Best in Blas 2026: This year’s top three Irish Food Awards champions
Nicole Server from The Philippines and Bart Pawlukojc from Poland who started Arán Bakery and Bistro in Kilkenny.
For a small business, a Blas award can open doors. It gives a producer more credibility when approaching retailers, reassures their customers of quality, and creates a moment to pause after a demanding year. Attending the ceremony in Dingle is also an opportunity to meet the people behind Ireland’s food industry: producers, buyers, media, consultants and mentors, who collectively make up Ireland’s food family.
This year’s headline honours went to three producers who embody the spirit of Irish food: Arán Bakery in Kilkenny, named Supreme Champion; Second Street Bakeshop in Cork, crowned Best Artisan Producer; Graham Herterich, beloved baker and advocate, named Producers’ Champion.
When Arán Bakery’s name was called as Supreme Champion 2026, the awards ceremony tent erupted. It was a historic moment: Arán is the first producer ever to win the top Blas title twice, having previously taken the Supreme Champion accolade in 2022.
For co-owners Bart Pawlukojć and his wife Nicole Server-Pawlukojć, the award is both validation and vindication. In conversation after the ceremony, Pawlukojć reflected on what it means to be recognised again at the highest level. “In 2022, winning the Supreme Champion changed everything for us. Suddenly people outside Kilkenny knew our bread,” he said.
“To win again, four years later, is insane. It means everything to us. And it feels like proof that we’ve kept our standards where they need to be.”
“I’ll be honest with you, we’re both immigrants; Nicole is Filipino and I’m Polish. And it’s the immigrant syndrome that we always need to prove ourselves. We always think that we need to prove and we always need to push harder. I know a lot of immigrants that have restaurants and that’s what they do. We just compete. Every year we try to go in with something. Even if it’s tiring, even if it’s difficult, we try to do something.”
Arán’s journey began on Barrack Street with a simple mission: stone baked sourdough made with few ingredients, fermented slowly and sold daily from a small artisan bakery. Over the years, the team has added so much to that foundation, by expanding and innovating, from seasonal brunch menus in the cafe to private evening dining, while keeping bread at the centre. Blas awards have been a regular occurrence over the years since they first entered, tallying up to almost 30 awards on their shelves, and even with 19 products as finalists in categories this year, it’s safe to say the Supreme title carries particular weight.
“Bread is humble by nature,” says Pawlukojć. “It doesn’t shout. So when a panel of tasters, year after year, keeps coming back to your loaves, it tells you you’re doing something right.”
Carrigaline confectionery business Second Street Bakeshop, founded by Claire Keane, has quietly built a reputation as having award-winning products with bold flavours and meticulous texture. Known for its American-style toffee brittles reimagined with Irish ingredients – think Cork butter and Achill Island sea salt – the brand has become a favourite to many.
Second Street has collected multiple Blas awards in recent years, including a gold for its dairy free mint chocolate brittle, but the Artisan Producer title marks a new chapter.
Recalling winning the award, Keane says: “The first time I went to Blas and won, I didn’t really understand the full extent of it because I was a little bit shell-shocked. But then I got to know people in the industry and the community and they’re just a lovely bunch of women. I got to do mentorship afterwards also.
“It’s really a stepping stone into building out your community in the food industry and knowing who everyone is- media, press, banking, social media, consultants. It’s one good snapshot of getting to know everyone. And then the other part of it was it gave us validation. You could go to the retailers and say, look, we won gold for this product. You suddenly have street cred; you have clout behind you. So that was, that’s really what it gave to us.”
The awards have also created a community for Keane. She has built friendships with fellow chocolatiers and consultants, and has taken part in a women’s business retreat. At other food events, including the National Ploughing Championships, she now encounters people she first met in Dingle.
“Dingle is a celebration,” she says. “It’s a moment in time to stop, check yourself and celebrate, win or lose. But it’s extra nice to win.”
The Blas Producers’ Champion is decided slightly differently to the other awards in that the winner is specifically chosen by the producers themselves. Each year, producers within the Blas network are asked to fill out a survey to select a person, or people, who advocates for Irish food and drink throughout the year, promoting it through their work and social media channels, and who is a true champion of Irish produce, representing it and helping to elevate it in any way they can.
Former Producers’ Champions include last year’s trio of winners: Santina Kennedy, Anthony O’Toole and Caroline Hennessy; and previously, food writer Kate Ryan, chefs Darina Allen, Rory O’Connell, Conor Spacey, and Neven Maguire, and John and Sally McKenna of McKenna’s Guides.
For 2026, Graham Herterich has been honoured as Producers’ Champion for his dedication to everything Irish, independent and sustainable. This is a special milestone as Herterich is the first actual food producer from within the Blas community to hold the title.
He is an award-winning baker, chef and author of two cookbooks: Bake and Cook. He and his husband Daithí own and run their business, which comprises of a bakery, The Bakery shop in Rialto, Dublin 8, a local beacon for freshly baked goods, artisanal Irish produce and baking miscellany, and Ernie’s @ Shackleton Experience, Athy, a gorgeous cafe located in the museum.
Years of visible advocacy is one of the main reasons Herterich was honoured as this year’s Producers’ Champion, from stocking suppliers in his cafe and bakery to his “A-Z of Irish producers” on social media. He is also a massive fan of collaborations and is constantly finding creative, and delicious, ways to work with other producers for his bakes and menus.
“I’m genuinely overwhelmed,” he says. “This award belongs as much to the producers I talk about every week as it does to me. If anything, it shows how hungry people are for stories about where their food comes from and who makes it.
“I was told there’d been loads of people that had suggested me this year and I came out on top. I couldn’t believe it.”
His reasoning to support other Irish businesses is so practical. “Why wouldn’t I support an Irish producer when I am an Irish producer? Who will support me except me? It’s kind of a circular economy thing really.” Asked which new producers to keep an eye out for, Herterich suggests Lushmallows luxury marshmallows by Arlene Hopkins. “She’s amazing. Her flavours are so punchy. Her packaging is gorgeous. I think her timing is spot on for the market and it’s a really good-quality product.”
