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Irish Black Butter wins business at Dublin International Airport

Food NI member company Irish Black Butter has won significant business at Dublin International Airport for its savoury/sweet spread.

The company, which is based at Portrush in Co Antrim, has begun supplying the unique spread to the Wright’s of Howth retail outlet in Terminal 1 at the airport, Ireland’s biggest, through its distributor Soul Bia.

Alastair Bell, the founder and managing director of Irish Black Butter Company, the small batch business founded to develop, produce and market the new butter, which is produced from Armagh Bramley apples, treacle, brandy and spices, says: “This is a tremendous breakthrough for us in Ireland’s biggest transport hub. It’s a marvellous platform for us in tourism, a target market for the product we’ve branded as ‘a new taste of Ireland’.

“Almost 30 million passengers from many parts of the world, especially the US and Canada, use the airport every year.

“The latest deal means Irish Black Butter is now on sale in all the main airports on the island of Ireland. What this means is that millions of visitors will be able to see – and hopefully buy – our new‘Taste of Ireland’ as they pass through the airports.

“We’ve focused on tourist attraction and visitor centre especially in Northern Ireland with considerable success,” he adds.

Irish Black Butter was launched last November by Mr Bell with help with En-Place Foods in Cookstown, county Tyrone. Influenced by apple butters available in other parts of the world including the US, the Netherlands and Jersey, Mr Bell wished to create a unique taste.

The spread has also been used as an ingredient for other innovative Northern Ireland products including ice cream, yogurt and biscuits. The product is now readily available in delis and independent stores across Northern Ireland and is being distributed in Ireland by Sheridans and Britain by Centaur in Bristol.