'We are a true farm-to-fork business': Northern Ireland taste innovators in line for top international award at London food gala
Hannan Meats and The Curly Pigs are among 33 finalists competing for Supreme Champion at the prestigious Great Taste Awards in London tonight
Three original foods from two Northern Ireland producers are in the running for one of the world’s most influential awards at a gala event tonight (Tuesday) in London.
The companies – Hannan Meats of Moira, Co Armagh and The Curly Pigs from Newtownbutler in Co Fermanagh and – have reached the Supreme Champion final in the annual UK Great Taste Awards 2026. They are both also competing for a Golden Fork as the best Northern Ireland food this year.
The local producers are among 33 from many parts of the world taking park in this year’s prestigious Great Taste Awards run by the influential Guild of Fine Foods. The annual event attracted food and drink, mostly from artisan producers, from almost 800 companies from 116 countries worldwide. Overall, around 15,000 food and drink products were entered. Finalists Curly Pigs and Hannan Meats were among 138 from Northern Ireland to win a variety of awards.
They are up against contenders such as whiskey from Norfolk; hot sauce from Scotland; lamb from Wales; cheese from Ireland wagyu beef ham from Spain; honey from Greece; cheese from France; and paprika powder from Hungary.
The top awards will be judged and announced tonight, the first time ever, at the spectacular Battersea Arts Centre.
The Curly Pigs reached the finals with its Coppa, an Italian pork salted and dry-cured meat crafted from the pig shoulder or neck of rare-breed pigs in Fermanagh. Hannan has two products in the final stages – Buttermilk Dry-cured Bacon Rack and Buttermilk Bone-Pork Chop. Buttermilk curing, developed by Peter Hannan, tenderises pork and keeps it juicy during cooking.
“Buttermilk curing enhances the flavour of pork and bacon by adding a subtle, pleasant tang that pairs well the meat and savoury spices including garlic,” explains Peter Hannan, now one of Northern Ireland’s most creative food innovators and owner of a number of artisan food producers including Abernethy Butter and Ispini Charcuterie, both also based in Moira, where he is creating a food hub.
He has a long history of coming up with tasty new foods and delicious re-workings of other favourites. His first UK Great Taste Champion title came in 2012 with a new version of longstanding Italian favourite guanciale, a cured meat made from the jowl or cheek of a pig. The meat was dry cured, then marinated with red wine and garlic and left to cure for a minimum of three weeks.
Hannan has also won awards for his version of porchetta, another classic Italian boneless stuffed pork dish. He won a second Great Taste Supreme Champion title with a Glenarm rib roast in 2016.
The UK and Ireland’s most decorated meat producer, especially in terms of Great Taste Awards, Blas na hEireann and World Steak Challenge, Peter has a passion for quality and dedication to innovation in tastes for the public and his network of customers in high-end hotels and five-star restaurants in the UK, Ireland and other parts of Europe. His products are readily available to shoppers through the Meat Merchant, the deli he owns in Moira.
Dedicated to premium quality beef, pork and lamb with outstanding taste, he runs one of Europe’s most decorated and successful meat processing businesses.
The company also operates one of the world’s biggest Himalayan salt-aging chamber complexes for the development of uniquely tasty meat, a substantial investment for he business for its catering and retail customers. A series of superb quality meats has been aged in the highly impressive. chambers.
The chambers use a wall of hand-cut Himalayan salt bricks to create a pristine environment for dry-ageing meat, significantly enhancing its sweetness and flavour concentration over a period of 28-45 days
Himalayan salt ageing uses a solid wall of pink salt bricks in a temperature-controlled room to draw out moisture, purify the air, and naturally tenderize meat like beef.
“The salt blocks naturally absorb excess moisture from the air and the meat, creating a stable, dry environment,” he explains.
Stephen McMaster, owner and founder of The Curly Pigs with wife Rachael, adds: “The Curly Pigs began with a desire to grow our own food and become more self-sufficient, and a chance encounter with the rare Royal Mangalitsa pig.
“We are a true farm-to-fork business, with almost every stage of production carried out by us, from breeding and rearing the animals through to curing and selling the finished products.
“Drawing on traditional charcuterie methods learned through specialist training, we created a slowly cured, air-dried Coppa that reflects our commitment to high welfare farming, craftsmanship and producing food with authenticity, provenance and exceptional taste.”