New Irish Black Butter Fudge launched
Food NI member company Irish Black Butter has developed a new fudge featuring the popular flavour.
The fudge is the latest original product using Irish Black Butter, an award winning sweet/savoury spread, developed by Portrush businessman Alastair Bell with assistance of En Place Foods in Cookstown, another Food NI member company.
The new Irish Black Butter fudge was created with assistance from Melting Pot in Belfast, also a Food NI member and one which has vast experience in developing and marketing a wide range of original butter and flavoured fudges for customers in Great Britain, the Republic of Ireland and further afield.
The fudge is the fourth original product featuring the Irish Black Butter flavour with Armagh Bramley apples, cider, treacle, spices, and a touch of brandy over the past two years.
Other products developed using Irish Black Butter are a peanut spread, an ice cream being produced by Coleraine’s Morelli’s Italian-style ice cream, and biscuits from the Heatherlea Bakery in Bangor. Morelli’s and the Heatherlea are also Food NI member companies.
Mr Bell, commenting on the new Irish Black Butter fudge, says: “The fudge is the outcome of my strategic focus on growing the business beyond the original spread through the promotion of the distinctive flavour as an ingredient for other innovative food products.
“Using the Black Butter in a novel fudge is an obvious move which widens its market appeal and also strengthens the business. It reflects by focus on promoting the butter as an ingredient for other manufacturers and as a flavouring for chefs. It’s now being used by leading chefs in their dishes as well as tasty choice for cheeseboards in leading restaurants and hotels.
“The successful team at Melting Pot was very supportive and keen to assist me in harnessing their tremendous experience and success in creating different fudge flavours,” he adds.
A recent contender in the challenging BBC Two’s Dragons’ Den programme, Irish Black Butter also received three gold stars in the influential UK Great Taste Awards and is one of eight local companies in the running for the champion Golden Fork, as well as the Northern Ireland Golden Fork, in the finals on 1 September at a gala dinner in London.
The distinctive spread, furthermore, was named Chefs’ Larder Choice in last year’s Blas na hEireann Irish National Food Awards.
Irish Black Butter is available in delis and independent retailers in Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland and in parts of Great Britain.
