WELCOME A supplement to
Ireland has so much to offer, from the purely artisan to the innovative and on-trend By MICK WHITWORTH
CONTRIBUTING EDITOR
IF YOU WANTED EVIDENCE that the bonds between Britain and Ireland are more powerful than the gameplaying of politicians, it’s in the pages of this supplement. For the fourth time in recent years, we’ve teamed up with Bord Bia, the Irish Food Board, to showcase some of the finest Irish speciality products currently available to the UK market. And any nervousness we might have felt when we began contacting Irish suppliers in early summer was quickly dispelled. Brexit was barely mentioned, except with a philosophical shrug of the shoulder or a slight grimace of annoyance, underlining our approach here at Fine Food Digest: that serious UK buyers and Ireland’s community of superb speciality producers will want to keep doing business and will find a way to make it work. And why not, when Ireland has so much to offer, from the purely artisan – like those farmhouse cheeses that were the country’s first real speciality exports to Britain – to the innovative and on-trend, like The Happy Pear’s smartly marketed range of vegetarian foods. This was backed up, too, by the welcome I received in May when I visited producers across the Republic – from King of Kefir in Dublin to Mileeven honey in the south and Burren Smokehouse in the north-west – which was as warm as I’ve seen in 14 years on Fine Food Digest. You’ll find nearly 70 producers featured in this special supplement, and as Bord Bia’s Estelle Alley points out on page 4, they tick many boxes for today’s food shoppers: high quality, integrity of production and an honest backstory (no supermarket-style faux farm names here) – all with that sprinkling of Irish magic on top.
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EDITORIAL editorial@gff.co.uk Contributing editor: Mick Whitworth Editor: Michael Lane Assistant editor: Lauren Phillips Art director: Mark Windsor
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ADVERTISING advertise@gff.co.uk Sales director: Sally Coley Sales manager: Ruth Debnam Sales executive: Becky Stacey Sales support: Sam Coleman
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GENERAL ENQUIRIES Tel: +44 (0)1747 825200 Fax: +44 (0)1747 824065 info@gff.co.uk www.gff.co.uk ADDRESS Guild of Fine Food, Guild House, 23b Kingsmead Business Park, Gillingham, Dorset SP8 5FB UK PUBLISHED BY The Guild of Fine Food Ltd © The Guild of Fine Food Ltd 2019. Reproduction of whole or part of this magazine without the publisher’s prior permission is prohibited. The opinions expressed in articles and advertisements are not necessarily those of the editor or publisher.
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PRINTED BY Blackmore, Dorset Cover image: Burren Smokehouse
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Find a supplier... An Sean-Teachs Ballyhoura Apple Farm Ballymaloe Foods Black Twist Blendi Snacks Burren Smokehouse Chocolatey Clare Clonakilty Food Co Collar Of Gold Rapeseed Oil Dingle Chocolates Durrus Cheese Elizabeth Ann Dessert Collection Fancy Fungi Genovese Foods Gran Grans Foods Green Saffron Happy Pear
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Homespun Foods 10 Juspy 11 Keogh’s Crisps 11 Khanya Coffee 13 Killahora Orchards 13 Killenure Castle 14 King Of Kefir 17 Kinnegar Brewing 13 Kinsale Mead Co 17 Mama Nagi 18 Maria Lucia Bakes 18 Marine Health Foods 18 McGargles/Rye River Brewery 18 Mellas Fudge 18 Mia’s Honey 21 Miena’s Nougat 21 Mileevan 20
A SUPPLEMENT TO FINE FOOD DIGEST
Mora Foods 21 Naturally Cordial 21 Nutterly Nutritious 21 O’Neill’s Bacon 21 Oliver Carty Bacon 23 Olly’s Farm 23 Oriel Sea Salt 23 Pandora Bell 23 Poachers Well 23 Ponaire Coffee 23 Rigneys Farm 23 Rucksnacks 23 Sadie’s Kitchen 24 Scott’s Cider 24 Seery’s 24 The Farmers’ Daughter 24 The Foods Of Athenry 24
The Studio Coffee Roasters 24 Three Fools Coffee 24 The Lismore Food Co 26 This Is Seaweed 26 Three Men In A Trailer 26 TrusTEA 26 Uflourish 27 Urban Kitchen Foods 27 Walsh’s Bakehouse 27 Wexford Home Preserves 27 Wicklow Farmhouse Cheese 27 Wicklow Way Wines 27 Wild About 27 Wild Fuschia Bakehouse 27 Woodstown Bay Shellfish 27
FOOD & DRINK FROM IRELAND 2019-20
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