company under Arnaldo Morelli, the managing director, and sister Daniela Morelli-Kerr, the commercial director, as well other family members. They are great ambassadors for the local food and drink industry and rated highly throughout the UK and Ireland for the outstanding quality of their ice cream and sorbets and overall focus on innovation. And it’s a visionary company which has also been quick to embrace other artisan enterprises such as Clandeboye Estate Yoghurt, in a frozen yoghurt, and Irish Black Butter, in a unique ice cream flavour.

Encouragingly, Rooney Fish/Millbay Oysters, the only other Northern Irish company to bring home the title of Supreme Champion from Blas, is also a supportive Food NI member. Another important development took place in Amsterdam when Hannan Meats, another Food NI member, won three gold medals for fillet and ribeye in the exacting World Steak Challenge. Peter Hannan, a highly valued Food NI board member, entered three innovative steaks and came away with an impressive three gold medals and a silver. It was another outstanding achievement by our fabulous industry. There were other significant awards for Kettyle Irish Foods in Lisnaskea, ABP Ireland and Foyle Foods in Derry at the global event. Congratulations to our good friend Peter Hannan and the other winners in Amsterdam.

It really was another remarkable period for our amazing industry, showing the tremendous potential our producers possess for international sales. Other member companies featured in export successes – Irish Black Butter in Portrush clinched first-time business in Texas and Rademon Estate Distillery in Crossgar became part of a unique global collection of spirits’ distributors Berry Bros and Rudd. Clandeboye Estate Yoghurt signed a deal with Aldi worth £8.6 million that will see its great products on sale in Britain. And Symphonia Spirits was listed by Tesco Ireland for its gin.

The enormous potential, especially in terms of exports, of our industry was also highlighted during Blas na hEireann. It was a tremendous boost to see so many smaller companies collecting awards, including many of our member companies. Our congratulations to all the winners at Dingle. We look forward to continuing to work with all in promoting our incredible industry. Securing that coveted Blas badge is a huge achievement and means those producers who are short listed as finalists and the final winners really are the crème de la crème of Irish food and drink.

All roads led to Dingle for Blas na hÉireann 2023, the Irish food awards, with the three-day celebration of the best of Irish food and drink which took place from Thursday 28th to Saturday 30th September.
As ever, Food NI members were well represented, with one even taking home the Supreme Champion Award.

Morellis took that accolade for their Mango Sorbet which also won Best in County and Best in Ulster. The product uses real mango sorbet with no dairy or lactose products.

“Our grandparents and parents would be ecstatic, and we are very proud to carry on their legacy” said Arnaldo Morelli, MD at Morelli Ice-Cream.

The other member winners from Co. Derry-Londonderry are Carol’s Stock Market, Milgro and William Grant and Company.

The winners from Co. Down are Crawfords Rock Seaweed Company, Longbridge Drinks Co (Best in County), Mash Direct and The Copeland Distillery

The Food NI member winners from Co. Armagh are Avondale Foods, Burren Balsamics, CRAIC Foods, L’Artisan Foods (Best in County), Mac Ivors Cider and Natural Umber.

The winners from Co. Antrim are Basalt Distillery, Dundarave Estate, Golden Popcorn, Lough Neagh Fishermen’s Co-operative, Melting Pot Fudge, Our Brewery by Geterbrewed, Suki Tea Makers and The Daily Apron.

Fermanagh winners included Cavanagh Free-Range Eggs, Erin Grove Preserves and Kettyle Irish Foods (Linden Foods) (Best in County).

En Place Foods was a winner in Tyrone.

Food NI CEO Michele Shirlow said “This is a fantastic result for Northern Ireland, Food NI members and proof of the extraordinary talent in our local food and drink scene. Congratulations to everyone and I hope these awards will bring new business for all”.

Speaking as the winners were announced, Blas na hÉireann Chairperson, Artie Clifford said, “We are thrilled to see such deserving winners and finalists again this year at Blas na hÉireann 2023. Looking back on 16 years of Blas, it’s fantastic to see the standard of food and drink in Ireland go from
strength-to-strength year on year. It’s a real privilege for myself and the whole Blas family to bring these products, and the amazing producers who make them, to a much wider audience.”