Retail News|October 2014|www.retailnews.ie|39
38|Retail News|October 2014|www.retailnews.ie
Irish Quality Food & Drink Awards
Irish Quality Food & Drink Awards
Pictured are (l-r): Isabelle Sheridan, On the Pigs Back, winners of the inaugural Small Producer of the Year Award, sponsored by SuperValu, with Linda O’Connor, SuperValu Own Brand Manager, event MC Catherine Fulvio and Lara Monahan, Irish Quality Food Awards Project Manager.
Winner in the Christmas Chilled/Ambient category was Simply Better Ham Glaze from Dunnes Stores and Wexford Home Preserves. Pictured are L-r): Jane Milton, Susan O’Shaughnessy, Patrick Farrell, Dunnes Stores, Catherine Fulvio; and Tom & Laura Sinnott, Wexford Home Preserves.
More than 50 of the finest food and drink products in the land were rewarded at the second annual Irish Quality Food & Drink Awards, in a glittering awards ceremony at Dublin’s Mansion House. THE very best in Irish food and drink was celebrated at the second annual Irish Quality Food & Drink Awards, which took place in the Round Room of the Mansion House on September 11, 2014. More than 50 of Ireland’s leading food and drink products were rewarded for their quality, taste and originality at a black tie dinner, hosted by wellknown celebrity chef and TV star,
Catherine Fulvio, which was attended by over 500 guests entrants, judges and spectators. “It’s been a fantastic second year for The Irish Quality Food & Drink Awards,” explained event organiser Helen Lyons. “We’ve had well over 600 entries for our expert judging panel to taste, so you can be absolutely sure that if you are a finalist, your product
really has been put through its paces by some of the industry’s finest food and drink experts.” Double the Number of Entries Bruce Langlands, Director of Food at Harrods and Co-Chair of the IQFDA Judging Panel, described it as “an amazing year for Ireland, with 600 products entered this year, which was double the entries from last year, with some phenomenal winners.” The seed of the Irish Q Awards idea was first planted six years ago during a conversation between Helen Lyons and a high profile retailer. It took five years for that initial idea to come to fruition in 2013 but the Irish Quality Food & Drink Awards was certainly worth the wait and has quickly established itself as the premier food awards in the
country. Exacting Judging Process The IQFDAs are sister awards to the UK’s Quality Food and Drink Awards, which have been established for 35 years, which Helen Lyons acknowledged are widely regarded as “the most difficult accolades to win in the sector”. “That’s something that I am actually very proud of as it highlights just how thorough the judging process is and it underlines the true value of winning such a prestigious award,” she noted. That value has translated into the Irish Quality Food & Drink Awards, with an equally demanding judging process, taking place at DIT’s School of Culinary Arts, overseen by kitchen manager Agnes Bouchier-Hayes, who ensured that each product was served to the judges in perfect
condition. The Irish Quality Food Awards set out to recognise excellence in product development for food and drink producers, retailers and catering companies in Ireland only, with Q Awards being awarded across 50 different categories. The Overall Gold Q is awarded to the one product that stands out among all the other entries and is chosen from the winners of the main categories, representing the very best of the best. Overall Gold Q Award Winner The Overall Gold Q Award winner was Simply Better French Trimmed Connemara Hill Rack of Lamb from Dunnes Stores/Tendermeats, which also won in the Fresh Meat, Game and Poultry Pork, Lamb and Other Joints category. “To be recognised as the best in the category is something you need to
celebrate and tell the consumer. It’s a recognition of the hard work that goes on behind the scenes,” enthused Diarmuid Murphy, Head of New Product Development at Dunnes Stores. Small Producer of the Year Award Cork-based paté and terrine producer, On the Pigs Back were selected as winners of the inaugural Small Producer of the Year Award, sponsored by SuperValu and judged by a panel from Musgrave Retail Partners Ireland. The company will now have the opportunity to supply a wider range of their gourmet products to SuperValu’s 222 stores nationwide and will benefit from significant sales and marketing support from the retailer. Indeed, SuperValu subsequently signed a deal with On the Pigs Back worth €100,000, which will see two new jobs created at the company and further capital investment,