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Belfast-based Mette has supplied Jamie Oliver’s Ministry of Food (MOF) with a unique cookery demonstration workspace.

Northern Ireland’s Broighter Gold Rapeseed Oil is aiming to persuade cooks to opt for a healthy culinary alternative. The small company, a farm enterprise located on land where Ireland’s greatest hoard of Celtic gold from the Iron Age, now held at the National Museum of Ireland in Dublin, was found in 1896, has launched a new rapeseed cooking oil in distinctive 500ml bottles.

From home town bakeries and butchers to some of the province’s largest food producers, Northern Ireland has once again shown its abilities on a national stage. 40 Northern Ireland food and drink companies have secured more than 160 gold awards for 115 products in this year’s UK Great Taste Awards.

A new local organic baby food company is celebrating, having just landed its first contract to supply all 39 SuperValu stores in Northern Ireland.

Bella Jo Kitchen, an award winning Northern Ireland manufacturer of quality relishes and chutneys, has won its first business in Great Britain. The artisan producer is now supplying its products, including a unique fig relish, to leading delis in England such as the Cotswold Cheese Company in Gloucestershire.

A new commercial cookery school has just opened in Belfast with a commitment to promote Northern Ireland’s developing cluster of artisan food companies.

The school, the first in Belfast, is the brainchild of a successful restaurateur and seafood specialist, Bob McCoubrey, assisted by Andy Rae, a leading local chef.

The Meat Merchant, the successful Northern Ireland deli/farm shop business, is opening its first outlet in England in October, in Newcastle Upon Tyne, one of three new delis being planned by the company.

Northern Ireland’s Cloughbane Farm Foods has recorded a 50 per cent growth in sales in the Republic of Ireland in the past year from the quality of its homemade lasagne and traditional meat pies.

Kearney Blue Cheese, a new artisan cheese from Northern Ireland, won a major award at the recent International Cheese Festival in Nantwich. Kearney Blue, launched in April, took the award for the Best Irish Cheese – All Varieties.

Enterprise Minister Arlene Foster has praised the outstanding achievements of 40 Northern Ireland food and drink companies in this year’s UK Great Taste Awards.

The Minister was speaking following the announcement by the UK Guild of Fine Food that 40 Northern Ireland food and drink companies have secured more than 160 gold awards for 115 products in the prestigious awards, often referred to as the ‘Oscars’ of the food industry.