Irish firms top menu at Great Taste Awards

A Kinsale-based company has proved pick of the bunch at this year’s Great Taste Awards.

Great Taste, organised by the Guild of Fine Food, is the acknowledged benchmark for speciality food and drink. It has been described as the Oscars of the food world.

Stonewell Cider, which employs three, including husband and wife Daniel and Geraldine Emerson, picked up a ‘Golden Fork’ for their medium-dry cider.

Daniel, who had been working in print and marketing, took some time out after the birth of his son and began to research cider-brewing.

From initially brewing cider for his own consumption on a press gifted to him by his wife’s father, the business has grown and Stonewell produces three types of cider — medium-dry, dry, and tobairín (low alcohol).

For the Emersons, this award has particular significance. “It’s peer evaluation so that’s one of the biggest accolades,” they said. “In reality, there’s no commercial bias to it so it’s affirmation that we’re doing the right thing, from a product perspective and a quality perspective.”

Stonewell will now be stocked in Harrods and Fortnum & Mason’s in London and, according to Daniel, the award has generated “a great deal” of interest for new business.

Meanwhile, Clare-based firm Burren Smokehouse was one of just 125 companies whose products earned three stars — the highest accolade awarded by the scheme — in a blind tasting by more than 400 judges of almost 10,000 products.

The company received three stars for its Irish Organic Salmon products which were rejudged by a panel including Masterchef judge and restaurant critic Charles Campion and Michelin- starred chef Russell Brown, as well as food buyers&.

The awards coincided with the news that the Lisdoonvarna- based company has agreed a deal with Selfridges, Fortnum & Mason, and Harrods to supply the upmarket stores with its award-winning products.

The family-run company was established in 1989 by Birgitta and Peter Curtin and already supplies its products overseas.&

Birgitta said: “It has been a very successful few days for us and we are delighted to have been able to represent the Irish food sector so well in what is the world’s largest and most rigorous food awards scheme.”