Meet the champions
Santina Kennedy, Caroline Hennessy, and Anthony O’Toole are the Blas na hÉireann Producers’ Champions 2025. Photo: Joleen Cronin
What makes someone a champion? When it comes to Blas na hÉireann, the Irish Food Awards, champions represent the best of the best in terms of Irish produce. The Producers’ Champions, however, are a little different.
Uniquely, this title is selected by the producers themselves, rather than the judges. Food and drink producers from all over Ireland come together to select a champion that they believe has consistently advocated for, promoted, and elevated Irish food and drink.
Former Producers’ Champions include the likes of food writer Kate Ryan, chefs Darina Allen, Rory O’Connell, and Neven Maguire, and McKenna’s Guides founders John and Sally McKenna. This year, for the first time ever, three Producers’ Champions were chosen - and they are total powerhouses.
The three Blas na hÉireann Producers’ Champions for 2025 are Caroline Hennessy, Santina Kennedy and Anthony O’Toole. According to founder and chairman of Blas na hÉireann Artie Clifford, they were chosen for their ongoing engagement with the producers of Ireland.
“Each of them in their own way has shown a serious and ongoing commitment to the people behind the produce,” says Clifford. “They share a deep understanding of what it takes to grow, make, market and champion Irish food having all had a background in production, and therefore an understanding of the challenges that producers can face. We couldn’t be happier to celebrate them as they have so often celebrated our producers.”
Named Champions earlier this year, Hennessy, Kennedy and O’Toole have been working away behind the scenes ahead of the Blas na hÉireann awards ceremony at the Dingle Food Festival in October. Here, we meet each champion and find out what this accolade means to them.
Caroline Hennessy Well-respected in her field, Caroline Hennessy is an award-winning freelance writer, author and blogger. You might have come across her website, bibliocook.com, where she has been sharing recipes, musings and news for 20 years. As co-founder of Eight Degrees Brewing, she’s uniquely positioned to understand both the producer’s plight and how to communicate their stories to the wider community of Ireland.
Finding out she had been named a Producers’ Champion was, she says, both a shock and an honour. “Blas na hÉireann is such a special organisation and I’ve hosted talks at the event in Dingle before, so when Fallon Moore, the event co-ordinator, reached out to me, I assumed that’s what our call would be about,” explains Hennessy.
“Then when the phone rang, it was Artie Clifford, the chairman. He was telling me all about the Producers’ Champions, about how for the first time three people had been chosen, but then he said, ‘You’re one of them.’ It’s rare that I’d be without words, but I was actually flabbergasted,” she says.
“It hadn’t ever crossed my mind that I would be chosen, so it was really out of the blue, but I was so humbled. It’s lovely to be acknowledged for the work you do. For me, a meal isn’t just an opportunity to fuel myself, it’s an opportunity to nourish, and we can do that so well in Ireland, so I love highlighting that and the diversity of produce we have here. To be chosen as champion for my work, it’s an honour.”
Alongside her background as a food writer - she’s won four awards at the Irish Food Writing Awards over since their inception in 2020, including the coveted writing on Irish food producers award - Hennessy is very familiar with the producer’s journey, which she tries to honour in her daily work and when judging for Blas na hÉireann. As such, when told that Santina Kennedy and Anthony O’Toole would be her fellow Champions, she says she knew she was in good company with others who truly understood the importance of Blas na hÉireann.
“It was the cherry on top of the cake to be told that Anthony and Santina would be my partners. I have so much respect for them and have worked with them in the past, I love what they do. There’s a real strength in having the three of us as Champions,” explains Hennessy. “We hosted a lunch in early September to showcase some of the shortlisted Blas na hÉireann producers and as the three Champions, we got to select a hero product whose story we would tell. I think that’s part of what’s so important about Blas na hÉireann, it helps to highlight the story behind the incredible producers we have here in Ireland and if I can be part of that, then that’s amazing.
“But it’s also so much more than that. Being within the Blas na hÉireann family means so much to me, but it means so much to our producers too because there’s a wealth of knowledge available to them, from mentorship programmes and the Backyard at Blas sessions to the producers’ showcase at the event in Dingle. Then the whole process offers the opportunity to benchmark your products against your peers, and the awards make such a difference to the producers.”
As a food and drink consultant and the founder of Fat Tomato horticulture project, chef Anthony O’Toole has long championed Irish produce. He’s been involved with Blas na hÉireann as a judge and consultant for almost 20 years, but now as one of its Producers’ Champions for 2025, he says that he has a brilliant opportunity to help further highlight the sustainability issues facing the Irish food and drink industry.
“I was really blown away to be named a Champion and to be recognised by producers. It’s a really great accolade and I feel quite lucky. To have Caroline and Santina with me too is such a bonus because we have a similar mindset in terms of integrity, so the association of the three of us is a really good thing,” explains O’Toole.
“For me, I think being a Champion honours the fact that I’m not afraid to ask the hard questions, especially around climate change and sustainability. People need solutions and I think it’s important to consider how we can work together to play a part. Having us three as Champions this year really highlights the statement that we need to make changes in this area, because it’s so important to us.”
Fat Tomato, which O’Toole likens to an extension of his consultancy work, was started in 2016 as a personal project to simply grow different varieties of fruits and vegetables on his family’s land in Wexford. Now, it’s grown enough for O’Toole to start producing small batch condiments, one of which was available for tasting at the lunch that he, Caroline Hennessy and Santina Kennedy helped to put together to highlight Blas na hÉireann’s shortlisted products. This journey has brought him even closer to the challenges faced by producers.
“Through judging and the showcase in Dingle, Blas na hÉireann helps to highlight the best of the best, as well as upcoming food trends. For the producers, even if they don’t get into the finals or they don’t win, being part of it is such an achievement. The event in Dingle really helps to inspire people and to give guidance or solutions to any problems they might have, opportunities for partnerships, and much more,” says O’Toole.
“Being part of the legacy of Producers’ Champions, for me, is about offering guidance and support to the whole community. Food and drink are constantly growing, so to be part of panels during the weekend in Dingle and to offer support as a figure from this organisation is great. I love the sense of community that Blas na hÉireann brings to the producers of Ireland and to be part of that is brilliant.”
Food consultant and event curator, Santina Kennedy focuses on putting Irish produce at the centre of the story, whether that’s through immersive dining experiences at the National Gallery or by developing food tourism initiatives with Fáilte Ireland.
While Kennedy says that food has always been her passion, throughout her more than 15 years of experience within the industry, she’s been able to work with producers across the spectrum of food and drink in Ireland, helping to connect them and highlight their work.
For her, Blas na hÉireann is something she’s always been hyper-aware of, whether that was in choosing products for events or for the café she ran, but 2024 was the first year she participated in judging.
“I was so impressed with the effort that goes into judging these products and making sure everything is impartial. It helped give me further insight into the importance of storytelling in food, because when you take away the context of a product, the product has to speak for itself. It was so interesting to see the quality of products and then to further understand how the things I do, like storytelling, marketing and PR, are really important in giving products an edge in the market,” she says.
“At the end of the day though, Blas na hÉireann really highlights quality in Irish produce and it’s so difficult to discern because we’re blessed with great produce here,” says Kennedy.
“I found out I had been named a Producers’ Champion in person, because I was in Killarney for work, so I met Fallon Moore in person for coffee. I thought she wanted to talk about me doing something at the event this year, but when she said I’d been named a Champion, I was completely and utterly gobsmacked. It’s such a wonderful endorsement to be recognised for the work I do by Irish producers, it’s really heartwarming and humbling.”
For Kennedy, quantifying her own work to others is something she says gives her some imposter syndrome. This accolade, however, has knocked that back, making her aware of the value that producers place on her work.
“I’m often full of self-doubt, but this has been such an endorsement. Irish producers are creating wonderful things all around the country, so it’s my instinct to help share that and their stories. I love any opportunity to raise awareness about Irish culture, and this is a great way to do that. Plus, to be part of this trio with Anthony and Caroline, who are so impressive and who I admire so much, has been fantastic,” says Kennedy.
“I’m really looking forward to going down to Dingle to continue telling the stories of the producers and to keep bringing awareness to them. I don’t think there’s any other weekend or event like it, where you can meet so many people from across the industry and connect with people. It’s an incredible event that really helps to promote great Irish produce and I’m looking forward to working with Blas na hÉireann to help do just that.”
