Hand crafted butter is Northern Ireland's 'Flavour of the North'

A hand crafted butter producer is Northern Ireland's 'Flavour of the North'. Donnybrewer Butter, which is based in Eglinton, county Derry and run by husband and wife team Richard and Alison Leighton, won the award in a competition run by Henderson Foodservice.

Some of the most respected names in Northern Ireland's food and drink industry on the judging panel were highly impressed by the product which is churned in small batches with the freshest cream available.

The sea-salted butter is formed into a distinctive hexagonal shape, to reflect the stones of the Giant's Causeway, before being packaged in traditional style in wax paper.

On top of being awarded the Flavour of the North title, Donnybrewer Butter wins an exclusive and comprehensive prize package including a product listing with Henderson Foodservice, giving the company direct access to 4,500 customers across Ireland in the new year and will feature in monthly promotional brochures and marketing and commercial support.

Judging the competition, which was launched in May and attracted around 40 high quality entrants, were some of the most respected names in Northern Ireland's Food and Drink industry including chef Danny Millar, hotelier Howard Hastings, retailer Gail Boyd, restaurateur and chef Tony Neill, chairman of the Mount Charles Group Trevor Annon and Damien Barrett, managing director of Henderson Foodservice, Northern Ireland's leading food supplier to the industry

While taste was of paramount importance, judges were also looking for excellence in innovation, examining growth potential and critiquing the uniqueness of the product.
Damien Barrett, managing director at Henderson Foodservice, says: "Judges were blown away by the five products we shortlisted in the Flavour of the North competition so it was a very tough decision to choose a winner.

"But in the end we decided that Donnybrewer Butter was the most fitting winner in terms of taste, innovation, potential for growth and uniqueness of the product. We look forward to offering the company what we believe is an excellent new route to market with the opportunity to supply some top local restaurants, hotels and stores.

"We launched the Flavour of the North competition to help us communicate our support for local produce. We believe strongly that Northern Ireland food and drink is among the best in the world and it deserves to be championed and we have greatly enjoyed every step of the journey of getting to know some of our local companies and their amazing products and shining a light on those."