A host of sustainable food and drink tourism experiences will take place across Northern Ireland, as part of sustainability month, until the end of April. It is joint initiative between Tourism NI and Food NI.

They include an introduction to the world of cocoa sourcing, sustainable chocolate making and chocolate tasting at Neary Nogs near Newry on Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays in April. Shane will do a 45-minute walk-through of chocolate production followed by 45 minutes of sampling chocolate from various origins and products. Booking via www.nearynogs.com

Hillsborough Castle & Gardens will be running a very special ‘Sustainable Feast’ experience on Friday 8th April at 7pm. This will be a very specially curated menu, comprised of ingredients from their cherished local producers, picked from their walled garden and foraged from the estate at Hillsborough Castle. As well as a delicious 3 course menu, priced at £30 per adult and £15 per child, their chefs will host a talk on the menu ingredients and their sustainability practices at Yellow Door Hillsborough Castle. Bookings via email events@yellowdoorhillsborough.co.uk 

On Saturday 9th April there will be a Sustainable Food Day at Hillsborough Historic Royal Palace featuring sustainable producers, talks and demos. The themes of the talks will be sustainable and regenerative foods e.g., no dig planting, importance of bees in pollination. The garden talks – Growing Green – will take place in the Walled Garden at 11.00am, 12.30pm and 2.00pm. These talks are free but normal garden admissions will apply. The food talks – Foraged Food – will take place on the terrace at 12noon, 2.30pm and 3.30pm. Free to all. The producers will offer a range of products incorporating sustainable local ingredients.

There is a Causeway Coast Foodie Tour on April 9^th. Led by Wendy Gallagher, it lasts 6 hours. You will become familiar with the area’s heritage and culinary culture, taste delicious local produce and meet the people behind this.  Wendy will encourage you to sit back, relax and savour the flavours that make this area so unique. As you travel by luxury small coach through the area on a tour of 5 planned stops, you will experience the fresh outdoors and taste locally produced artisan foods, that have attracted many international awards including Great Taste Awards and Blas ná hEireann marques. You will meet the makers at one of our local artisan markets, visit an exceptional farm & savour the world-famous Bushmills Whiskey, distilled in the oldest licensed whiskey distillery in the world. Producers will tell of their history and experiences, how the produce is grown/reared and why they take such pride in it.  This area is not just home to a rich agri-food culture but also famous television dramas including Game of Thrones and The Northman. Book at Coast and Country – Causeway Coast Foodie Tours

Tracey Jeffrey’s small holding on Strangford Lough’s shores is the setting for Gather Eggs and Make Friends on 13^th April. For this experience – to highlight their commitment to sustainability – they will invite guests to gather eggs which have just been laid by Hens and Ducks. They will cook these eggs – in the form of an omelette or in butter and they can enjoy the full flavour and taste of organic eggs along with their Soda Farls or Potato breads. Everything will be cooked on the Griddle. Guests will enjoy and savour uniquely Northern Irish Food – simple and delicious and of this area with zero food miles.  https://traceysfarmhousekitchen.com

Becky Cole will be guiding a seasonal exploration of Broughgammon Farm and countryside for children aged 12 and under on April 16^th. Nature Kids Club at the Farm will include Forest crafts, gardening, foraging, cooking, sensory nature walks, nature learning. It helps children learn about looking after this beautiful part of the world, nature and land stewardship. The children get to see where their food comes from, how to forage, grow food and cook outside. https://www.broughgammon.com/workshops-events/

Feasting on Weeds with Clare McQuillan is at Belfast’s Ormeau Park on April 19^th. This will be a walk that will finish up with a group cooking session where participants will learn about the wild greens, how they can and have been used in the past, and how to make them completely delicious in various ways.  Booking will be via the website https://www.feastingonweeds.com. Cost £20 per person

Bronagh Duffin from Bakehouse NI is hosting a butter churning, bread making and foraging experience to make wild garlic butter and bread on 22nd April.   This experience brings together elements of place, people and planet. It’s the opportunity to get outdoors in the fresh air, which is good for physical and mental health with a little light exercise. To learn about wild food which is tasty and nutritious.  To make your own quality, fresh, tasty food from scratch and reduce food waste as you only make and take what you need.  Along the way visitors experience the local people and their ways and food stories as well. The visitors will do all the elements of the experience.  They will churn, bake, forage before enjoying the small, tasty feast. Email for booking at bronagh@bakehouseni.com

Also, on the 22^nd, Northern Ireland’s newest Economusee- the Chocolate Manor is running a chocolate truffle making workshop. Chief Chocolatier Geri Martin will guide you through making ganaches at her premised in the village of Castlerock. Book online at The Taste Causeway Chocolate Experience – The Chocolate Manor

There will be an immersive tour into a day in the life of an apple farmer at McKeever’s Long Meadow in Armagh on 23^rd April. It invites guests to get a feel for life on the farm, touch, sample, smell and hear the sights and sounds of a rural County Armagh orchard.  To hear stories from the past and present and how the apple industry has progressed over the years. 

The experience delves further into the cider, apple juice and apple cider vinegar production.  How our family is now sustaining the orchards planted over 50 years ago.  How the natural habitat of birds and bees is crucial to its existence.   How tree pruning’s are cultivated back into the ground and apple pomace from pressing is given to local farmers for animal feeding.

Guests will learn about the production process of their award-winning craft ciders and apple juice. This will be followed by a cooking demo of traditional griddle bread in the new glass fronted Bramley Barn set in the heart of the orchard. Tea or coffee will be served with hot soda bread straight off the griddle.

Orchard & cider tasting tours now available – Long Meadow Cider

Nikki from Walk it Off NI is running a 7k Threads and Breads Walking and Artisan Food Experience with Spring Table Centre on April 23^rd. Participants will be able to do Forest Bathing, take part in an Easter-themed sustainable picnic lunch in Edenderry conservation village. They will then create a Spring decoration in a recycled glass container. Bookings can be made at https://walkitoffni.com

Start the day off on 29^th April at Princetown Guesthouse in Bangor with an informal but structured breakfast club with people enjoying nutritious, creative, local, homemade, tasty, vegetarian breakfast dishes, taking home new ideas and recipes Diners are served a 5/7 course breakfast with drinks. Targeting people aged 25+, vegetarian, flexitarian and veg curious, also those that want a different, original, breakfast experience. Diners will hear about where/how we source our food, as well as some anecdotes/stories about it, and get a truly personal touch. Email booking via princetownguesthouse@gmail.com

Sea the Day with Crawford’s Rock Seaweed in Kilkeel will also take place on the 29^th of April. Forage on the shoreline for Dulse, Nori, Carrageen, Bladderwrack and Serrated Wrack. Then set up and cook with locally caught cod, hake, haddock, mussels, crab claws, Dublin Bay prawns and Crawford’s Rock award-winning Seaweeds, Salts and Seasonings. Let the waves feel your feet and the sand be your seat, wash away all those worries and for those brave enough enjoy a cold-water swim afterwards warm up with an Award Winning Peppermint Kombu Tea and some delicious Seaweed Chilli Chocolate as the sun drops and the day ends. Email Michellewilson2006@hotmail.co.uk- for booking.

Hellbent, the Northern Ireland producer of South African-style meat products, has won a significant contract for Lidl stores throughout Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.

The company’s first all-island deal is for its delicious Chakalaka Boerewors high in protein beef sausage. The distinctive coiled sausage is made from 90 percent Irish beef seasoned with authentic South African Chakalaka curry along with onions and tomatoes.

Chakalaka spice is popular throughout South Africa for spicy meals including breads, stews and curries.

The distinctive sausages will be on sale soon in over 200 Lidl supermarkets in Northern Ireland and the Republic, providing total island coverage for the small company.

Hellbent was established by rugby stars Louis Ludik, who plays for Ulster Rugby, and Schalk Van Der Merwe, player/coach of Lurgan Rugby Club in county Armagh, in March 2018 to develop a range of meat products including South African style boerewors beef sausages, burgers and meat balls.

The innovation-led company subsequently created Irish pork products with South African flavours which attracted business from Tesco Northern Ireland. The company also supplies its products to the Henderson Group, Northern Ireland’s biggest food wholesaler which also supplies Eurospar and Spar stores.

Hellbent won the Lidl listing on the back of its success in winning the supermarket’s innovative ‘Kickstart’ programme for business starts last year. The products proved an outstanding successs  with shoppers.

Louis Ludik, commenting on the latest business with Lidl, says: “We’ve developed a good relationship with Lidl which is assisting our growth in the Republic, now a key external market for us. We’ve learned a great deal from this relationship and been keen to come up with innovative products with distinctive flavours for them. The retailer has also been very supportive in promoting our sausages.

“The Chakalaka boerewors sausages, made from 90 percent beef, offer Lidl shoppers a different flavour based on a spicy seasoning that’s popular throughout our homeland.

“Our existing sausages are proving popular in the Republic and also Northern Ireland because of their unique spicy flavour. It’s a great taste for the forthcoming BBQ season,” he adds.

Image: Louis Ludik and Schalk Van Der Merwe

In conjunction with Tourism NI, Food NI, Hillsborough Castle & Gardens will be running a very special ‘Sustainable Feast’ experience on Friday 8th April at 7pm. 

Sustainability has always been a key ingredient in their business and they are delighted to have this opportunity to showcase a very specially curated menu, comprised of ingredients from their cherished local producers, picked from their walled garden and foraged from the estate at Hillsborough Castle. As well as a delicious 3 course menu, priced at £30 per adult and £15 per child, their chefs will host a talk on the menu ingredients and their sustainability practices at Yellow Door Hillsborough Castle. 

Bookings by email only please to: events@yellowdoorhillsborough.co.uk 

Stay tuned for menu details tomorrow night!

Suki Tea Makers, the multi-award winning Belfast specialist in a range of premium teas and infusions, has been named among the UK’s best tea producers.

The small business, formed by Anne Irwin and Oscar Woolley in 2005, has been listed in the top three finalists for the prestigious Best Tea Company at the London Coffee Festival which runs from 31 March to 3 April at Truman’s Brewery in London’s Brick Lane. The other contenders are Tea Pigs and the Brew Tea Company.

The festival, launched 11 years ago, celebrates the achievements of the UK coffee and industry.

With over 7,000 visitors and 100 exhibitors in its first year, it became pretty clear that the festival was giving the coffee and creative community exactly what it wanted – and what London’s speciality coffee scene deserved, and it still does! This year 30,000 coffee and tea lovers and industry professionals are expected to attend.

The event features an extensive programme of events and tastings covering most types of coffee and tea as well as the latest equipment, demonstrations from world-class baristas and interactive workshops.

Suki Tea Makers is now among Northern Ireland must successful and awarded companies in Northern Ireland. It has won UK Great Taste Awards for its products which are widely available throughout Britain, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.  

The company, based in west Belfast, currently exports teas and infusions to Japan, Rwanda, Kenya, Poland, the Netherlands and Belgium. It sources its tea from a range of ethical and quality focused suppliers.

Suki Tea Makers is also behind a innovative project to grow tea at a small garden in Portaferry, county Down.

Award-winning Glastry Farm Ice Cream is expanding its successful range of luxury sorbets in line with a growth in market demand from consumers for healthy desserts.

The company, which is based on a pedigree dairy farm in rural county Down, near Kircubbin village overlooking Strangford Lough, has added two additional flavours, Acai Berry and Mango and Passionfruit, to its existing and its existing Pear and Raspberry Ruffle sorbets.

Will Taylor, a respected and longstanding dairy farmer and Glastry Ice Cream’s managing director, explains: “Our decision to develop the new sorbets follow extensive market research by industry leader Mintel into consumer buying priorities showing strong growth in demand for desserts perceived to be healthy.

“We’ve developed out business over the years in line with market research. As a result, all our luxury and creamy sorbets are lower in fat and high in fibre. They also have the highest fruit content within the sector in the UK and Ireland and produced using the latest technology. The existing range has become a market leader and extremely popular in particular with leading chefs,” adds Will.

The sorbets have also been endorsed by expert food industry judges resulting in two gold medals in the Irish Food Awards 2016-2017 and gold Stars in the Great Taste Awards 2019-2020, providing a tremendous independent assessment of the Glastry Farm range.

Will continues: “We now add this to range low sugar content and a number of our sorbets will contain enhanced levels of anti-oxidants and Omega 3 for a consumer who is increasingly aware of their health status. The sorbets, furthermore, are suitable for vegans.”

The sorbets also boast a rich creamy texture and are, therefore, difficult to distinguish from ice cream in terms of mouthfeel.

Acai Berry Sorbet issweet and tangy Acai and utilises Glastry’s new sugar alternative that creates a low fat/sugar and high fibre product.

“Acai berry belongs to the superfood class, providing the sorbet with increased antioxidants and nutrients, providing the consumer with added health benefits. It has a beautiful purple colouring, which is as vibrant as its taste! It has recently won gold in the Irish Food Awards 2021. This vegan sorbet is perfect for a healthier desert option,” Will explains. “Our newly developed Mango and Passionfruit Sorbet is one to get the taste buds tingling.

“Bursting with sweet fresh mango flavouring combined with sharp passionfruit, this refreshing sorbet gives you a tasty tropical twist on a classic sorbet.

“Mango is a superfood, therefore providing the sorbet with high levels of antioxidants and nutrients. It is also low in fat and sugar and high in fibre. This amazing vegan sorbet is perfect to cleanse the palette,” he adds.

Bursting with sweet raspberry flavour of fresh fruit, whilst carrying a delicate pink colouring the raspberry ruffle, he continues, is “just like being in a field of fresh raspberries on a warm summers day”.

“This amazing product is low in sugar and fat, high in fibre and rich in antioxidants, perfect for a healthier desert option.

{Pear Sorbet is a deliciously juicy, refreshing and sweet sorbet that has proven to be very popular for vegan customers. The product is low in sugar and fat and high in fibre. This delicious vegan sorbet is perfect for a healthier desert option,” adds Will.

The vegan sorbets were initially developed with CAFRE in Cookstown, county Tyrone using an Invest NI innovation voucher.