Early Christmas magic for Irish Black Butter in Quality Awards
Food NI member Irish Black Butter has won the only gold for Northern Ireland in the
annual UK Quality Food and Drink Awards at a gala presentation in London.
In addition to the success of Alastair Bell’s Irish Black Butter from Portrush, there
were other medals for White’s Oats of Tandragee for its porridge oats and Kilkeel’s
Crawford’s Rock, an innovator in seaweed salts and other products.
White’s gained silver and bronze for its oats and Crawford’s Rock a bronze.
All three are longstanding Food NI member companies.
The Quality Food gold is the latest in a strong of awards for Irish Black Butter which
also gained first business with Marks and Spencer. The coveted awards are the
most important in the UK for the grocery sector.
Irish Black Butter was formed by businessman Alastair Bell at Portrush in 2017 as ‘a
great new taste of Ireland’ from Armagh Bramley apples, cider, a touch of brandy,
treacle, sugar and spices for spreading, cooking, baking or mixing.
“I am absolutely thrilled to have won this hugely important recognition from the
grocery sector in the UK,” says Alastair. It’s a real bonus coming so soon after our
listing by M&S and should help increase awareness of our product in the grocery
sector in Britain.
“Winning a Quality Food Award is an outstanding achievement. It means that my
product has been judged to be the very best by renowned industry experts – and that
really is something to shout about,” he adds.
Now in its 45th year, the Quality Food Awards are the longest-running, most
prestigious food awards in the UK; they cast a spotlight on products that offer fine
ingredients, great taste and aroma, beautiful packaging and amazing value for
money.
The awards are not just about new products – the judges are looking to reward
excellence in food and soft drinks, regardless of when a product was launched. If it
tastes great and looks great, a well-established product is as eligible to win an award
as one that was launched in the past 12 months.
