The Borough’s food producers have once again been hailed as the crème de la crème by picking up a fabulous 16 coveted Irish Food Awards (Blas na hEireann) which were announced on Saturday 2 October 2021.
A total of nine local producers were hailed for their high quality products at the awards, which are often dubbed the Oscars of Irish food, following a hotly contested judging which took place in Dingle in July with the winners announced as part of a virtual ceremony on Saturday.
Our winning prime producers were as follows:
- Armagh Cider, two silver and a bronze
- Burren Balsamics, a gold and silver
- CRAIC Foods Limited, one silver
- L’Artisan Foods Ltd – one gold
- Lean Supper Club Ltd – one silver
- Long Meadow Cider – one gold
- McCrackens Brewery, one bronze
- White’s Oats, one silver and one bronze
- Holmes Bakery, who not only picked up a gold and silver but were also awarded the highly acclaimed Best in County (Armagh) and Best in Province (Ulster)
On receiving the Best in Province title, Holmes Bakery will also pick up the Shane McArdle Shield awarded in honour of Armagh citizen and Food Industry Champion Shane McArdle who sadly passed away in 2016. Shane worked as part of the Invest NI Food Team & was a huge supporter of local food and drink, the Food Heartland and the Blas na hEireann awards.
Lord Mayor of Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough, Alderman Glenn Barr spoke of his delight on hearing the results.
“My congratulations go out to all our winners in the Irish Food Awards, once again our local food and drink producers have done our Borough proud.
These awards, in addition to the recently awarded 34 Great Taste Awards, highlight the dedication, talent and commitment of our local producers. It is this reputation for quality an innovation that upholds our standing as the Food Heartland of Northern Ireland. We are so fortunate that our Borough provides an abundance of quality produce, which allows our producers and artisans to create such award winning culinary creations.
With such high quality products available right on our doorstep I would encourage everyone to support our local food and drink producers and enjoy the delicious delights our Borough has to offer.”
