Giant step for the humble chip
Wilson's Country, Northern Ireland's leading potato processor, has come up with a unique twist on traditional Irish chips - Causeway Chips - to support food tourism within a major international campaign to attract more visitors from abroad to the region.
The new Causeway Chips feature a distinctive hexagonal shape and have been pioneered by Lewis Cunningham, Wilson Country's enterprising managing director, to mark the opening of a new Visitor Centre at the National Trust-owned Giant's Causeway, near Bushmills, home of the most famous Irish Whiskey, in County Antrim.
Causeway Chips are shaped to reflect the hexagonal columns of basalt at the Giant's Causeway, Ireland's only UNESCO World Heritage site.
The innovative chips are also being produced from potatoes grown close to the Giant's Causeway, Northern Ireland's most popular tourist attraction. The Causeway Chip is served with the skin left on the ends. This adds to the flavour, texture and visual appeal. The product, in addition, is a healthier option in that it has 18 per cent less fat than a square chip of the same volume!
They have been developed by Wilson's for Hastings Hotels, Northern Ireland's biggest hotel chain, with tourism in mind. The new chips are the first food product to be developed for the planned NI2012 tourism marketing campaign.
Northern Ireland is anticipating a substantial increase in visitors abroad from a major international marketing drive focused on a series of events to mark the 100thanniversary of the launch at Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast of the ill-fated Titanic, the White Star transatlantic liner which sank on its maiden voyage to New York in 1915.
The Causeway Chips will be available on menus at Hasting's Hotels including the internationally known Belfast Europa Hotel, once described as the world's most bombed hotel.
Cunningham says: "We reckoned it was time the humble chip was redesigned. The big tourism events that have already planned for next year gave us an opportunity to link one of our most popular foods to the celebrations that will attract thousands of tourists to Northern Ireland and to emphasise the importance of food to the tourism experience."
Wilson's Countryis the leading potato brand in Ireland. The company's commitment to innovation and marketing has positioned the business as one of the leaders in the industry, supplying many retailers with own label and branded prepack potatoes and peeled potatoes to the food service sector.