press release
A CHANCE TO PUT YOUR COUNTY’S FOOD HEROES ON THE MAP:
THE GOOD FOOD IRELAND® AWARDS 2024
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| Ivan Kiersey, Freezin’ Friesian, Heather Humphreys TD, Minister for Rural and Community Development & Social Protection, Margaret Jeffares, CEO, Good Food Ireland® & Paul Heery, General Manager, The K Club.jpg |
It’s time for the nation’s lesser-known, independent food businesses to get the recognition they deserve with a brand new opportunity from the Good Food Ireland® Awards 2024.
For the first time in the 18 year history of the awards, the Food Lovers Choice Award nominations will be open to any food business across the Republic and Northern Ireland (including those outside of Good Food Ireland). Local suppliers, manufacturers shops, food trucks, distilleries, pubs, restaurants and hotels are all eligible for the prestigious recognition from the highly-regarded cross-sector awards, all they need is nominations!
Margaret Jeffares, Founder and Managing Director of Good Food Ireland® says: “We’re very excited to open up this year’s Food Lovers Choice Award to all of our nation’s beloved local businesses, celebrating the people who genuinely capture the essence of Ireland's food and drink, setting it in a cultural context to inspire travellers, international consumers and locals to seek out real, authentic Irish food and drink experiences.
“Good Food Ireland® is a unique all-island destination brand, showcasing premium culinary and agri-food offerings for almost 20 years, creating competitive advantage and attracting visitors seeking authentic, Irish food and drink experiences. We’re on the ground, we work alongside Ireland’s agri-food and tourism industry across the four corners of our island. We hear first-hand what is needed from these proud farmers, fishermen, food and drink producers and tourism hospitality providers. We use this knowledge to foster a sense of community, encouraging collaboration and knowledge-sharing and promoting innovation. By highlighting these premium cross-sector experiences, the Good Food Ireland® Awards help contribute to economic diversification, increased tourism revenue, preservation of our agricultural and culinary heritage and improved sustainability and quality of life in rural communities.”.
The Good Food Ireland® Awards 2024 were officially launched by Heather Humphreys, T.D. Minister for Rural and Community Development and will take place on Monday, November 11th at The K Club, Co Kildare.
Minister Heather Humphreys T.D. says: “As Minister for Rural and Community Development, I am delighted to have been in a position to invest in a number of rural and regeneration projects that will do so much in terms of supporting Ireland’s food industry."
“Through the Rural Regeneration and Development Fund, we are transforming an old historic site in Athy, County Kildare, into a State-of-the-Art food, drink and innovation hub. Similarly in County Roscommon, we have invested hugely in the Castlerea Food Hub to enable it to become a major driver of food innovation, enterprise and job creation in the region. And just last week saw the official opening of the first centre of excellence for the Irish food industry in the country in Athenry, County Galway. These are just some of the projects that my Department is supporting through investment under our ambitious five year rural development strategy, ‘Our Rural Future’.”
Minister Humphreys went on to send her best wishes to the participants and adjudicators involved in the Good Food Ireland® Awards 2024.
She added: “I’m delighted to support The Good Food Ireland® Awards 2024 – a wonderful initiative that will showcase all that is good about Ireland’s food industry. Irish food producers are world leaders in their field and do us all proud on the global stage.
“I have no doubt that the adjudicators face an extremely difficult task as they choose the respective winners in each award category. I wish all the participants and organisers the very best of luck and I have no doubt these awards will be a huge success.”
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| Sound advice from Ballymaloe House The Culinary Haven Of The Year Award in 2023. |
Nominations for the Food Lovers Choice Awards are now open when it will be up to the general public to shout about their most beloved local food heroes. Businesses can also enter the awards directly if they believe they share the Good Food Ireland® philosophy; a commitment to prioritising Irish ingredients, sustainably supporting Ireland's farmers, food producers and fishermen. A shortlist will be agreed by the Awards’ judging panel, and an overall winner crowned from each corner of the nation: Wild Atlantic Way, Ireland’s Ancient East, Ireland’s Hidden Heartlands, Dublin, and Northern Ireland.
Paul Heery, General Manager of The K Club and host of the upcoming awards adds: “We loved hosting last year’s return of the Good Food Ireland® Awards. It was an incredibly inspiring and uplifting day for all the team. Good Food Ireland’s emphasis on local sourcing and sustainability practices, aligns perfectly with ours and the growing demand for authentic Irish food and drink amongst discerning travellers. The Awards showcase The K Club’s commitment to these values by creating a unique dining experience that reflects the rich culinary heritage of Ireland”.
“Celebrating with some of the bastions of our country’s burgeoning food scene also helps us to expand our reach within the local culinary community and associate The K Club with this reputation for quality and authenticity to attract discerning food lovers. We cannot wait for another crack of the whip this year, elevating last year’s business lunch to a glamourous evening event that’s going to feel like one big party including a delicious dinner fuelled by the very local producers we’ve gathered to celebrate”.
For Online Entry as well as updates regarding the individual awards, tickets to the event, and general information about Good Food Ireland® visit goodfoodireland
About Good Food Ireland®:
Since its establishment in 2006, Good Food Ireland® has played a multi-faceted role in promoting sustainable rural development by supporting local producers, encouraging sustainable practices, enhancing tourism, preserving culinary heritage, and building community engagement. These efforts have helped to contribute to the economic vitality, environmental sustainability, and cultural richness of rural Ireland. The Good Food Ireland® core emphasis of using local, fresh, seasonal Irish ingredients, encourages tourism-hospitality and retail businesses to prioritise local produce and visitors as well as ourselves here at home to seek it out. Hence supporting Irish farmers, food producers and fishermen and sustainably strengthening local economies and communities. Through its promotion of local producers, Good Food Ireland® also helps maintain traditional agricultural practices, preserving the heritage and biodiversity of Irish farming.
About the Awards:
All businesses approved by Good Food Ireland®, subject to meeting strict criteria through onsite inspection, are eligible for the awards. An independent panel of industry experts will create a shortlist of finalists in each of the award categories. Following further onsite mystery inspection and assessment the winners will be selected. The public will also have an opportunity to vote online from a shortlist of finalists, for their favourite foodie business, be it a restaurant, pub or café, a hotel or country house, a local food shop or a favourite food or drink producer, in each of the tourism regions across the country and Northern Ireland.
Full list of award categories:
Hotel Of The Year
Culinary Haven Of The Year
Restaurant Of The Year
Café Of The Year
Pub Of The Year
Shop Of The Year
Food Truck Of The Year
Sustainability Award
Producer Of The Year Awards
Food Lovers Choice Award
Excellence In Food Tourism Award
Outstanding Contribution To Food Production
Outstanding Contribution To Irish Food And Drink Internationally
Recognition Of Good Food Ireland® International Ambassadors
Supreme Award Of The Year
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| Margaret Jeffares, Founder and Managing Director of Good Food Ireland, and Simon Coveney T.D., Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment at launch of highly-coveted Good Food Ireland Awards. |
Good Food Ireland® is delighted to announce the shortlisted finalists for its highly-regarded awards. County Cork was revealed to have an impressive 14 finalists shortlisted – the most of any county in Ireland.
The winners are due to be revealed at a high-profile business lunch taking place on Monday 17th April at The K Club, County Kildare.
The awards are unique in their cross-sector approach and core criteria around commitment to local Irish produce and the organisers are delighted to have them back after the Covid enforced gap. They aim to enhance linkages between agriculture and tourism and present significant opportunities for stimulating local production, retaining tourism earnings in the local area, and improving the distribution of economic benefits of tourism to the four corners of the island.
An independent panel of Irish and International leaders including Founder and Managing Director of Good Food Ireland® Margaret Jeffares, journalists John Wilson and Amii McKeever, IFAC Consultant Stephanie Walsh and Executive Chairman and Owner of Odyssey International Kevin Shannon, shortlisted the nominees from those businesses approved by Good Food Ireland®, subject to meeting strict criteria through onsite inspection. The expert panel will select the overall winner following mystery inspections and assessments.
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| The winners are due to be revealed at a high-profile business lunch taking place on Monday 17th April at The K Club (above), County Kildare. |
Featuring across 10 different categories, the County Cork businesses who made the shortlist are:
Hotel Of The Year – Hayfield Manor and Celtic Ross Hotel
Culinary Haven Of The Year – Ballymaloe House Hotel
Restaurant Of The Year – Fishy Fishy
Pub Of The Year – The Lifeboat Inn
Shop Of The Year – The Roughty Foodie
Food Truck Of The Year – The Garden Cafe Truck at Ballymaloe Cookery School and CRAFT West Cork at The Celtic Ross Hotel
Excellence In Food Tourism Award – Ballymaloe Cookery School Organic Farm & Gardens
Producer Of The Year (Fish & Seafood) – Ummera Smoked Products and "K'O'Connell Fish Merchants”
Producer Of The Year (Bakery & Chocolate) – Koko Kinsale and Praline
Producer Of The Year (Drinks) – Five Farms Irish Cream Liqueur
The public also has the opportunity to cast their votes for their favourite places across the island of Ireland in the Food Lovers Choice Award. The shortlist will be drawn from the finalists in all other categories. Online voting will commence on Tuesday 7th March and remain open until Monday 20th March.
Other awards of recognition will include Outstanding Contribution to Food Production, Outstanding Contribution to Irish Food/Drink Internationally and Lifetime Achievement Award.
Returning for the first time since pre-Covid, the awards – proudly sponsored by Kerrygold, Irish Farmers Association, Bord Bia, Tourism Ireland and National Dairy Council – will be opened by guest of honour, Simon Coveney T.D., Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, and attended by some 300 guests including business owners, Irish and international chefs, buyers, food and drink writers, media and industry leaders. Anita Mendiratta, Special Advisor to the Secretary General of the United Nations World Tourism Organisation, will deliver the afternoon’s Key Note speech.
Margaret Jeffares, Founder and Managing Director of Good Food Ireland® says: "There is great excitement around the return of The Good Food Ireland® Awards this year to celebrate the successful collaboration of cross-sector businesses working together for inclusive economic growth.
“All of those wonderful businesses who have made the shortlist are a committed collection of passionate and driven people who genuinely capture the essence of Ireland's food and drink, setting it in a cultural context to inspire travellers, international consumers and locals to seek out real authenticity and Irish provenance. All the judges would like to extend our congratulations to them all and wish everyone the best of luck for the 17th April."
See the full shortlist of finalists below. For full details on the individual awards, tickets to the event, and general information about Good Food Ireland® visit goodfoodireland.ie
About the Awards:
The 2023 Good Food Ireland® Awards are proudly sponsored by Kerrygold, Irish Farmers Association, Tourism Ireland, Bord Bia, IFAC and National Dairy Council.
All businesses approved by Good Food Ireland, subject to meeting strict criteria through onsite inspection, are eligible for the awards. An independent panel of industry experts will create a shortlist of finalists in each of the award categories. Following further onsite mystery inspection and assessment the winners will be selected. The public will also have an opportunity to vote from a shortlist of finalists for their Favourite Place to Eat, Favourite Food or Drink Producer or Favourite Place to Shop in each of the tourism regions across the island of Ireland.
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| Norma Kelly of Mitchelstown's Praline displays some of her delicious sweet things! |
FULL 2023 GOOD FOOD IRELAND® AWARDS FINALISTS
Hotel Of The Year
Grand Central Hotel Belfast
Hayfield Manor, Cork
Celtic Ross Hotel, Cork
Anantara The Marker Dublin Hotel, Dublin
The Merrion, Dublin
The Europe Hotel & Resort, Kerry
The K Club, Kildare
The Dunraven Adare, Limerick
Culinary Haven Of The Year
The Bushmills Inn, Co Antrim
Killeavy Castle Estate, Armagh
Ballymaloe House Hotel, Cork
BrookLodge & Macreddin Village, Wicklow
Killeen House Hotel & Rozzers Restaurant, Kerry
Cashel House Hotel, Galway
Rathmullan House, Donegal
Ghan House, Louth
Restaurant Of The Year
Fish City, Antrim
An Port Mor, Mayo
Prime 74, Tipperary
The Lemon Tree Restaurant, Donegal
Potager Restaurant, Dublin
Woodruff Restaurant, Dublin
Aniar, Galway
Fishy Fishy, Cork
Hugo's, Dublin
Pub Of The Year
The King's Head, Galway
The Glyde Inn, Louth
The Tavern Bar & Restaurant, Mayo
Harte's of Kildare, Kildare
Mikey Ryan's Bar & Kitchen, Tipperary
The Lifeboat Inn, Cork
The Oarsman, Leitrim
Rusty Mackerel, Donegal
Café Of The Year
Sweet n Green, Clare
Kelly's Kitchen Café, Newport
Farmhouse Café & Bakery, Dublin
GROW HQ, Waterford
Fennelly's of Callan, Kilkenny
The Hungry Bear Café, Wexford
Barrons Bakery & Coffee House, Waterford
Kelly's Café, Wexford
Shop Of The Year
The Roughty Foodie, Cork
Country Choice, Tipperary
Buddy's Farmers Market, Dublin
Brogan's Butchers, Meath
Cavistons Seafood Restaurant & Food Emporium, Dublin
Leaf & Larder Delicatessen & Bakery, Kerry
Firecastle, Kildare
Food Truck Of The Year
The Garden Cafe Truck at Ballymaloe Cookery School, Cork
CRAFT West Cork at The Celtic Ross Hotel, Cork
Koha Street Kitchen, Sligo
SEABISCUIT at The Strand Cahore, Wexford
Sustainability Award
GROW HQ, Waterford
BrookLodge & Macreddin Village, Wicklow
Connemara Smokehouse, Galway
Oriel Sea Salt, Louth
Fish City, Antrim
Atlantis of Kilmore Quay, Wexford
O' Shea Farms, Kilkenny
Excellence In Food Tourism Award
Long Meadow Cider, Armagh
Burren Smokehouse & Visitor Centre, Clare
Ballymaloe Cookery School Organic Farm & Gardens, Cork
Wilde Irish Chocolates, Clare
Vintage Tea Trips, Dublin
The Glyde Inn, Louth
Coppenagh House Farm, Carlow
Producer Of The Year – Fruit & Vegetables
"Garryhinch Wood Exotic Mushrooms", Offaly
The Apple Farm, Tipperary
O'Shea Farms, Waterford
Kearns Fruit Farm, Wexford
Producer Of The Year - Meat
Coppenagh House Farm, Carlow
Market House Ennistymon, Clare
Calvey's Achill Mountain Lamb, Mayo
Jane Russell's Original Irish Sausages, Kildare
Kelly's of Newport, Mayo
Donabate Dexter, Dublin
Producer Of The Year - Fish & Seafood
Burren Smokehouse, Clare
Ummera Smoked Products, Cork
"K'O'Connell Fish Merchants ", Cork
Realt na Mara Shellfish, Kerry
Atlantis of Kilmore Quay, Wexford
Producer Of The Year – Bakery & Chocolate
Koko Kinsale, Cork
Praline, Cork
Jinny's Bakery & Tea Rooms, Leitrim
Walshe's Bakehouse, Waterford
Ditty's Bakery, Derry
Producer Of The Year - Drinks
Armagh Cider Company, Armagh
Jackford Irish Gin, Wexford
Western Herd Brewing Company, Clare
Five Farms Irish Cream Liqueur, Cork
Dew Drop Inn & Brewhouse, Kildare
Producer Of The Year - Dairy
Glastry Farm Ice Cream, Down
The Village Dairy, Carlow
Freezin Friesian, Waterford
Killowen Farm, Wexford
Boyne Valley Farmhouse Cheese, Meath
Producer Of The Year - Jams & Savoury
Wexford Home Preserves, Wexford
Leahy Beekeeping, Galway
Achill Island Sea Salt, Mayo
Wild Irish Foragers & Preservers, Offaly
Harnett's Oils, Down
Keogh's Crisps, Dublin
Producer of the Year
Supreme Award
Outstanding Contribution to Food Production
Outstanding Contribution to Irish Food and Drink Internationally
Lifetime Achievement Award
