Taste of Ulster member Waterman House in Belfast is the only restaurant in Northern Ireland to be picked as a February Favourite New Restaurant in the Michelin Guide.

Chosen by the inspectors, it is described as “big, bold and buzzy”. Michelin publishes monthly favourites in the UK and Ireland. They are published on the website and the free Michelin app. The Cathedral Quarter establishment is part of the James Street Group owned by Niall and Joanne McKenna.

The 2023 Great Britain and Ireland Stars, Bib Gourmands and Green Stars will be unveiled at a ceremony at Silverstone, Northamptonshire, UK on Monday, March 27th.

The new Northern Ireland All-Party Parliamentary Group kicked off its programme of events for 2023 with ‘A Taste of Northern Ireland’ yesterday in the Jubilee Room of the Houses of Parliament. 

The event was a resounding success and welcomed hundreds of people, including MPs, Peers and guests from all political affiliations and those with none, through the doors to the showcase of some of Northern Ireland’s finest small food and drink producers. 

This was a true display of cross-Party and cross-community support for the food and drink manufacturers across the six counties of Northern Ireland. The event had MP representatives from all main parties at the event, including DUP, SDLP, Alliance Party, Conservative Party, Labour Party, Liberal Democrat and SNP as well as Crossbench and Independent Peers in attendance. 

Ian Paisley MP, Chairman of the Northern Ireland APPG said:  “I would like to say a big thank you to all of the small independent businesses who flew over from Northern Ireland and supported our event, including Craic Foods, Burren Balsamics, The Chocolate Manor, Crawfords Rock Seaweed Company, Irish Black Butter, Blackfire Food Belfast, Finnebrogue, Food NI, Hinch Distillery and Ballylisk Cheese. 

In Northern Ireland we only have a population of 2 million but produce enough for 70 million people, we have some of the best food and drink producers in the United Kingdom and we want to continue sending those products to Great Britain as well as exporting them further afield.”

The Rt. Hon. Steve Baker MP, Minister of State for Northern Ireland, attended in the event and in his speech said: “I just want to say thank you to everyone who has come to this event today, the vendors, the businesses which have sent over their products, the people who have come out to see this incredible display of Northern Ireland produced food and drink. 

“It was a true honour to meet some of the people and small artisan businesses, and taste their produce, who are the real backbone of the Northern Irish economy. 

“Our goal is stability for businesses in Northern Ireland and let me assure you, we are all working towards that.” 

Christine Cousins, Events Manager at Food NI, said: “We were delighted to be a part of this showcase, the work being done by the Northern Ireland APPG is sincerely appreciated by all food and drink manufacturers in Northern Ireland.

“It is important that we get to showcase our top class produce here in Great Britain and enhance the visibility of our already highly sought after food and drink products, made in Northern Ireland.

“We were delighted to exhibit a wide range of products including Copeland Rum, Long Meadow cider and apple juice, Olive Tree Bakery wheaten bread, Milgro crispy onions, Whitewater brewery IPA, Kenako biltong, Granny Shaw’s fudge and tablet, Abernethy Butter and Hinch Distillery whiskey.”

Mark Logan MP, Vice Chairman of the Northern Ireland APPG and Conservative MP for Bolton North East said: “This afternoon I am resigning myself to some good scran, some of it I hope will be like what my Granny used to cook, I am resigning myself to thinking what supermarket shelves, restaurant tables and fridges all around the UK filled with stuff which Northern Ireland has to offer and what is on show today.” 

Alliance Party MP for North Down, Stephen Farry MP said:  “I would like to thank everyone for coming along and supporting this event today, especially those who have travelled all the way from Northern Ireland. 

“It is a wonderful time and indeed place to showcase the wonderful food and drink we have in Northern Ireland. We are world leaders in many ways and areas, especially when it comes to innovation.

“We are incredibly proud of the small artisan companies which we have, some of whom were there yesterday afternoon with us. There are more and more of these wonderful businesses springing up almost everyday across our six counties and that is something we can all be proud of.” 

A conference looking at the region’s potential to drive food tourism and maximise its economic benefits is being held in Belfast next month.

Belfast City Council is organising the ‘Focus on Food’ conference at the ICC on 28 March, in partnership with Department of the Environment and Rural Affairs (DEARA) and Tourism NI.

It will bring together industry experts including food producers, restaurateurs, chefs and food educators to celebrate the economic contribution and creativity of the sector, as well as setting goals for Belfast and Northern Ireland to achieve further success as a culinary destination of choice.

Belfast Lord Mayor Councillor Tina Black said: “You just have to visit our award-winning St George’s Market on any given weekend to see the abundance of local food producers and outstanding homegrown products we have here on our doorstep. Belfast also boasts an amazing choice of local, independent restaurants.

“There is a huge opportunity to build on our food tourism potential and our tourism strategy for the city identifies the importance of making this one of Belfast’s key selling points. Celebrating the food we are known for and creating a unique offering means we can transform how we position Belfast on a global stage, where so many cities are competing to attract visitors; we want to become a destination of choice for foodies and make our name as a city famous for what’s on the menu.

“Getting everyone together at this major event is the start of that process as we look at how we can support our hospitality and local food businesses to achieve our tourism ambitions and the benefits that will have for not just Belfast, but the entire region.”

Belfast City Council is leading on an action plan around food tourism which includes setting up a new food and drink network and steering group. It’s hoped that by setting ambitious but achievable goals, Belfast can establish itself as a leading food and drink destination and eventually achieve international status.

The conference will bring together a stellar line up of guest speakers including restaurant critic Grace Dent, Chris McClurg (chef patron at Paul Ainsworth at No. 6 and Great British Menu winner), Anna Pollock (strategist on regenerative hospitality and tourism), Gemma Austin (chef patron at A Peculiar Tea and Great British Menu finalist), Skye Gyngell (chef patron at Spring and Heckfield Place), Giles Gibbons (co-founder of Sustainable Restaurant Association) and Conor Spacey (founder of Food Space, Dublin).

Albert Johnston, Head of DAERA’s Agri-Food & Corporate Support Branch, said: “DAERA is delighted to support Belfast City Council’s Focus on Food Conference 2023, as it is a key engagement platform for all involved in our food supply chain to showcase the strength of our local agri-food industry and to bring together the agri-food and hospitality sectors.

“Northern Ireland has a wealth of high quality, safe and wholesome foods available to the processing, food service and retail sectors and we continue to encourage processors and consumers to seek out local produce where possible.”

David Roberts, Director of Strategic Development at Tourism NI added: “Food and drink tourism plays a central role to the visitor economy. In recent years, it has become a motivation for visitors who are spending more time and more money on opportunities to connect with local food and drink.

“Tourism NI is delighted to be supporting The Focus on Food Conference which provides delegates with an opportunity to celebrate the creativity of our sector whilst learning from others to strengthen our reputation as a world class food and drink destination. 

“The conference will stimulate opportunities for knowledge exchange where delegates can garner insights from panellists who are delivering exceptional food and drink experiences.  Tourism NI look forward to collaborating with those who have a shared interest in raising the quality of the experience that we offer to visitors.”

For more details of the conference including ticket info, visit www.belfastcity.gov.uk/events

Michele Shirlow, Chief Executive, Food NI

As regular readers of this column will be well aware, Food NI runs specialist programmes designed to assist the growth of food and drink companies. We’ve assisted artisans and smaller companies to enhance professionalism and performance over the years as an essential element in our commitment to our most important industry. Its inspiring to watch entrepreneurs develop and gain new customers, especially in some of the specialist market programmes we co-design with InvestNI.

However, a new programme being developed with support from DAERA’s Northern Ireland Regional Food Programme, will help farm shops in particular to grow business sustainability. It’s a response to the impressive growth of the sector over the past few years. Typically, Northern Ireland has had very few farm shops, but this is a trend that has started to change.

The growth of farm shops has been an important influence in the development of artisan and smaller food and soft drink businesses in terms of sales, marketing and new product development. Many of our most successful processors began their business journey on the shelves of farm shops across the country. A number also started their own outlets to sell their products and those from other smaller enterprises.

Farm shops are now a thriving sector within retail and one that’s set to continue to grow strongly both in terms of their size, the products offered and people employed. They are also growing in terms of professionalism in retailing and customer service.

The coronavirus lockdown was, furthermore, an important influence due to the reluctance of shoppers to travel far and the concerns over the number of people in the bigger supermarkets. Small convenience shops, especially those linked to the farms, really did come into their own. And we’ve continued to see the sector grow in the number of shops and the size of outlets. Owners responded – and continue to do so – by investing in their business and in local food suppliers. They’ve become community hubs, a bit like the corner shops of another era.

Owners, in addition, have also expanded their role in terms of advising shoppers in food and in ways to cook and prepare local produce to ensure quality and taste.

In Food NI, we are keen to support the growth of this important sector because of the opportunities it offers to start-up, artisan and smaller businesses. So, we have developed an initiative specifically for farm shops. An expert workshop has been organised for 15^th March to assist the growth of these community-based shops.

Participating owners and staff will be able to draw on the vast knowledge and experience of several experts. Julie Mills of Shrewd Foodie in Britain will provide practical advice, while Nigel Bogle of EPOS Systems, from Fermanagh, is an expert on the latest technology used for stock control and payments. He has provided technology to many of the leading farm shops here and in Britain that enables them to operate efficiently and profitably. They will be joined by Neal Kelly of the Henderson Group and FoodNI Board member, who will share his experience of retailing.

Julie established her Shrewd Foodie consultancy in Scotland on the back of her experience over more than 20 years in food retail and hospitality. Julie’s depth of knowledge on the commercial aspects of farm shop retail is unrivalled.

The workshop, in addition, will help smaller food entrepreneurs with information on what farm shops expect and how to do business successfully and farms thinking of diversifying into retail.

The event is open to all farm shop operators and smaller producers. For more information go to nigoodfood.com or to Eventbrite and search farm shop workshop.

ICC Belfast, Tuesday 28 March 2023    Belfast is fast becoming one of the UK’s top destinations for outstanding food, drink and hospitality.  We invite you to join this one-day conference that will celebrate the economic contribution and creativity of our chefs, restaurateurs, producers and educators, and set goals for Belfast and Northern Ireland to achieve further success in an increasingly competitive market.  This is your opportunity to be part of the conversation: to be inspired by experts, to participate and collaborate on the future of food, drink and hospitality as the bedrock of Belfast’s economy and a defining element of its culture and tourist experience.   Guest speakers include top talent such as chefs and Great British Menu contestants Gemma Austin and Chris McClurg as well as founder of the Sustainable Restaurant Association Giles Gibbons.  We are also delighted to welcome columnist, broadcaster, author and restaurant critic for the Guardian Grace Dent.  Grace is also a regular critic on BBC’s Master Chef UK.    Key topics covered will be: – Nurturing talent – Sustainability best practice – What makes a great food destination – New voices: Finding success in a competitive world – How to engage with Belfast’s new Food and Drink Network In addition to hearing from our industry experts, you’ll have a chance to interact and make connections with colleagues and peers from across Northern Ireland at the ‘Producer showcase’ zone. They will promote the quality aspects of regional food including PDOs and PGIs.  This is a must-attend conference if you have a passion for Belfast and Northern Ireland’s bustling food and drink industry and driving the tourism economy. Tickets include lunch refreshments. Student discounts apply.  Click here for more information and to register your interest.