Latest news

Award-winning flavours and fresh ideas are being showcased at Alimentaria 2014 in Barcelona by Northern Ireland companies with a rich heritage in creating and producing quality, innovative and safe food and drink.

O’Doherty’s Fine Meats, the Northern Irish gourmet butcher, gained the Speciality Burger of the Year Award 2014 for its innovative lamb and anchovy burger in the International Meat Awards in Birmingham.

Broughgammon Farm, a Northern Irish producer of goat kids’ meat (Cabrito), has been recognised in the prestigious Countryside Alliance Awards.

Willowbrook Foods, Ireland’s biggest processor of lettuce and salads, has launched an innovative range of convenience meals. Based on the family farm at Killinchy in county Down, Willowbrook Foods has developed a new range of ready-made meals that includes dishes that can be either popped in a microwave for a delicious hot meal or consumed cold for both lunch and dinner.

Leading Northern Irish chef/restaurateur Tony O’Neill is to launch a range of Italian sauces for retail. The products being planned will be sold, initially, through the three Belfast restaurants - Il Pirata, Coppi and Barking Dog –that O’Neill, a talented and respected chef, runs with two business partners. The next stage could see the products being available through social media and then retailers here and further afield.

Young Buck, Northern Ireland’s first raw-milk artisanal blue cheese, has just been launched by Mikes Fancy Cheese (MFC), a business formed last year with crowd funding support.

Heavenly Tasty Organics, the Northern Irish specialist in baby weaning foods, has outsourced manufacture as part of a business switch to chilled products.

En Place Foods in Northern Ireland has gained recognition in the UK Marmalade of the Year Awards. Judges in the Marmalade Awards gave the small company a bronze medal for its savoury Burnt Hazelnut and Orange marmalade for cheese.

Northern Irish chocolatier Caroline McArdle has rebranded her business in a bid to grow sales from gourmet chocolate lovers. She’s launched the Cobden and Brown brand with new up-market packaging and an extended range of chocolate bars.

Northern Ireland’s Yellow Door Deli has won its biggest business to date in the Republic of Ireland – a contract to supply a number of food outlets at Dublin International Airport.

The award-winning deli, based at Portadown in county Armagh, has been targeting the Republic for fast growth over the past five years. The new business at the busiest transport hub in the island of Ireland – it handled almost 20 million passengers last year from hundreds of global locations – is a substantial boost for the family-owned food company.