Fermoy beef takes the top prize in competition judged by food writers

It's a regular lament: "Beef isn't what it used to be". And it's often followed by the question: "Where do I get a decent hunk of old-fashioned beef?"

To which members of the Irish Food Writers' Guild reply: "Well, if you live in Munster, particularly within shouting distance of Dungarvan or Fermoy, chances are you can get it in a local Centra, Mace or Supervalu store, thanks to the Barry brothers."

Carrigmore Meats, owned by the Barry brothers of Conna, Fermoy, Co Cork, yesterday received the guild's Supreme Award for 1999.

The Barrys' story is one of keeping the concept local, yet upgrading the business to counter the ever-increasing weight of regulation which has forced many small butchers out of business.

Michael Barry, who left school at 15 to become a butcher's apprentice on £2.50 a week, said success was about "having a good relationship with farmers, having the same suppliers year after year, and looking after cattle well from the moment they are born to the point of slaughter".

Michael and his brothers, John and Dave, opened a small butcher outlet in Conna, outside Fermoy, in 1977. They now employ 30 people, have their own farm, a modern abattoir and a factory supplying beef to the home market.

The Barrys embraced traceability of their meat years before it became a buzzword of the Eurocrat and a compulsory part of food production. Success seems to also hinge on beef which comes from 18-month-old heifers reared by farmers known to them personally.

There is a compulsory rest period before killing, and the animals do not face the stress of being sent to a mart, which often culminates in same-day transfer to the abattoir. "You can tell it in the beef", Michael Barry said.

The "beef of superlative quality, taste and texture" won over the guild members, who cooked and sampled it before reaching their verdict. "Barry Brothers' commitment to good old-fashioned quality points the way forward for the home meat trade", said Ms Biddy White-Lennon, the guild's secretary.

A decade ago Irish consumers would have considered sheep's cheese "a weird foreign food". Today Cratloe Hills Mature Sheep's Cheese, produced in Co Clare, is found in gourmet cheese shops and in supermarkets and airports. It won the Award for Excellence.

A convenience food which was praised as "a genuine fresh-seafood product which takes just 10 minutes from fridge to plate" received the Highly Commended award. It was devised three years ago by Superquinn, Oceanpath fish suppliers of Howth and Aidan MacManus, of Dublin's King Sitric seafood restaurant. It comprises a portion of fresh fish landed in Howth and sauce (various flavours) from the nearby King Sitric. It is vacuum-packed without preservatives to give a product with a five-day shelf-life.

Among those presented with a Certificate of Nomination was the OffBeat Bottling Company, of Bangor, Co Down, which saw a gap in the market for jams with twist. Their gin and bitter lemon marmalade, reputed to be a painless hangover cure, is among dozens of different varieties on sale in Fortnum and Mason and other gourmet food outlets.

Ballygowan's marketing manager, Ms Karen Coyle, paid tribute to the success of the guild's awards over the past six years, saying they had provided an impetus for companies to set exacting standards in the preparation and presentation of their food products.