Peter Hannan in Top 50 shaping UK food and drink
Article written by Sam Butler
Peter Hannan, Food NI Board member and managing director of Hannan Meats in Moira, Co. Down has been named in the UK’s Food Power List 2017.
Peter was named among chefs, producers and innovators in the ‘50 people shaping the way we eat and drink’ chosen by food experts at the Daily Telegraph. Hannan Meats is a Food NI member company.
The influential team showcased Peter as the ‘Local Hero’ for his contribution of being the first person in the UK to use the salt chamber method for ageing quality beef. In addition to his premium beef, the team recommends Hannan’s unique Moyallon bacon chop. Peter has developed a complex of three chambers using Himalayan salt blocks to age beef, lamb and bacon.
He has twice won the Supreme Champion Award in the UK Great Taste Awards, an internationally recognised showcase of the best food and drink from the UK, Ireland and other parts of Europe. He gained the prestigious award in 2012 for guanciale and again in 2016 for a Glenarm Shorthorn beef roast.
The company, which employs fewer than 50 people at its Northern Irish processing operation has also won more Great Taste Awards than any other producer in the history of the annual competition.
Describing Peter Hannan as “the meat guru”, the panel refers to his business with London celebrity chef Mark Hix and iconic retailer Fortnum and Mason, along with other top restaurants in the UK and Ireland. He also exports the salt–aged beef to France, Portugal and Hong Kong.
He was listed in the Producers and Innovators category with the likes of John Farrand, head of the UK Guild of Fine Foods, which champions producers and independent retailers, Andrew Whitley, a pioneer of sourdough bread and Tim Steiner, founder of Ocado, the online food shop which “changed the way we shop for food”.
Top chefs named by the panel included Fergus Henderson, Rick Stein, Jamie Oliver, Tom Kerridge, Yotam Ottolenghi, Mitch Tonks and Mikael Jonnson.
The panel members were Diana Henry, Xanthe Clay, Suzy Atkins, Stephen Harris, Amy Bryant, Keith Millar and Victoria Moore. Millar, commenting on the list, said it reflected people “are shaping the way we eat, drink and think right now”. It was a “snapshot of who we reckon is currently the most influential in the world of food
