Innovative food and drink from Northern Ireland to be showcased at Northern Restaurant & Bar Show

New food ideas and established favourites from Northern Ireland for foodservices in Britain will be showcased on the Northern Ireland Naturally stand (416) at the Northern Restaurant and Bar Show in Manchester Central, 12th & 13th March.

Around 20 companies and upwards of 100 food and drink products, both new and existing, will be featured on the stand. Many of the products are from established companies with extensive business from top restaurants, bars and food and drink distributors throughout Great Britain. These companies are succeeding in Britain through a commitment to added value to quality ingredients sourced from the region's farms.

On show will be a comprehensive range of food and drink products such as artisan breads including new twists on traditional Irish handcrafted favourites, as well as premium beef, pork and poultry, dairy, fresh vegetables, convenience meals including gluten-free soups, sauces, tea and coffee, and unique berry liqueurs.

Among new products being launched at the show are Ruby Blue, an artisan range of berry liqueurs using cranberries, blueberries and blackberries in a grain spirit that ideas for cocktail mixologists, Irish Goats' Log, ideal as a meal ingredient or a cheeseboard; innovative flavours of Irish pork sausages; dry-aged beef; fruity porridge and a distinctively British afternoon tea.

The showcase will feature products from the region's biggest processors including Dale Farm, the main dairy business which has operations in Cumbria and in Scotland, Linden Foods, a key producer within beef and lamb, Northern Ireland's biggest agri-food sector and Avondale Foods (Craigavon) Ltd, one of Northern Ireland's leading manufacturers of ready prepared vegetables, bagged salads, side salads, fresh soups, sauces and croutons for distribution throughout the UK and Ireland.

Visitors to the Northern Ireland Naturally stand will also have an opportunity to experience the new tastes and sample products already successful with many of the UK's most successful restaurants and bars, and also with top chefs such as Heston Blumenthal, James Martin, Richard Corrigan, Rick Stein, Mark Hix, Paul Rankin, Jamie Oliver and Raymond Blanc's Blanc Brasseries.

Top restaurant/bar groups now sourcing regularly from Northern Ireland suppliers including the Newcastle Upon Tyne Sir John Fitzgerald Group, Mark Hix restaurants in London, JD Wetherspoon, Mitchell and Butler and Porterhouse, also in London.

Northern Ireland has become a major source of new food and drink ideas because of the region's sharp focus on innovation by adding value and the close links that exist between processors and farmers within the £3 billion agri-food sector which is now the biggest and most vibrant industry. It's also an industry with a rich heritage that is committed to the highest European hygiene standards, ensuring safety, traceability and provenance.

Foodservice organisations, in addition, look to Northern Ireland, a UK region, because highly efficient logistics and transport operations ensure that all products are delivered quickly, usually overnight, and fresh. Major food distributors with strong links with Northern Ireland suppliers include Gate Gourmet, Aramark, BaxterStorey, Compass, 3663, Today's Foodservice, Mitchells & Butler, JD Wetherspoon, Matthew Algie, Hider and Cotswold Fayre.

Northern Ireland's agri-food industry is focused on fast response services. As a result of this commitment, around 90 per cent of Northern Ireland's food and drink products are sold outside the region, mostly to Great Britain, which demonstrates the industry's overall competitiveness through quality, innovation, value and customer services.

Northern Ireland Naturally (stand 416) will show food and drink from:

Avondale Foods - Fresh soup, dressed salads, fresh prepared vegetables and salads, dips, sauces and bakery

Big Pot - fresh soup including gluten-free soup in a range of flavours including vegetable, cream of chicken, tomato and basic and potato and leek.

Bailies Coffee- hand roasted coffee from sustainable and ethical sources.

Buchanan's Quality Foods - Cereals & Pulses, Seeds, Rice, Pasta, Dried Fruit, Nut Products, Cherries & Peel, Sundries.

Dale Farm, Belfast - dairy products including butter, mature and reduced fat cheddar cheese, yoghurt, yoghurt drinks.

Fivemiletown Creamery- speciality cheese including brie, blue brie, smoked brie, Irish goats' log, marinaded soft cheese such as the traditional Irish Boilie goats' cheese, and cheddar, mature, oak smoked and reduced fat.

Flynns Fine Foods - Cooked sliced meats; bacon and pork products and fresh meats for retail and catering sectors.

Hilden Brewery - Craft brewers of a range of beers in both draught and small pack.

Hughes Mushrooms - comprehensive range of mushrooms sourced from a network of local suppliers.

Irwin's Bakery- bread, scones, pancakes, rolls and muffins and also Rankin Selection range of speciality breads including traditional Irish stoneground wheaten loaves and soda farls.

Johnson's Coffee -pure ground Arabica coffee

Kettyle Irish Foods / Linden Foods- premium beef, lamb and Banquet Rose Veal, as well as products such as burgers.

Mash Direct- convenience foods including mashed potatoes and vegetables, as well as road potatoes.

McWhinney's- Traditional Irish pork sausages.

Neills Flour- flours and bread mixes

Pritchitts - extended life and long life dairy and dairy related products

Rich Sauces- mayonnaise, sauces, dressings, bouillon and Alfee's Flatbreads.

Spirited Drinks- artisan berry liqueurs, Boozeberries and Ruby Blue brands - blended with grain spirit and available separately with cranberries, blackberries and blueberries.

Suki Teahouse - a boutique tea blender specialising in gourmet teas and fruit/herbal infusions and offering unique blends such as Afternoon Tea.

Whites- traditional porridge, fruit flavoured porridge oats, ready-to-cook porridge and toasted oat snacks.

Willowbrook Foods - One of Ireland's leading processors of Salads, Vegetables and Potatoes supplying retail, foodservice and ingredient markets locally, and throughout the UK and Ireland.