Peas Please will today announce a huge increase in the number of vegetable portions the award-winning initiative has delivered into the UK food system.     Since its inception 4 years ago an additional 636 million portions of veg have been sold or served by major food companies across the UK.    This represents nearly a 300 % increase on last year.   The Peas Please report will also be released today which shows how the initiative works to make vegetables more appealing, accessible, and affordable for everyone.  

The Food Foundation in partnership with Food Sense Wales, Nourish Scotland, Belfast Food Network and Food NI have delivered the trailblazing Peas Please initiative across the UK, which clearly shows the huge impact transparent reporting can have. Over the past year 21 pledging businesses refreshed and updated their original pledges, with many committing to SMART targets and transparent reporting of sales of vegetables within their businesses.   This will play a vital role if rapid transformation of our food system is going to be achieved, to curb the current heath crisis facing the country, and help tackle climate change. 

This was echoed in Henry Dimbleby’s National Food Strategy published in July which calls on Government to introduce mandatory reporting for large food companies to achieve the substantial shift in the nation’s diet required to reduce the environmental and health impacts of our current food system. Many major food businesses have already publicly declared their support showing a huge shift in the food industries desire to be part of the solution.  UK retailers with 92% of UK retail market share are currently signed up to Peas Please and are now committing to major initiatives to help drive up vegetable consumption across the UK setting ambitious targets for veg sales and procurement.

Nine Northern Ireland companies will be among more than 100 artisan food producers showing a broad range of innovative and tasty products at Gifted Fair in Dublin from 1-5 December. The local companies are taking part in a showcase organised by Invest Northern Ireland in association with Food NI.

Taking place at the RDS, the event is Ireland’s largest and most important gift and food show on the run-in to Christmas. The fair is resuming this year after being stalled in 2020 due to the restrictions from the coronavirus pandemic.

The presentation features a wide variety of quality foods with gluten-free and vegan options which are ideal for Christmas and New Year entertaining.

On the Northern Ireland stand will be a variety of successful and award winning products including artisan spiced meats, cheese, snacks, granola, condiments, bread, gin and coffee.

Commenting on Northern Ireland company attendance at Gifted, Jen Guiney, Invest NI’s Business Development Executive for the Republic of Ireland said: : “We are delighted to be back at Gifted again with a strong presentation of excellent artisan food and drink from Northern Ireland producers after last year’s inevitable cancellation.

“Our companies are keen to be back at the RDS because the fair has proved hugely successful with visitors from all over Ireland and from further afield seeking different taste experiences and new meal ideas.

“It’s a show which has worked well for Northern Ireland’s smaller food companies in terms of orders and contacts over the years,” Mrs Guiney added.

The quality of the artisan food showcase from Northern Ireland is demonstrated by the dozens of original foods which have won coveted UK Great Taste and Blas na hEireann, the Irish National Food Awards and Irish Quality Food and Drink Awards over the past five years. –

Northern Ireland food and drink companies at Gifted Fair 1-5 December

Ballylisk of Armagh, Portadown, Co Armagh– handcrafted soft cheeses

Bro Coffee, Newcastle, Co Down – retail and wholesale coffee roaster

Cookie Jar, Newcastle, Co Down – artisan bakery with multi-award winning Irish wheaten loaves and wheaten bread mixes

Green Fingers Family, Larne, Co Antrim – handmade granolas

Hellbent, Belfast – South African Boerewors sausages, meatballs, burgers and pork dishes

Irish Black Butter, Portrush, Co Antrim – savoury and sweet spreads

Ke Nako Biltong, Ballyclare, Co Antrim – South African Biltong and other charcuterie

Noisy Snacks, Belfast – healthy snacks

Symphonia Spirits, Moy, Co Tyrone – gin and apple rum

Three other Northern Ireland companies have independent stands at Gifted. They are:

Armagh Cider Company, Craigavon, Co Armagh – ciders, juices, mixers and apple cider vinegar

Burren Balsamics, Richhill, Co Armagh – balsamic vinegars, relishes and jams

Holmes Bakery, Portadown, Co Armagh – biscuits including butter shortbread, flakemeal and traybakes

Killowen Distillery, a small batch producer of whiskey, gin and rum in Northern Ireland, has launched the new Dalriadan Blended Malt Whiskey in celebration of the great tradition of whiskey distilling around north Antrim.

The Dalriadan from Killowen, which is based in the Mourne Mountains near Rostrevor in County Down, is 40% percent double distilled peated malt from Caol lla Distillery aged in ex-Bourbon Hogg’s head butts and 60 percent 11-year-old malt from county Antrim and finished for three years in Oloroso butts.

Brendan Carty, Killowen’s master distiller, explains; “Whiskey lovers have always pondered which nation created whiskey. In truth, whiskey evolved long before our fixed ideals of nation and kingdoms. Nowhere is this fluidity of place acknowledged more, than the lands surrounding the sea of Moyle in north Antrim. Predating whiskey’s foundations, there was once an ancient kingdom known as Dalriata, a kingdom long since disappeared yet the fluidity of her people remains just as dynamic to this day. This whiskey is a celebration of different, but heavily related whiskey traditions and when merged, a beautiful fusion is created. Both whiskeys originate safely within the boundaries of what was once, a vibrant sea-faring nation,” he adds.

Killowen, he continues, “thoroughly enjoy bonding and blending, it’s as much of a learning experience for us as it is the consumers, as usual we make the drinks we want to taste, and thankfully fellow consumers have the same point of view”.

The new whiskey is released on Friday and will be available online from Irish Malts, Anzac Wholesale, Umbrella Project and KWM Wines and from some retail stores.

A Fermanagh based distillery became a record breaker last week when the first bottle of Scotts Irish Whisky fetched £11,000 at an auction that formed part of an event celebrating and outlining the future plans of the London Irish Centre.

It became the most expensive first bottle of Irish whiskey ever sold in Europe with the previous record holder Teeling Whiskey Celebratory Single Pot Still going for £10,000 three years ago.

Among those in attendance at the event for the London Irish Centre was Dermot O’Leary, a patron for the centre, and Irish Celebrity chef Richard Corrigan.

Distillery owner, Fermanagh man, Conal Treacy was delighted to see his labour of love fetch the record.

“It was fantastic. Obviously a brilliant cause in the shape of the London Irish Centre who do so much for the community here in London and we were also delighted to see the reaction to our whisky from the people present at the launch. We are a local company with big ambitions and it was great to get off to this start,” he explained.

Scotts Irish Whisky limited edition first batch, which consists of 3000 bottles, is now on sale and available from their website www.scottsirish.com

The distillery is based in Fermanagh village, Garrison, which sits just a few miles from the Donegal border and draws its inspiration from the story of Angus Scott, a local man who distilled whisky around the waters of Lough Melvin in 1790s.

Celebration is in the air at Clandeboye Estate Yoghurt this week as the announcement of a major national award, a lucrative new business contract and the imminent completion of purpose-built premises on the estate combine to create a perfect platform for business growth.

Crowned overall ‘UK’s Best Product of the Year 2021’, Clandeboye’s Madagascan Vanilla Greek Style Yoghurt stole the show at this year’s Quality Food Awards becoming one of only a few products from Northern Ireland to have taken the overall title since the annual awards were launched over forty years ago. The awards celebrate excellence in food quality and are designed to recognise and reward those products that lead the way in the market.

“Of course, we were delighted to win the Dairy category,” explains Bryan Boggs, general manager at Clandeboye Estate Yoghurt “but when news came that our Madagascan Vanilla Yoghurt had actually come out on top across all the products and category winners we were obviously over the moon! There’s no doubt that a Quality Food Award opens up new opportunities for small producers like Clandeboye.  It is a great boost as we enter a very exciting phase in our development to know that we have been judged as the best there is in the UK by the discerning panel of experts.”

The County Down producer is not only set to benefit from increased interest from UK based buyers but it’s good news for cross border trade too with the announcement of a new deal with Irish distribution company, BWG, who distribute to a vast network of convenience stores and trade customers in Southern Ireland. 

Bushmills Irish Whiskey in Northern Ireland has launched a new bottle and pack for its iconic single malts. The range includes 10, 16, and 21-Year-Old references which are now available across the island of Ireland.

 In an era of unprecedented global growth for the premium single malt category, the new pack provides a distinctive platform to showcase Bushmills single malts’ timeless excellence and underlines Bushmills’ pre-eminence as the original single malt Irish whiskey from the world’s oldest licensed whiskey distillery. 

 A stone’s throw from the Old Bushmills Distillery in County Antrim, the Giant’s Causeway has been a source of inspiration to Bushmills for centuries. The new bottle, designed by New York agency Stranger and Stranger, is broad-shouldered and angular, taking inspiration from the legendary columns and integrates subtle features such as its hexagonal punt mirroring the Causeway stones.

 Vibrant colours across the range bring a contemporary elegance while discrete embossing on the side panels honours Bushmills’ 1608 heritage and iconic pot still. Quality crafted parchment labels are complemented by varnished wooden cork closures for the 10 and 16-Year-Old while a bold matt black zamac cap sets off the gunmetal label and gold features of the iconic 21-Year-Old.