Top UK award for Northern Ireland's Broighter Gold Rapeseed

Broighter Gold, the Northern Ireland producer of award winning rapeseed oils, has won a major UK competition for the quality and taste of its products. The company is the first winner of the Hotel Indigo innovative 'Flavours of the Neighbourhood' competition.

The artisan business, based on a family farm at Limavady in county Derry, came top in a shortlist of smaller food producers from across the UK.

Leona Kane, founder and managing director of Broighter Gold, says: "I am delighted to have won this prestigious award from Hotel Indigo. It's a marvellous endorsement of the quality and originality of my oils and infusions and is a tremendous boost as I seek to expand sales outside Northern Ireland."

Hotel Indigo, the boutique hotel business within Intercontinental Hotels, launched the competition to find Britain's best food vendors, producers and artisans and to enable them to showcase their craftsmanship and passion for delicious, authentic flavours.

The search was led by a panel of top food experts - TV's Jimmy Doherty, award-winning food writer William Sitwell, food blogger and supper club pioneer Kerstin Rodgers and VP of Food and Beverage for InterContinental Hotels Group Simon Burdess.

Mr Burdess, commenting on the awards, adds: "The Flavours of the Neighbourhood search coincides with the launch of Hotel Indigo's new food and drink philosophy; "Locally crafted", which is designed to celebrate, showcase, as well as serve the local communities around our hotels as well as our guests.

"We are passionate about immersing and connecting guests to the neighbourhood, and we know that one of the best ways our guests choose to experience local life is through food and drink. Be it a bakery, artisan coffee shop or brewery, our philosophy is all about offering delicious, locally-sourced artisanal food and drink to our communities and guests by partnering with the best independent producers and suppliers in our neighbourhoods."

Broighter Gold was the only Northern Ireland business to be shortlisted and followed an extensive public vote. The company is based on the family owned and run Broglasco, Farm, near Limavady in county Derry. It has been farmed by the Kane family for four generations. The current owners are Richard and Leona Kane.

Broighter Gold was established by Leona Kane in 2011 in an imaginative diversification programme to use rapeseed grown on the farm. The 700 acre farm also specialises in wheat, barley and potatoes.

The farm business now has a portfolio of eight rapeseed oils and has secured sales throughout Ireland and recently from influential French retailer La Grande Epicerie de Paris. It has gained a string of food quality awards including UK Great Taste Awards.

Intercontinental Hotels is the world's largest hotel group with over 3,000 hotels and resorts worldwide.