Kate Ryan, award-winning food writer and founder of Flavour.ie, has been named Blas na hÉireann’s Producers’ Champion for 2023 for …
The Irish Food Awards
Testimonials
Blas Awards has significantly benefited business who have entered. The feedback and contacts they have made have enabled them to develop their companies’ opportunities . The winners have become our Ambassadors for the Awards that showcase how many talented food producers there are in Ireland. Producers had a measurable increase in sales following their win, follow the link to find out more!
The testimonials below from our 2021 winners’ details how the Blas na hÉireann experience has positively impacted their business. With over 150 categories has your Irish product got what it takes to win at the Blas na Héireann Irish food awards? Find out how you can enter here
Blas na hEireann for us at Do Me A Flavour is the utmost and highest recognition for the hard work and dedication from our staff to bring delicious products to our customers tables every day of the week all over Ireland and abroad. We are very proud to be part of the Blas family of producers supplying the best in Ireland every day to our customers. As a 3rd generation family business, we strive to continue to work to the high standards that enables us to win awards every year with Blas.
Participating in Blas na hEireann has been very beneficial for Killua Castle’s products (Venison burgers, steaks and sausages). We display our winning logos (gold, silver and bronze), and people tend to buy with more confidence once they see this award.
Winning Blas Gold last year was a huge honour for a small business like Planté. This award made other food businesses and individual customers interested in my products, and the number of them is systematically growing. Blas became the key that helped me open the door to places I always wanted to be. Additionally, this award allowed me to participate in Blas Backyard's mentoring program. As a result of these meetings, I learned a lot about the food industry and social media. Also, I met some interesting people. The Blas team is always helpful and kind. Being recognized with a gold award for my vegan pate is the best thing that could happen at the begging of my food adventure. It strengthened my sense of being on the right track and gave me greater confidence in progressing in this direction. Thank you, Blas na hEireann.
Katarzyna Cichy
2021 Gold Winners in the category Terrines/Patés – Vegetarian
Blas na hEireann for us at Oliver Carty & Family is the utmost and highest recognition for the hard work and dedication from our staff to bring delicious products to our customers tables every day of the week all over Ireland and abroad. We are very proud to be part of the Blas family of producers supplying the best in Ireland every day to our customers. As a 3rd generation family business, we strive to continue to work to the high standards that enables us to win awards every year with Blas.
Our Double chocolate & sea salt cookies were the very first product we created and there was so much work done to create the final recipe. We were a very new business when we submitted our entry to Blas and will never forget the feeling of pure joy, pride and total shock when we won. To be recognised in a blind tasting amongst the finest food producers in Ireland was INCREDIBLE! The award has definitely given potential customers more confidence in our brand and there are lots of "oooh's and aaah's" when we tell people about it. What was particularly invaluable was Backyard Mentoring sessions afterward, I learned so much from the industry experts.
We have won numerous Blas na hEireann awards throughout the years and it has made a huge difference to our business especially regarding getting listings with supermarkets. As the food industry can be so competitive we often had to fight for shelf space but having the accolade of a Blas award can make such a big difference as buyers easily recognise and respect this award and it does help shape their decision whether to list a product or not. Having the Blas logo on our packaging lends our brand extra kudos and consumers will often try our product based on the Blas award. Also in a tough industry it's also good to have the recognition of such a prestigious award.
Winning a Blas Na hEireann award and best in County Limerick is an important achievement for Kearney’s Home Baking LTD. When in business for thirty years these awards are a great morale boost both for owner managers and staff at the bakery. To be able to flag the Blas Label on our products is a great uplift for us and a symbol of reassurance to our customers of the quality and high standards of our products. The team at Kearney’s Home Baking look forward each year to the announcing of the Blas Na hEireann awards
The Blas na hEireann awards have been instrumental to the success and growth of our business. We first entered the awards in 2017 and won Gold, Silver and Best in Derry. As a new business this was totally amazing to get such great feedback for our products. We entered again in 2018 and won Gold for our Venison salami. Since then sales of our venison salami have gone through the roof. We then entered in 2021, winning Bronze for our Garlic and Balck Pepper salami. These awards have certainly helped grow our business. The Blas na hEireann awards are the Irish seal of approval. It gives customers confidence in the quality of food products they are buying. It also gives us as producers the reassurance that we are doing things right. Massive thanks to all at the Blas team."
Winning a sliver and bronze in the Gluten free section baked sweet goods has been an " At Tasty parlour we believe we create the best gluten free products in Ireland but winning a Silver and Bronze last year and many more awards at Blas na hEireann over the years, gives us the momentum, morale boosts and energy to go on creating better products each year for our customers enabling our business to grow in turn enabling the Coeliac Community to purchase and enjoy our products across Ireland"
We earned our first-ever product award from Blas na h-Éireann for Blanco Niño Chilli & Lime tortilla chips. That was a milestone in itself for us as a young, innovative Irish food brand. The endorsement from an experienced panel of experts recognises and validates all our team’s hard work and that of the other brilliant award-winning Irish brands. We’re grateful for that and the support of our wonderful customers.
Winning the Blas Award last year was confirmation to my customers of the quality they were getting when buying my chocolates. And a reward to me for all the hard work that goes into making my products.
We were absolutely delighted to take home 6 awards from the Blas na h'Eireann Food Awards in 2021. When it comes to our food, excellent quality and Irish provenance are at the heart of what we do at Avoca, and it's a wonderful feeling to have this recognised!
Holly Newport- www.avoca.com
2021 Silver Winners in the category Morning Baked Goods Scones, Silver and Bronze Winners in the category Other Sweet Snacks, Silver Winners in the category Terrines/Patés – Vegetarian, Bronze Winners in the category Ready Meals & Prepared and Silver Winners in the category Sausage Rolls
I entered for the first time the Blas Na hÉireann awards in 2021, we entered ciders and a liqueur, Blackcurrant liqueur, a recipe from my late Mother May Dennison. ,I did not have much time to think about the outcome of the awards, on the day of awards, I was bottling ciders but was keeping an eye on twitter, and when we were announced as winner of the liqueur section for my Blackcurrant liqueur I was honestly shocked and thrilled, I’m sure if my Mother was still with us ,she would have been proud also.
The post result meant that we got an amazing amount P.R from the Blas Team, and local radio interviews . The following week I saw the full list of ,gold, silver, and bronze winners in Waterford, and decided to try and gather the winners at a Waterford prize given, as the awards have been behind closed doors for two years because of the pandemic, this was really important to showcase Waterford as a food producing county, as a member of Food the Waterford way, ( now Taste Waterford) the team at FTW got involved and sponsored a photo shoot, Faithlegg sponsored the venue, this was a really good PR exercise for the Blas winners. Overall winning the Blas Na hÉireann Gold for our liqueur has been amazing for this product and for all the different drinks that we grow and make. This year ,2022 , I have entered three new lines that I have been working on for the past two years and should be a good gauge for us, as to how they will be received in a blind tasting even
Winning a Blas na hEireann/Irish Food Award is a seal of approval from a panel of food experts who have blind tasted our products. The Blas na hEireann logo is well-recognised and proves to customers that our crisps are of the highest quality.
We were thrilled to win in Chefs Larder in 2021, As a consequence We are now listed and selling well in select Dunnes Stores and Supervalu stores
The awards are very important to my business. They are a clear indicator to buyers that my product is a really good product and it gives me great confidence in my marketing to be able to say they are “award-winning products”. Consumers now look out for Blas labels and they are more likely to try an award winning product; the first sale is the hardest so having that label makes it a little easier. Hopefully, once they have tried the product, they will continue to purchase.
Winning at Blas, Our first win at Blas was in 2013. This really reassured us to know that we had a great product. It gave us the confidence to grow our range and we continued to achieve awards annually. Winning the Blas awards helped us to stand out from the crowd and definitely brought us to the attention of retailers and Chefs. Having that logo on our products emphasizes the quality of our products and one that we are very proud to have.
We were thrilled to win in Chefs Larder in 2021, As a consequence We are now listed and selling well in select Dunnes Stores and Supervalu stores
Winning 4 awards after our first year in business was massive to us. It gave us the boost to keep moving forward and was a great ice breaker when meeting new prospective clients.
We first received a Blas Na hEireann award in 2014, winning Gold for our What's For Pudding? Sticky Toffee Pudding. This was a new, unknown product from a small, start-up, family business. The award was instrumental in us and the quality of our product being recognised by a leading grocery retailer which led to a very successful collaboration. We have added to this award over the ensuing years and a Blas Na hEireann award is always a bench mark and testament to all the hard work and effort invested in producing a top quality product. Blas Na hEireann recognises and acknowledges the best new Irish products which is very often a launching pad to their success
Quality is the cornerstone of Silver Hill Duck and this year we were absolutely delighted to win Gold, Silver & Bronze at the Blas Na hEireann Awards.The gold sticker on our products is a true mark of quality and reaffirms to our customers in Ireland of the world renowned taste of our product. The endorsement of the Blas Na hEireann Awards has had numerous benefits including positive PR & advertising, product endorsement and securing new customers.
We entered our Mango and Passion fruity whey drink and found out we won a bronze award back in October 2020, this was actually the day we launched our business. Being so busy with our launch we didn't take in our win, but our retailers did! And they were very keen to stock our products.
Winning Gold and Best in Connaught for our Salted Caramel in 2021 really gave us the impetus to get the product ready for wider distribution,. We have new labels, have done the nutritional analysis, sorted the bar codes and are almost ready to stock in several stores in Galway and Mayo. We are ready to roll out more products now. It has been amazing
I have put so much work in to my business and my products and it is such an honour to receive an award that recognises them as quality Irish products. The awards have also caught the attention of retailers and consumers which has resulted in business growth.
We were proud to feature in The Blas Na hÉireann Awards over the past number of years. This is a highly organised event which showcases quality Irish produce. We are delighted to display the Blas Na hÉireann badge of honour on our premium jams and believe it endorses our wholesome product.
The Blas na hEireann Food Awards are a fantastic platform for Irish producers of all sizes and scale to showcase their products in a fair and non-bias way.
Winning the Gold Award for our Organic eggs and the Bronze for the Ballyfree Free Range 10pk really helps to give recognition for all the hard work and care that goes into producing our eggs. Winning gave us all a sense of pride in Greenfield Foods and proved to us that even though we are a large scale producer, our roots are still firmly in the ground and no standards or levels of quality suffer as a result of growing.
It felt like a pat on the back for a job well done and after the past few years everyone in Greenfields appreciated and needed that very much.
Thanks to awards like the Blas na hEireann Awards we can show our customers that we care and that we are always striving to produce the best product possible for them everyday”
Winning the Blas na hEireann award means so much to us. Not only is it an exceptional event and a great opportunity to meet other amazing Irish businesses, it allows us to share the quality of our products with our customers. Being part of the Blas na hEireann community is important to us and we will continue to enjoy being part of it for many years. We have watched the Blas na hEireann name grow over the years and it will continue to grow over the years to come. Winning various Blas awards has publicised our bakery across the country and has truly boosted our sales as our customers are ensured that our products are of a high standard.
Winning Blas na hÉireann Gold and Best in County Clare in 2021 for our signature artisan 6oz burger product was so rewarding and reinforced our belief in our business. The gold logo sticker is such an important quality accolade of which the branding is recognised everywhere on the island of Ireland. It was so satisfying to add it to our packaging. Our customers were not one bit surprised with our win and we were delighted to see the demand for the product increase for this season. The mentoring and support in the aftermath of the win was of tremendous benefit and has helped us to shape the strategy for the business 2022/23.
To win a Blas award is the ultimate endorsement from this special community.This was our 8th year to enter the Blas awards and the excitement never dwindles.
The Blas na hEireann Irish Food Awards are a fantastic showcase for promoting Irish food producers. Morgans Fine Fish were delighted and very proud to win the Seafood Innovation Award for 2021 for our Aldi Specially Selected Dublin Bay Prawns with a Garlic & Herb Butter. The win paved the way for developing new opportunities as well as cementing existing partnerships. We’re looking forward to Dingle 2022!
Being a winner at the Blas na hEireann awards is an amazing privilege and is a wonderful acknowledgement of the work we put into creating our products and keeping them at the highest quality possible!
Winning Gold for Achill Mountain Mutton in 2021 really shone on a light on the economic, environmental, social and cultural sustainability of what we do on Achill Island. Our products have a purity about them, The Blas Gold award opened a window for people to appreciate that our products have purity in their perfection. It also raised our profile and reminded people of a once-loved but forgotten flavour.
We at Goatsbridge love working with the blas Na hEireann Team. They are like family . A Blas Na hEireann award is true recognition of an amazing food product so we look forward to our road trip to Dingle each year . Roll on September
We are so proud to have achieved several Blas na hÉireann awards for our breads and pastries. It was huge achievement for our team. We were delighted to get our name on the national stage next to all these wonderful food providers around Ireland.
There was noticable elevated interest in our products when the awards were initially announced, and we continue to attract our dedicated local customers from around Kilkenny, who we are most grateful for. The Blas na hÉireann awards are truly a badge of honour for us.
When you see that Gold stamp on any product you know its going to be worth buying, so I was more than delighted to received the Gold award for my Raspberry Chilli Sauce, I knew its would lift the brand awareness of the product 110%. Our orders went into a bit of an overdrive with our stockists wanting to get it on their shelves so they could also tell of its success, It's a win win all around for the company, stockists and last but not least our customers!
Each year the Blas na hÉireann Irish Food Awards shine a light on Ireland's food and drink producers and makers, and it's an ideal opportunity to promote your product to a national and international stage. Aside from the awards, there are some brilliant events in the lead-up to the event with industry leading experts like chef Brian McDermott and Sharon Noonan. You can learn so much from marketing insights to key trends in the industry. Atlantic Treasures has had the honour of winning many Bronze, Silver and Gold Awards over the years, as well as the Best in Donegal in 2021, and we couldn't recommend Blas na nÉireann highly enough
Galmere has won Blas awards consistently over the years for private label and, more recently, our Pestle + Mortar basil and sundried tomato pestos. In fact the basil pesto we make in partnership with Lidl Ireland won Gold in 2021! We make great soups, salads, sauces and meals in Galway with Ireland’s leading retailers; winning Blas awards is a terrific endorsement of what we do. The Awards are incredibly well respected both in Ireland and internationally, they definitely open doors for food producers and give consumers added confidence in their choices.
The Blas award was great for my brand. Through it I received new listings, credibility, great mentoring, and an increase in sales with the award labels on pack. I wasn't even sure about entering initially! It was incredibly valuable.
Receiving a blas award for my coffee has raised my profile as a coffee roaster. We have also increased sales but more than anything else it’s validation for the work that I do. I love roasting coffee and have now been roasting for 5 years. While we get great feedback for our customers it’s fantastic to know that through blind tasting others recognise the tastes we are trying to create.
Winning Gold last year was a massive help to our business, we always knew at Connolly Meats we produced great products but to win Gold has given us the attention to grow our business further. I would like to thank the blas team for all their hard work in getting Irish companies the attention they deserve.
Winning Blas Gold last year has really helped us become the product of choice on the shelves, through giving our brand and indeed our Italian Espresso blend real credibility. It provides the consumer with the confidence they need to buy something new knowing that this is a great tasting product.
Winning a Blas na hEireann proves our product is among the best in the industry and shows clients we deliver on our promises.- Gerry Sheridan, Owner Ice Cream Treats
The Blas award really set the stage for our eggs. National recognition in our category is a huge assistance in seeking prospective customers.
It’s not just about the award, it’s about the contacts we meet, the assistance from the Blas team and sessions held by food professionals in award week.
Being recognised with a silver award for our eggs so early in our food journey was a massive boost to our business.
We have been engaged with the Irish Food awards since 2016, during this time we have achieved many awards over the years which has definitely put us on the map and exposed us to bigger ventures with our customers. Our team really engages with the opportunity to be recognised through awards for their expertise and skills used to produce our products. Which is aways a plus😊
We were so happy to win Gold again for our Korean BBQ. Having the Blas logo on the bottle makes such a difference when customers are considering buying a bottle. It's like a stamp of approval really helps to make an impact.
Being involved in the competition was a great experience. When you win a Blas na hEireann award you think back to where you started and how far you've come. Winning the very acclaimed Irish food award opened many doors for me and my product. Sales increased greatly and
I gained connections in the food world that I would other wise not have been able to do. Winning the award takes your business to a whole new level of
success. I would recommend anyone to enter.
A Blas Na Eireann award is a fantastic achievement for any business as its held to such high prestige in Ireland, we have been so lucky to have achieved an award most years on entering . We don’t select batches of cheese for award entries , instead we take pride of what we do on a daily basis and enter product from the exact day of production when cheese is required to be dispatched . We expect our product team to make a consistent award winning cheese every day , this rubber stamps the quality level that our cheese brand stands for .
Winning an award at Blas na hÉireann, means many things to an Irish food business, for us at Folláin, it is firstly a recognition that the product itself is best in class in terms of quality and taste, but the award is also recognition of the dedicated work and endeavour that is undertaken by everyone in Folláin to create a product that is the very best that it possibly can be. It is an honour to just be shortlisted, so actually winning an award is something that we can all be very proud of here at Folláin.Further to this, having a Blas na hÉireann award associated to our products communicates a very clear message of high quality to the consumer, emphasising the fact that our products are Irish-made; and by purchasing our products consumers are directly supporting a local Irish family businesses like ours, who are committed to supporting and developing our local economy and environment.
Supervalu’s Christmas Advert features Our Signature Taste Yule Log is the main feature with the Blas getting a mention. So it is very important to us, we always make sure we mention it and bring our glass trophy along with us to be included.
“For anyone who has won a Blas na hEireann award, you know how special it is. Winning the award puts you in the spotlight and creates an interest in you as a producer. You know you have a quality products but when it is independtly endorsed by the judges at Blas you know your onto something special. The Blas na hEireann awards comes with it’s own special package. From the Food Festival to celebrating over the best weekend in Dingle, winning the award continues to give all year round. Us passionate producers are delighted to be part of this incredible event. It’s fantastic that it’s back in person this year”
At Wexford Home Preserves the quality of our products is paramount. The Blas na hÉireann winners badge lets people who haven't yet tasted our preserves know in advance that they are going to be great!
This is a major benefit of entering the awards. It helps that everyone involved is so friendly and helpful and going to Dingle to mingle with the food community is definitely a highlight for us!
We are proud of our butter and even prouder when we achieve rewards for our Quality. The awards we have won in the past are a great source of pride for our operators and a testimony to all their hard work throughout the year. We won the Gold Blas na hÉireann award in 2021 and it proves to us and our customers that our butter really is the cream of the crop
After arriving to the third place in the sourdough category, a local restaurant approached us and we've been supplying them ever since with fresh bread daily, so progress has been made and we're very happy about that.
I really love the Blas Awards, and for me it’s not all about the winning but about the valuable networking opportunities and also the social aspect of meeting other like-minded people down in Dingle. Don’t get me wrong though, winning Gold and Best in Dublin at my first ever awards was incredible and probably the highlight since setting up my business in 2016. Hearing my name called out those two times will be something I will never forget.
As a recipient of a silver Blás nhEireann award, Homebird displays this honour proudly on pack. As a widely recognised privilege, this award is a powerful acknowledgement of our teams unwavering commitment to quality and our promise to deliver great-tasting local poultry to homes across Ireland.
The Blas na hEireann awards represent the absolute pinnacle in terms of high quality food and drink produced here on the island of Ireland. No other food award carries as much gravity when it comes to showcasing the quality of your product to new buyers. There is one award coveted above all others and it is Blas.
I started my business during the pandemic, a period that was extremely difficult to connect with customers in-stores and tell them about our new products. Winning the gold & silver medals in the dietary specific category was wonderfully exciting but also gave customers who hadn’t heard of our range - confidence that our products were of great quality, excellent taste and definitely worth a try and we as a team are very proud of this stamp of approval.
Blás na hÉireann is a fantastic network for food producers. It really allowed us to spotlight our chocolates and winning the prestigious award really gave Team Grá a boost in moral. We work so hard as a small team so winning accolades such as this shine a light on our high quality chocolates.
We did notice it made a great difference - people instantly spot the crystal award in our shop and the sticker on our jars, which starts conversations and gives a "stamp of approval" that our caramel is a quality product. It resulted in a mayoral visit and associated newspaper mention and, perhaps most importantly as a 2 person band for whom the business has grown out of a hobby, it has given us a huge confidence boost that we are on the right track.
The Blas is internationally recognised as being a marker of quality and even across the UK and EU and it is often the first award we are asked about. It has definitely made a difference to our business as people trust it as a marker of a top product.
In 2021, Blackwater Honey won Gold in the Honey category of the Preserves competition. On receipt of our award, our business immediately noticed a huge spike in sales and online enquiries. We received a huge response from small, medium and very well known large retailers contacting us directly seeking to source and sell our products. The exposure we got through social media as a result of winning was massive. So much so, that our following online doubled in a week, as a result of the win. Winning Blas na hEireann, has been fantastic. It has opened many doors for us and helped create fantastic opportunities for our business to grow and expand. Customers and retailers really do take notice when you win at the Blas na hÉireann Awards.
Winning the Blas Award is very important to us as our customers recognise this award as a great testament to our outstanding quality and food offering. This award is widely known and very well respected and further enhances our customers confidence in the DF brand
Killarney Bee Walks and Honey were very excited to win the 2022 Blas na hEireann silver award for our 100% pure and natural meadow flower honey. It has helped to give us the confidence to continue, and grow our business and has been a great boost for honey sales.
I find the win is a good ice-breaker when I am talking to people on face to face sales calls. It shows that we're serious about the quality of our product and about getting it recognised nationally.
Winning Gold at Blas na hEireann has been a great experience for us. In addition to the widespread publicity gained it put our brand in front of many new customers we couldn’t have reached any other way. As a winner we have been able to show that we have a quality product, reviewed by experts, which stands ahead of our competition’. A huge thanks to the team at Blas.
These days, the Blas na hEireann award is the Irish seal of approval in a foodie landscape, it has allowed our loose teas to be brought to the attention of many food lovers both at home in Ireland and further a field. We feel that the Blas na hEireann badge is an endorsement of the hard work and determination that goes in to each and every product we have, Independently endorsing the quality of the tea leaves and ingredients we source.
Donegal Rapeseed Oil were delighted to be acknowledged and to have received our gold and silver awards in the oil category last year. It’s such a wonderful recognition for our team and much appreciated by our existing customers as well as being beneficial in attracting new customers.
In 2021 i was a new small batch condiment producer and I had entered my Distillers Pickle Sauce into the Blas na hEireann awards on the basis that It would be a superb achievement to make it through to the finalists stage. I had great belief in my product and when the awards day came and it won GOLD.. I was thrilled. The Irish food awards bestowed a validation that is respected island wide and now when I approach prospective stockists and they catch a glimpse of that little Gold winning Blas label…the deal is almost certainly done. Thank you all for everything that you do.
Winning Bronze at Blas last year for our Chocolate, Guinness and Hazelnut Praline Cake was a huge achievement for us. Being such a highly respected and recognised award, it has afforded us great opportunities both in terms of growing our brand, sales. As a young SME it has been invaluable to have the seal of approval from Blas as we approach new markets and expand our offering.
Blas has introduce Bró Coffee to an all Ireland audience since winning the award and attending Gifted at the RDS.
We only started to sell direct to the public since February 21 and although well know in Co Down and roasting since 2016 , by winning the Blas award last year we have really opened up new at home and wholesale markets both north and south.