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Ards Brewing Company, a new Northern Ireland craft brewery, has recently launched its first two products, a Pale Ale and a traditional Irish Stout.

The Pale Ale, named Pig Island Pale, was launched to acclaim at the recent Ulster Ale and Beer Festival 2011. The annual event was organised by the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) and attracted over 100 craft ales and stouts from most parts of the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland.

Natural hand churned butter from Abernethy Butter Company in Northern Ireland is now being used by one of the Republic of Ireland’s top restaurants. Abernethy secured its first export business, with the award winning Alexis Bar and Grill at Dun Laoghaire, near Dublin, through a Twitter conversation.

Shauna McCarney, founder of Northern Ireland’s Heavenly Tasty Organics, a manufacturer of a highly innovative range of organic baby weaning food, has been named 2011 Business Parent of the Year in Ireland by the influential Mother and Infant magazine in Dublin.

Baxter Murray Creative Chocolate, Northern Ireland’s Great Taste award winning chocolatier, has secured new export sales in Germany, France and Poland.

The innovative company, which takes pride in producing chocolates by traditional artisan techniques, has recently supplied promotional chocolates to ResearchNow, a leading European business in life sciences.

Enterprise Minister, Arlene Foster pictured with representatives from Italian seafood buyers at Parliament Buildings during their recent visit to Northern Ireland.

The delegation was here to source quality shellfish including langoustines, prawns, crabs and whelks, along with smoked and fresh salmon, all from suppliers in Northern Ireland.

A Slice of Heaven in Newtownards, a manufacturer of hand-made desserts, has been assisted by Invest Northern Ireland to expand sales to Great Britain and the Republic of Ireland and to double its workforce.

Clandeboye Estate Yoghurt, Northern Ireland’s only yoghurt producer, has almost doubled turnover by investing in market-led new product development that led to the launch of a range of fruit flavours for customers in Great Britain and the Republic of Ireland.

The prestigious UK Meat Innovation of the Year Award 2011 has been won by Northern Ireland’s O’Doherty’s Fine Meats for its original Old Fermanagh Corned Beef.

Pat O’Doherty, who runs the family meat business in Enniskillen, County Fermanagh, turned back the clock six centuries to create an award-winning corned beef using ancient recipes.

The best food from Northern Ireland artisan producers is now on sale in the North East of England in The Meat Merchant, a unique deli operation in Newcastle upon Tyne.

The deli, a 1,100 sq ft shop in Newcastle’s Jesmond district, is the brainchild of Peter Hannan, the managing director of Hannan Meats in Northern Ireland, a specialist in quality meat, poultry and other products for foodservices. The shop features a broad range of food from smaller companies in Northern Ireland.

Enterprise Minister Arlene Foster today announced a ?495,000 investment in research and development by United Dairy Farmers.

The Minister, who attended the group’s area conference on Wednesday, said the investment was aimed at boosting its sales in key export markets.