A new survey of more than 2,000 Irish food producers across the island of Ireland shows that while they are experiencing substantial growth, issues such as ‘cash flow’, ‘distribution’ and ‘access to financial advice’ are major challenges, particularly for producers ready to develop into national and international markets.

These survey results were announced at the launch of the 8th annual Blas na hEireann, The Irish Food Awards by the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Simon Coveney on Tuesday 26th May 2015.

This year’s Irish Food Awards will see more than 2,000 Irish products blind tasted and scored by over 350 judges who will select the Gold, Silver and Bronze winners in over 90 produce categories.

The Awards carry with them a huge amount of prestige and winning produce is used as a quality benchmark for Irish products amongst national and international retailers, buyers and distributors alike.  Online entries close on 17th June 2015 and can be completed on www.irishfoodawards.com.

The ‘Producer Power Survey’ showed that over 90% of producers across the island have seen their operations grow in the past year and a massive 95% feel confident that their businesses will continue to flourish throughout 2015.

Furthermore the vast majority of producers have said that government and State agency supports have been vital to their business development – from the Local Enterprise Offices in each county, Teagasc, Bord Iascaigh Mhara, and Údaras na Gaeltachta for smaller producers to Invest NI, Enterprise Ireland and Bord Bia for the bigger international operators. This is a big vote of confidence in the government’s strategy to get cross agency support to assist and develop the Irish food industry.

“It is extremely encouraging to see such high levels of optimism amongst Irish food producers,” said Minister Coveney. “I am very pleased to see that producers are experiencing the levels of support that they need from government-funded agencies throughout the country and it is impressive that 48% of those responding to the survey were considering exporting.”

He added “Winning at The Irish Food Awards has proven to be of huge business benefit to companies, and has put the finest produce from these counties on the map.”

The winners of these prestigious Awards including Supreme Champion and Best Artisan Producer will be announced at the Blas na hEireann Awards in Dingle on 3rd October 2015.

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For further information and visuals please contact Sue James, Sue James PR on 085 7336981 or email pr@irishfoodawards.com

Other key survey findings:

• 45% of producers cited ‘cash flow’ and ‘financial advice’ and more than 50% cited ‘distribution’ as the biggest challenges they face in terms of business growth.
• 25% mentioned ‘securing investment’ as their biggest challenge.
• 48% of respondents said that they were business-ready to look at exporting their produce.

 

At present we are conducting a complete and thorough review into the matter and we expect to complete this review shortly.

• The product in the picture is the product which won the award in 2014
• Each producer who enters the awards must provide their Irish food business registration number from their approving body (example EHO/HSE/Dept of Agriculture, etc). In this case the producer submitted their Environmental Health Office approval number.
• The product was also submitted with the Federation of Irish Bee Keepers approval seal, with their registration number which is the registered number of T Ruttle.

As always we conduct ongoing monitoring that award winning products which are available to consumers are of the same quality and integrity which was received and judged by our judges. Please note that products are reviewed on an ongoing basis to ensure that our logo is not misused.

 

 

We are thrilled to announce that we have just published our very first printed Buyer’s Directory. The booklet includes our winners from 2014. These represent the very best producers in Ireland who are creating outstanding food and drinks. We are very proud to support them.

This booklet also contains information about the way we judge, and the care that we take during the adjudicating process so that Blas na hEireann can create the a level playing field for all producers, both large and small.

We were delighted to have an opportunity to work with one of our sponsors Shelflife to distribute 8000 with their current publication which has been landing on the desks os their subscribers this week, trade and press.

 

We have always worked to promote our finalists and winners to our industry contact, both press and trade and we are very proud to now have printed booklet to help in this promotion. The feedback so far is that buyers are finding it a very useful guide for sourcing Irish products. Take a look at our Buyers Directory of 2014 Winners

Award Winning Irish Food Producers
Sea of Vitality – Gold Winners 2014 (Seasonings) for their MIlled Dillisk

It seems like yesterday that we started at the local farmers market here in Dungarvan. We had this idea of adding seaweed to everyday foods because we knew the huge benefits of eating seaweed. Our approach was to try it in everything we could think of and surprisingly it worked very well most of the time. Seaweeds have been part of the Irish culture for centuries and unfortunately fell out of general favour during the famine when it became associated with poverty. Thankfully at present seaweeds are making a strong comeback mainly due to scientific research and people’s need for healthy nutritionally rich foods.

It is amazing how much the public attitude to seaweed has changed over the past 3 years. We are finding more and more evidence of a general awareness of the benefits of including seaweed in our daily diet. Young people readily embrace new and natural foods that are beneficial for their health and wellbeing but we have found that more and more of the older generation are coming on board.

What is our typical day like?
I don’t know!!! Since we started Sea of Vitality our ‘typical days’ have become rarer and rarer. We started using to-do lists and daily programmes to help us get stuff done but we never know what’s around the corner. For example in early December we were working on updating and refreshing our posters for doing tastings and just when we had it nearly wrapped up the phone rings. A company in Kuala Lumpur are interested in bringing our products over to the Malaysian market!! Needless to say the posters were forgotten about and we were off on another adventure. That’s how we see our business…a series of adventures, some big, some small but each one a great buzz.

Best day since we started. There have been many great days. There is a great buzz around markets and festivals. We love the interaction with customers and networking with other businesses and services. We think the best days though were when we won our awards in 2014. Winning awards is, in our minds, an endorsement of our products and gives us the motivation to continue to push onwards. So, which award gave us our best day?. Without doubt winning our Blas award is head and shoulders above everything. The whole weekend was amazing and the organisation was first class. It was great to meet and chat with other finalists and award winning Irish food producers and we have kept in contact with a lot of people we met that weekend.

Harvesting seaweed When we started back in 2012 we harvested our seaweed locally in Waterford along what is known as ‘The Gold Coast’. The seaweeds here are clean and fairly plentiful. Our plan for including seaweed in everyday foods meant that it needed to be dried and ground to certain consistencies. This is a very labour intensive process and we soon found that harvesting, drying and hand grinding the seaweed was not an option for us. As demand grew we had to look to other sources of seaweed. Fortunately for us a seaweed harvester located on Inis Mor, Aran Islands has a daughter married to a Dungarvan man! Problem solved. We started to source our seaweed from the west and this has become an important aspect of the provenance of our seaweed. All the seaweed is harvested by hand and air dried. Because of Irelands rugged west coast the most effective way to harvest seaweed is by hand. Research and experiments are currently underway to determine the viability of farmed seaweed in Ireland. Once the seaweed is dried it is ground down, rather like a spice, which makes it more convenient to cook with and allows it to incorporate better into the recipe.

We still love to harvest seaweed locally for our own use and experimentation. We also give practical foraging workshops and have been working lately with culinary students from WIT.

What do we love about the business?
There are so many aspects of the business that we love. We are lucky to be involved in the food industry and meeting so many wonderful people who are so helpful and free with their time and advice. Interacting with the public is always a fascinating experience. They are so encouraging and supportive to small businesses and at the same time they keep us firmly grounded!

 

Peter and his wife Susan run The Whole Hoggs Farm in Slane. Their herd of “Irish Grazer” pigs (also known as Tamworths) are free to roam on over 60 acres of Meath farmland. The Whole Hoggs Chorizo was a Gold winner at Blas na hEireann 2014 and can be found at Honest2Goodness Farmers Market. At Farmleigh Market in the Phoenix Park each sat and sunday before Christmas and in slane every Friday at smiths garage. More info on www.thewholehoggs.ie or honest2goodness.ie

 

 

Peter’s background was not originally in farming and in years past he has worked as Leinster Sales manager for Western Brand Chickens and used to run the dog pound for Meath Council. Here, he tells us a little of his story.

How did you get into this business?
I grew up in Castleknock, Co Dublin and always remember the cattle lorries going by. When I was 4 years old I went on a farmhouse holiday with my family in Galway and that’s really where it all started. I have always been passionate about farming.

During my time as a sales rep I had built up a good solid network of people who preferred to buy Irish and a few years ago I met a wholesaler who said that chefs could not get a regular supply of free range pork and I gave him some “Irish Grazer” pork from my own here to taste and he was blown away. He encouraged me to keep at the free range pigs as he would have lots of demand from top chefs.

Have there been tough times?
Taking the leap to full time farming was a risk and it was at this time that the contract with the council for the dog pound was vital, it was a good cheque coming in every month and allowed us to keep working on the farm.

I started to build up a herd of “Irish Grazers”, keeping all my females for breeding. I could afford to do this as I had a fairly good income coming in. We kept in touch with our wholesaler friend and agreed a date we would be in a position to supply 2 to 4 pigs a week for a Michelin starred client of his.

We kept building numbers and the date came and went and there was no sign of orders coming. I will never forget it was just coming to Christmas 2011 and we had tendered to renew our contract with the dog pound. We had been told we were doing a great job, so were quietly confident but when I opened a letter telling me we were unsuccessful in the tender just before Christmas I was gutted.

Needless to say the first thing I thought of was all these lovely breeding stock that I had built up and were costing me a fortune in meal etc. I got very down in myself and went in to tell Susan my wife the bad news. It was time to make some serious decisions.

I will never forget the sight of a huge lorry coming to my farm and loading up the best of pigs to go for slaughter. Even writing this still brings a tear to my eye. Christmas came and went and with it my 50th birthday on 22nd December. I was so low I told Susan I didn’t want to mark it, no surprises or anything.

After Christmas I said to myself that we have to make a go of these pigs to try to generate a few bob. We had kept a minimum amount with this in mind and I rang a few people including Brid Carter of honest2goodness.ie Farmers Market in Glasnevin Dublin. Eventually we got a call from her saying Ed Hick (fourth generation pork butcher) was pulling out of her market and would we be interested? The answer was yes immediately, and we slowly built up a loyal customer base and happily are still there.

Again I find myself working with like minded passionate people who really care where their food comes from. The main lesson I learnt from all this journey is it is great to be in full control of your own destiny. Not waiting on the phone to ring or waiting on a chef to say he can buy imported pork for cheaper. I don’t try to compete with the bottom, but I do believe in value for our customers.

My typical week
Monday, bring the pigs to Coogan’s in Trim for slaughter and then back home to feed pigs and deal with any sows farrowing etc.
My days are filled with the usual farm chores, fencing etc (and most days you will find yourself chasing after little pigs that have wandered on to neighbours land!).

I would get my pigs back from Coogan’s midweek and from then on its hectic as I am flat out in production and also still have to feed pigs etc. I try to deliver on Tuesdays and Saturdays but that can always change as if one of my customer needs an order urgently I try not to leave them short.

The way of life I have chosen is not for the faint hearted, it throws up more problems than good days, that being said when you do get a customer praising the quality of your pork it keeps you going for a while again.

Best day?
Last October, having made it through to the finals of Blas na hEireann and going on to win Gold. It was the highlight of my whole experiences since I got involved in farming and selling direct to consumers. It is probably made sweeter as I didn’t come from a farming background.

Describe yourself and your business in three words
Passionate, Determined, Great sense of humour

What do you think is the key to success?
I think the key to success is firstly to pick a goal or dream. Then visualise you actually fulfilling this. Don’t lie down when you are knocked down, but more importantly remind yourself of what it was that you set out to do.

Who is your food inspiration?
I am really impressed by Birgitta Curtin of the Burren Smokehouse. She inspires me because she is exporting around the world and yet still supports small producers. She is a great example of how artisan producers are keeping each other going

Producer: Olivia Curran, An Olivia Chocolate
Awards:
Supreme Champion – Blas na hEireann 2013
Gold in 2013 & 2014 – Luxury Taste of Ireland Chocolate Box
Silver 2014 – Coffee-Choc Chocolate Bar
Gold 2013 – Irish Cream Hot Chocolate Pot
Gold 2014 – Irsh Cream Coffee Mocca Pot

When did you start your business?
Easter Sunday 2010
Who is your food inspiration?
Willy Wonka and Heston
What do you love about your job?
Im a chocoholic, I love every bit of my job, but not the long hours

What is your typical day? I start at 10 or 11 every morning. I usually start late because I will only have finished work between 3-5 that morning. I might quickly look at the emails and may have to deliver an order just finished a few hours earlier. Then back in the kitchen while tempering a batch of chocolate I will make a few calls to members of the Westmeath Food Network or Fairs that I am meant to attend. Then I will spend all day moulding chocolates or lollipops , packing, foiling and wrapping.

What is your favourite part of the day? When the last hot chocolate pot is put in the box, the box is sealed and the pressure is off and I can go to bed knowing all is done and ready for delivery in the morning.

What was your best day since you started this business? The 26th of May, I spent 5 hours filming with Rachel Allen for her new series ” All Things Sweet ” which will be on RTE 1 on Wednesday night the 26th of November. I told her when they drove into the yard it was very surreal it was like the telly had come out to meet me. While in the kitchen I poked her and said to the crew “she’s real!” I can’t believe she is in my little kitchen and I couldn’t keep a straight face.

Tell us about the people you work with?  I get great help from my family. My nieces and nephews are taste testers!
What three words would you use to describe yourself & your business? Quirky, Fun and Tasty

What do you think is the key to success? Use the best ingredients. Make your product different to everything else on the market, no point in reinventing the wheel. Believe in yourself and your product, help as many people as you can along the way, hopefully it will come back to you in other ways.

You can find out more about Olivia’s delicious creations on http://www.anoliviachocolate.com/

 

On this evening’s Right Hook Artie was invited on to speak about producers who have moved to Ireland and are now part of the vibrant and thriving Irish food community. Artie was delighted to have the opportunity to speak to the show and discuss the importance of the Blas logo, the standing that it has gained in the eyes of the Irish consumer and the power that this recognition has for business. It has been proven time and again that the Blas symbol is trusted by the Irish consumer. This is something that is hugely important to us, not least as we are continually working on behalf of Irish producers.

During the interview George brought to Artie’s attention a query regarding a past winner. This point was noted and we are grateful to George for highlighting this. We are currently investigating this matter and will update in due course.

In the meantime, as Artie has mentioned on the show, we would like to hear from any consumers who have concerns. The Blas na hEireann team have for the past 8 years worked to recognise the very best of Irish food and drink and we will continue to do this with the same passion that we have always done.

Get in touch with any questions or feedback to info@irishfoodawards.com

 

 

What a busy few months we have had!

The 7^th annual Blas na hEireann, The Irish Food Awards were held at the beginning of October. We were once again honoured to welcome the very best of the Irish food industry’s producers to meet with press and buyers from across Ireland, the UK, Europe and even as far as Dubai.

In the days and weeks since the awards were announced we have been working with our finalists and winners to help them make the most of their win, be it through including their winning logo on their packaging or in advertising or putting them in touch with industry contacts who are reaching out to us. We are also making sure that our list of finalists & winners is shared with the press and trade buyers who couldn’t be here with us during the events. It’s a busy few weeks when we keep our heads down to business!

We will continue to work on behalf of our finalists in the coming months and one of the things we are working on is sharing news with the Irish food community. If you hear of opportunities, important information, interesting speakers or anything at all you think your colleagues in the food industry should know then get in touch.

A Meath-based family-owned food company specialising in natural flavours, which was only established a year ago, has been awarded the very top honour at this year’s prestigious Blas na hÉireann, The Irish Food Awards, which were held in Dingle, Co. Kerry over the weekend – the largest annual gathering of indigenous food producers anywhere in the country.

Blast and Wilde, which is based in Slane and run by Graham and Bernie Canning, was chosen as the Bord Bia-sponsored Blas Supreme Champion 2014 from a huge entry of more than 2,000 products submitted for consideration at the hugely-acclaimed competition and showcase for Irish food producers. The Phoenix Cinema in Dingle, where the winners were announced, was abuzz with excitement following a hugely successful three days of the Dingle Peninsula Food Festival which hosts the awards and celebrates the vitality and vibrancy of the Irish food sector.

‘We are absolutely thrilled,’ said Bernie Canning of Blast and Wilde. ‘We only got the business off the ground a year ago and since then we have been making flavoured butter including Roast Garlic and Pesto, Black Olive Tapenade, and Chilli, Lime and Coriander. Graham and I both have a passion for food and flavours and we are honoured to have taken to the top award at Blas as well as first, second and third in the dairy butter category.’

Chairman of The Irish Food Awards, Artie Clifford congratulated the winners, saying the number of entries broke all records this year. He said that a win at Blas opens doors to producers who want to get established or expand into new markets.

“Blas na h-Éireann, The Irish Food Awards, is about recognising passionate, dedicated producers who are serious about marketing their fantastic Irish food and drink into markets at home and around the globe. Everyone who took part is a winner – having reached the finals already puts them at the top of their industry,” said Artie.

For a full list of winners click here