Innovative cheese is Northern Ireland's best new product

Ballylisk, the Northern Ireland farm-based cheese producer, has won a major award at the recent Balmoral Show, one of the UK's biggest farm and food shows.

Based on a family farm near Tandragee in county Armagh, Ballylisk won the Best Product award for its unique triple cream brie style cheese produced exclusively from the Armagh family farm's own award-winning dairy herd.

The cheese, just recently launched by farming brothers Dean and Mark Wright from their single dairy and grass-fed herd, regarded as among the best on the island of Ireland, and processed by them, is now going on sale in delis in Northern Ireland and was launched successfully at the iconic Borough Market in London.

Ballylisk won the product accolade from Food NI, Northern Ireland's food and drink promotion body, at Balmoral Show, one of the biggest agri-food showcases in the UK and Republic of Ireland. The annual show, now in its 150th year, featured thousands of products from over 100 producers, mostly artisans and smaller businesses.

Dean Wright, commenting on the success, says: "We were delighted to have won the prestigious award for our new triple cream cheese during our first participation with Food NI in the hugely impressive Food Pavilion at the Royal Ulster Agricultural Society's Balmoral Show. We've taken time in developing the cheese and preparing for other products.

"What's unique about our soft cheese is that we have total control over all aspects of production. This means it has total provenance and transparency. Our aim now is to ramp up marketing, particularly in Great Britain, and we've already had approaches from top chefs and major retailers there," he adds.

Runner up in the Best New Product category was a new Belfast style ginger ale developed by Longbridge Drinks in Bangor, county Down. The small company, which has experience in producing craft minerals, has revived the ginger ale first developed in Belfast in 1825 by a local chemist.

Wayne Adair of Longbridge Drinks says: "We've been immensely encouraged by the response to our new ginger ale especially from loves of local craft gins. This award will help enormously as we seek to build sales in Northern Ireland and further afield.

Highly commended was Morelli Ice Cream with Irish Black Butter, a new flavour developed by the ice cream producer, which is based at Coleraine in county Derry, and Irish Black Butter, a unique sweet/savoury spread, created by Portrush, county Antrim businessman Alastair Bell last November.

Best Artisan Product was biltong produced by Ke Nako, Ballyclare, county Antrim.

Best trade display was won by Seafish NI, Belfast for its presentation of local fish and shellfish.