Gold standard for local foodies could boost their Irish food export sales

Heading the Irish Food and Drink Quality Awards (IFDQA), announced last week by the organisers in Dublin, were upwards of 10 local enterprises which collected coveted gold awards in the annual challenge that’s closely watched by top buyers in major supermarkets and food halls in both the Republic and Northern Ireland.

The Republic remains the biggest export market for Northern Ireland food and drink, buying products from here worth more than £900 million.

The gold winners ranged from yoghurt, sweet and savoury sauces to healthy prepared meals, seaweed salts, dandelion honey, chorizo and hand cut crisps from producers in many parts of Northern Ireland.

Among the most successful local companies were Slim’s Healthy Kitchen in Belfast. The small business gained three gold medals in the reduced/low fat meal kits for products including Slim’s Healthy Kitchen Chinese Style Chicken Curry and Slim’s Healthy Kitchen Korean Style Chicken with Jasmine Rice.

Cooked from scratch and never frozen, Slim’s Healthy Kitchen convenience meals are now available in retail outlets throughout Northern Ireland. The small company’s macro-balanced meals come in an array of flavours and are prepared by a team of chefs in Belfast. The enterprise also has popular restaurants in Belfast, Lisburn and Magherafelt.

Collecting two gold medals was family-owned Crawford’s Rock in Kilkeel, now one of Ireland’s leading producers of seaweed products such as seasoning salts made from dulse harvested from the Co Down coastline around Northern Ireland’s largest fishing port.

Michelle Crawford, the founder and owner of Crawford’s Rock, says: “We are absolutely thrilled to gain this important recognition in Ireland’s most significant quality food event.

“We will be building on the awards to increase our awareness and, of course, sales across the Republic, a new market for us and one we are really keen to grow sales as soon as practicable. All our products are sourced from natural ingredients,” adds Michelle, who is also about to launch a chocolate from dulse.

Daily Apron, a small bakery in Lisburn, gained gold for its unique charcoal sourdough loaf. The home bakery, which is owned by self-taught baker Cathy Stevenson, has previously won a prestigious World Bread Award for its traditional Irish wheaten loaf. “This is hugely encouraging for us in today’s immensely challenging marketplace. Our sourdough breads are proving extremely popular with shoppers in the Lisburn area in particular,” Cathy says.

There were gold medals too for Clandeboye Estate Yoghurt in Bangor for a recently launched savoury Apple Crumble and Cinnamon flavour. Clandeboye Estate, Northern Ireland’s only significant yoghurt producer, is already well-established in the Republic with retailers such as Aldi, now one of the biggest

supermarket chains there.

Clandeboye Estate also supplies every supermarket in Northern Ireland and is keen to win more business for its new products that include a Greek-style vanilla yoghurt flavoured with honey.

“Gaining gold in these prestigious awards helps to showcase the innovation and quality taste of our recently launched yoghurts to the wider marketplace,” says Patrick Black, Clandeboye’s commercial manager.

There was another gold for Irish Black Butter, the Portrush-based business of sole trader Alastair Bell. The company has been using awards to create a platform for faster growth in the Republic, Great Britain and the US. It already supplies high-end retailers such as Sheridan’s, an acknowledged specialist in world cheeses in the Republic.

Others winning the top award in their categories included Limavady’s Corndale Farm Charcuterie for its Irish chorizo, Moocha Kombucha Cola of Pomeroy for its healthy strawberry and raspberry drink and Daily Bake in Armagh for a potato meal side produced for Lidl Ireland.

The existing and successful relationship between Dunnes Stores, Ireland’s biggest grocer, led to a series of medals for Glen’s of Antrim Crisps from Cushendall. These included a gold for Dunnes Stores Simply Better Hand Cooked Crinkle Cut SeaSalt and Vinegar Crisps.

Supplier of the year in the awards was Crust and Crumb Bakery in Derrylin, the leading supplier of pizzas and pizza bases to major retailers in the Republic including Aldi.

Now in its 11th year, the awards are widely regarded as being the most prestigious in the Irish food and drink industry. Entries are judged rigorously by an independent panel of more than 100 industry experts.

Food NI’s chief executive Michele Shirlow explains the importance of the awards as a “stamp of excellence” “Winning an Irish Quality Food and Drink Award, and being able to display the logo on products, demonstrates to both existing and potential customers that a company has earned the gold standard of excellence in food production.”