Great Taste winner is Northern Ireland's first Bakery of the Year winner

The Heatherlea, one of the successes in the recent UK Great Taste Awards, has been named Bakery of the Year in Northern Ireland.

Established in1937, Heatherlea Home Bakery is based in Bangor, county Down and was named as the first winner of the Bakery of the Year category by the Belfast-based Neighbourhood Retailer magazine, a leading trade journal for independent retailers in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.

Owned by Paul and Patricia Getty since 1990, the bakery is now supplying products to both retail and wholesale sectors in Northern Ireland. It has a series of Great Taste awards for its cakes and traditional Irish breads and has become a landmark shop in Bangor. The bakery also has an outlet in Belfast.

The Neighbourhood Retailer Awards are Northern Ireland's biggest event for the grocery retailing industry and have been held annually over the past 15 years.

Independently judged by Spotcheck, there were 17 hotly contested categories, including the inaugural Bakery of the Year award category which the Heatherlea secured.

The awards attracted over 500 entries, showcasing retailing expertise throughout Northern Ireland.

The bakery now wholesales a wide range of breads, cakes and pastry baked fresh daily for an expanding group of retailers specifically interested in fresh produce made with natural local ingredients were possible, reflecting a proud baking heritage.

It specialises in all butter 'pound' cakes. In the recent Great Taste Awards, the bakery gained single gold stars for its Fine Irish Shortbread and Irish Brown Spelt Soda.



The Heatherlea was a founder member of the 'Artisan Bakers of Northern Ireland'; a group of like minded bakers dedicated to preserving and improving the skills of artisan bakers.



The company is also an active member of 'Good Food Ireland', an organisation dedicated to promoting quality food growers, producers, restaurants and hoteliers.