Innovation award for Willowbrook Foods in Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland's Willowbrook Foods, a specialist in vegetables and convenience meals, has won a UK2015 Best Business Award for innovation. Based on the family farm at Killinchy in county Down, Willowbrook Foods won the award for its curry-flavoured mayonnaise and curry-flavoured coleslaw.

The 20-strong independent judging panel praised the company for its commitment to innovation in the food industry.

John McCann, founder and managing director of Willowbrook Foods, says: "I am extremely honoured to win this prestigious award. I am also particularly proud that we have been recognised for innovation - a trait we place at the very heart of our business.

"Our enthusiastic new product development team has been hard at work in our bespoke Food Innovation Centre over the last number of years and this award is testament to their dedication, technical and creative abilities."

The judges praised the company for its expertise and 10 year experience in making its own mayonnaise to develop the new delicacies which required considerable skill in creating the right consistency and texture. The products, the judges added, had been "a runaway success in the highly competitive food sector against major global corporations".

Willowbrook Foods was formed in 1968 by Mr McCann on the family vegetable farm. In 2011, the company invested in a new manufacturing operation and leading-edge Food Innovation Centre.

The Best Business Awards recognise excellence in business particularly in areas such as innovation.The Best Innovation category highlights organisations that have identified new products and services and successfully brought them to market or adapted an existing product for a new market.