Artisan cheesemaker Mike Thomson has been named Person of the Year for Northern Ireland in the annual Slow Food UK Awards.

Mike is the only raw milk cheesemaker in Northern Ireland, and an advocate of the craft. A huge supporter of other cheesemakers via his retail store in Belfast, he is a trailblazer for good cheese in Northern Ireland. He was nominated by Director for Slow Food NI, celebrity chef Paula McIntyre. Mike was also named Best Cheesemonger in Northern Ireland.

Slemish Market Garden in Ballymena was named Best Greengrocer in the UK and Northern Ireland.

And Corndale Farm Charcuterie in Limavady, county Derry won two awards – Best Butcher and Champion Slow Food Product  – Veal Charcuterie in association with Broughgammon Farm in Ballycastle, county Antrim.

Created eight years ago, the Slow Food awards, part of an international movement, are truly democratic – with no prior shortlisting, the winners are simply chosen by whoever gets the most public votes.

Michael Thomson established his artisan cheese company by raising £80,000 to become Northern Ireland’s first raw-milk blue cheese manufacturer in 2013.

He studied cheese making at The School of Artisan Food in Nottingham and then developed his knowledge and skills particularly in Stilton-type cheese making with producers in England. He moved back to Northern Ireland in November 2012 to set up his own dairy, Mike’s Fancy Cheese in Newtownards, near Belfast, and raised cash for the venture through a crowdfunding initiative. This enabled him to start making cheese in November 2013.

He launched Young Buck blue cheese in January 2014, winning business with leading Northern Irish restaurants such as Michelin-starred Deane’s EIPIC and Ox.

The cheese is also now available from many leading specialist cheese shops and delis across Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland, GB, Paris, Lyon and Lille and in Alt Milch at Markhalle in Berlin’s Kreuzberg district.

Young Buck has also won a strong of awards for quality including UK Great Taste Awards.

Other Slow Food winners in Northern Ireland were:

Best Baker                                       Ursa Minor, Ballycastle, county Antrim, producer of baked goods including award winning sourdough;
Best Fishmonger                             Native Seafood, Portstewart, county Derry
Best Deli or Grocer                          Warkes Deli, Portstewart
Best Market                                       St George’s Market, Belfast
Best Restaurant/Food Eatery            Stock Kitchen and Bar, Belfast

The prestigious awards were set up to highlight Good, Clean and Fair food and involved thousands of votes over the summer. Each nation has its own winners, with the highest number of votes in each category also being the overall UK winner.

They seek to promote local businesses that consistently deliver quality and sustainable food products, fulfilling the movement’s vision of a good, clean and fair food society.

The awards are truly democratic, with no prior shortlisting. Winners are chosen from each nation as well as a winner in the best overall UK category. In addition to this public vote, each Slow Food nation director nominates an individual for a Person of the Year awards. The winners each get a certificate and the right to call themselves establishment/product of the year for each nation.

Finnebrogue Artisan in Northern Ireland has set a new Guinness world record by creating the world’s biggest vegan burger which will benefit the local homeless.

Based in Downpatrick, county Down, the local food producer made a vegan burger weighing a whopping 162kg and measuring 1.2metres in diameter.

The record-breaking burger was made in its £30million facility at Downpatrick.

A total of 10 employees were involved in completing the burger, which required creating 1274 of their standard sized naked evolution burgers.

The vegan burger was made using the brand’s Naked Evolution Burger recipe, which involved around 10kg tomatoes, 4.5kg lettuce, 7kg cheese, 2kg tobacco onions, 5kg gherkins, 5kg Naked without the oink rashers and 5kg Naked Burger sauce.

The result was a staggering 162.5kg, almost 40 percent heavier than the target weight of 100kg.

Sean Kearney, Finnebrogue’s Innovation Process Manager, describing how they managed to make and cook such a huge patty, said: “We were set a target weight of 100kg, but we knew from the outset we wanted to exceed that. The team included representatives from NPD, marketing and engineering; and together we designed and built everything, including a swing to aid turning the patty during cooking.”

“That was perhaps the most challenging part of the record as we didn’t want to break the patty,” he added.

He continued: “The patty took almost nine hours to cook so the day was long. However, when we added all the condiments and the weight of the burger was revealed, we were elated!”

Once the record was verified by the Guinness team, the huge vegan patty was shared between staff members and distributed to a local homeless community.

DrinkNo/Low, an innovative business launched by entrepreneurial couple David and Jill Crawford, will help consumers and traders here access drinks with no or low alcohol from global manufacturers.

The couple, based at Portaferry in county Down, aim to become the specialist ‘go to’ online retailer – the website (www.drinknolow.co.uk an www.drinknolow.ie ) has just been launched – and a trade distributor of premium and craft alcohol free and low drinks in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.

David and Jill bring vast experience in international markets to the new business as the innovators behind Just Live a Little, a producer of granolas and other healthy snacks for major retailers worldwide.

Influenced by the launches of alcohol-free Guinness and Gordon’s Gin options, they decided to focus on developing an extensive portfolio of craft beers and other beverages produced without alcohol that can be accessed both digitally and by conventional distribution services. The new business initiative has also been influenced by their efforts to reduce alcohol consumption.

Jill, the commercial director, explains: “We spotted a new business opportunity from the development of the No/Low drinks sector as one of the fastest growing and most interesting categories in food and drink. While there are a lot of fantastic new products available in a market which has really taken off in Europe, the US and Australia, the availability of these beverages has been inhibited here due to issues over trade and transport, especially post-Brexit. We saw significant scope in particular to help accelerate the growth of the category on the island of Ireland. Many producers either don’t ship their product here – or the shipping costs make the price prohibitive,” Jill adds.

Food innovator Alastair Bell received an early Christmas ‘box’ this week in the shape of a novel application of his award-winning Irish Black Butter savoury spread arranged by one of Ireland’s leading supermarkets involving a tasty collaboration with another food business in the Republic.

Alastair’s successful Irish Black Butter is featured in a unique horseshoe ham treat for the Christmas table that went on sale this week in around 160 Aldi-Ireland stores across the Republic. Aldi-Ireland launched its novel ‘Specially Selected Cook in the Bag Irish Black Butter Reduced Salt Horseshoe Ham’ in an eye-catching box.

The Christmas food box features ham from Connolly Meats in Scotstown, Co Monaghan along with a plastic jar of Irish Black Butter with instructions on how to use the spread, which is made from Armagh Bramley applies with spices and a touch of brandy, as a delicious glaze for the traditional festive meat.

“It’s a very exciting development for my small business,” says Alastair. “I had been providing my savoury butter to the supermarket in the Republic for some time as part of its imaginative ’Grow with Aldi’ scheme that supports smaller and artisan food businesses in the Republic and Northern Ireland. Aldi subsequently approached me to see if I would be interested in collaborating with them and Connolly Meats, another of their suppliers, on the creation of the new ham.

“I jumped at the opportunity to be an integral part of such an initiative that would help to raise the profile of Irish Black Butter throughout the Republic, a huge retail market” he says.

He’s also delighted to be collaborating with Connolly’s Meats, a family run business that currently has three generations working together under the same roof, supplying high profile retailers in the Republic, such as Aldi, and in Great Britain.  

“The collaboration is especially important because it is a development of my work to create new opportunities for the black butter particularly in terms of new food ideas,” he adds.

Aldi taste tested the original Irish Black Butter glazed ham product in the Christmas Irish Quality Food Awards and gained a gold award for it.

Echlinville Distillery has announced a new distribution partnership with Hi-Spirits which will see an increased presence for the distillery’s Dunville’s Irish Whiskey brand in the UK market, creating a significant boost for Dunville’s presence across the on and off-trade.

An independent, family-owned distillery, Echlinville at Kircubbin, Co Down has been at the forefront of Ireland’s spirits renaissance and is home to a portfolio of award-winning whiskey. Dunville’s Irish Whiskey in particular has gained a global following. The ‘Spirit of Belfast’ is held in high esteem throughout the whiskey industry for its premium and super premium single malts and vintage blends.

“We are excited about this new partnership and the opportunities it will present for both The Echlinville Distillery, Dunville’s Irish Whiskey and Hi-Spirits. Our combined expertise, passion and commitment to quality will provide the momentum for the next phase of Echlinville’s growth,” says Shane Braniff, owner of Echlimville Distillery.

“The agreement will see our Dunville’s Irish Whiskey range take its place among Hi-Spirits’ impressive portfolio. We look forward to working with the Hi-Spirits team to introduce our award-winning whiskeys to an increasing number of trade and retail partners and grow our presence in the UK market.

“From our Dunville’s 1808 blend, the iconic Dunville’s PX Single Malt, to the limited-edition bottlings from the Single Cask Series, we look forward to sharing The Spirit of Belfast with whiskey enthusiasts across the UK.”

Multi-award winning Jawbox Gin, has launched a limited edition White Christmas Gin in Northern Ireland. The limited edition gin is available in the network of Winemark stores.

This special release bottle contains the successful Jawbox Small Batch Gin with a festive white and silver label.

The Jawbox Gin distillery is set just outside Belfast on a vast 300-acre estate that dates back to the 16th century. Its fields are where much of the grain for the spirit is grown and harvested.

The gin is triple-distilled very slowly in traditional copper pot stills and in small batches using a unique combination of 11 carefully selected botanicals, including local Belfast Black Mountain heather.

On the nose, Jawbox is an impressive experience of bold juniper and pine, balanced with a gentle touch of sweet coriander and clean citrus. On the palate, it becomes more complex with citrus and juniper developing into peppery, earthy Angelica root.

The finish is citrus, lingering juniper and pine. It’s recommended to be served with refreshing Ginger Ale, which also happens to have been invented in Belfast. The perfect gift for friends and family this Christmas, this limited edition Jawbox White Christmas Gin is available now in all Winemark stores across Northern Ireland while stocks last, priced at £25.