Bakery leader wins top food industry award

Brian Irwin, chairman of Irwin's Bakery, Northern Ireland's largest independent bakery, has been recognised for his outstanding contribution to the region's agri-food Industry.

Mr Irwin was named in the inaugural Fresh Innovation Awards organised by Henderson's, the leading Irish food wholesaler and retailer under the Spar brand.The awards were held to celebrate the Henderson's fresh food suppliers, farmers and growers for their product innovation, accessibility of goods and their sustainable practices. Irwin's is based at Craigavon in county Armagh and is a major supplier of breads and other products to retailers in the UK and Ireland.Mr Irwin also picked up the Overall Supplier of the Year Award for Irwin's Bakery, which has been trading with Henderson's since the early 1900s.

"I am delighted to honour Brian Irwin, chairman of Irwin's Bakery, for his contribution to the industry in Northern Ireland. Not only has he pushed forward and diversified the family business successfully to break the GB market," said Neal Kelly, Henderson's Fresh Foods director.

And there was another success for the bakery industry in Northern Ireland. Tim Graham, sales manager of Graham's Bakery, also became the first ever recipient of the Young Agri-Food Innovator Award, a fresh category for the all-new awards.

The judges agreed that Tim was excelling in New Product Development for the family-owned company, based at Dromore in county Down. Tim recently collaborated with the wholesaler to produce an exclusive line of celebration cakes for the new Occasions range developing throughout Henderson branded stores.

Other winners at the breakfast ceremony included T.S. Foods, Castlewellan, county Down for Excellence in Product Innovation for their Ann's Kitchen range of fresh and convenient fish meals; Hovis, Belfast won the Excellence in Regional Delivery award for maintaining a 99.98 percent service level when delivering over 50 bread and bakery products, six days a week, directly to the entire network of Spar and Eurospar retailers in Northern Ireland. PRM Group, of Lisburn, county Antrim, one of Henderson Wholesale's leading fresh brand suppliers took home The Tomorrow Matters Award which is a nod to the alignment of the group's CSR practices with its suppliers. Ballyclare, county Antrim pork producer Fred C Robinsons was presented with the Own Brand Supplier of the Year award, reflecting the company's increase in sales of +13 percent of the Spar's Enjoy Local range of pork sausages.

In the first Local Butchery Awards to be presented at the event, Henderson Retail honoured four butchery concessions which scored highest during audits which took place at the start of the year. The audits focused on quality, range, presentation, innovation, flair, availability and creativity.McMurray's Butchers at Eurospar, Templepatrick, county Antrim; H&J Carnduff Butchers in Eurospar, Brackenvale, county Down, and Haye's Family Butchers, from Spar Greystone in Antrim, were all Highly Commended in the category.Quail's Butchery in Spar, Banbridge, county Down took home the title of In-Store Butcher of the Year.

Mr Kelly adds; "The Fresh Innovation Awards have been fantastic, and we have received such a positive response from the suppliers we work with. We strive to ensure we are sourcing locally first and foremost as we have some of the finest produce in the world on our own doorstep. There is simply no excuse to be looking elsewhere."

Pictured: left, Tim Graham of Graham's Bakery, Jo Scott, BBC presenter who hosted the awards, Neal Kelly, Henderson Fresh Foods director, and Brian Irwin, chairman of Irwin's Bakery.