Snacking success for Cloughbane Farm in Northern Ireland

Cloughbane Farm in Northern Ireland, a leader in convenience meals as well as meat, has set a record for festive party snacks.

The company, based on a family farm near Pomeroy in county Tyrone, hand-piped 50,000 vol au vents in one day for party hosts. The mini cocktail snacks were in chicken and sweetcorn and bacon and mushroom flavours.

Cloughbane's Amy Moore describes the production as "a great achievement for the whole team" at the company's modern production plant. "They are the perfect party food for the run up to Christmas," she adds.

The snacks are on sale in Spar and other independent retailers including Nisa and Costcutters across Northern Ireland.

Cloughbane Farm is among the most successful of Northern Ireland's farm-based food businesses. The company is based on a farm owned by Sam and Lorna Robinson.

The farm covers 180 acres and has been owned by the Robinson family for around 150 years and is now in its fourth generation.

The family business began selling beef and lamb reared on the farm in 2002 and subsequently diversified into full-scale food production of meat, including prime cuts matured for 28 days from a farm shop. It has moved into other products from extensive investment in state-of-the-art facilities including new product kitchens, which have BRC approvals.

Such has been the success of our award winning pies and ready meals that it now also sells to major supermarkets. NPD investment has led to the creation of a range of cooked products including gourmet pies, ready meals and snacks.

The quality products are all made on-site and use locally sourced ingredients.

Cloughbane has won a string of food and farming awards including several UK Great Taste Awards.