Top kitchens can serve up support for Irish food producers, claims Sargent

Success on a plate: Irish Food Writers' Guild award-winners:THE RESILIENCE of food producers will be tested now as never before in these difficult economic times, Minister of State for Food Trevor Sargent warned yesterday.

He said the kitchens of the best restaurants would play a key role in the survival of quality producers.

“We have an opportunity now to rediscover our strengths in good food,” he said. “It is, to me, in the kitchens of Ireland’s restaurants where creative thinking gives me the greatest hope.

“Our best restaurants give the best vital support to our farmers, growers and artisan producers. Our best restaurants are indeed putting the soul back into our food.”

Mr Sargent pointed out that the market for organic production had increased by 82 per cent in the past two years. “What other element of the economy can you point to that had an improvement of 82 per cent in that kind of time frame?”

He was speaking at the presentation of the 15th Irish Food Writers’ Guild food awards. Fruit, cheese and seafood companies took home the top awards.

Derryvilla Blueberry Farm in Co Offaly was recognised for its pesticide-free blueberries and blueberry tonic and preserves.

Farm owner John Seager said he was “totally amazed and delighted” to see such a small operation being honoured. The first blueberries were planted on the farm in 1965 and some of these plants still remain productive.

Mr Seager took over the farm with Teagasc colleagues more than 30 years ago and 15 years ago he retired from work to devote himself to the farm, which is managed by Nuala O’Donoghue.

The making of the blueberry tonic and preserves is outsourced to Con Traas’s Apple Farm in Clonmel and Slieve Bloom Foods.

Marine Harvest Ireland won an award for its Clare Island Organic Salmon which is used in leading restaurants and by fish smokers such as Kinvara, Belvelly Smokehouse and Ummera.

It is also available from speciality shops but could soon be available in supermarkets, following the introduction of a pre-packed product.

Eve-Anne McCarron of Marine Harvest Ireland said the economic downturn meant that producers had to be creative in getting their product to customers. Some 40 per cent of Clare Island salmon is now exported, with some destined for high-end delicatessens in the US.

Clare Island is one of the largest salmon farms in Ireland, harvesting up to 80 tonnes of organic salmon every week. The fish food is made from organic and GMO-free ingredients.

Meanwhile, the Carrigbyrne Farmhouse Cheese Company in Adamstown, Co Wexford, won an award for its St Killian Irish Farmhouse Cheese and also won the the guild’s inaugural environmental award.

Patrick and Juliet Berridge launched Carrigbyrne Cheese in 1982 and have won a host of awards. Mr Berridge said the business had “held its own” last year and he was optimistic that this year would be even better. “In a downturn people tend to eat at home more and they will look for high quality,” he said.

The cheese company won the environmental award for the large number of environmental projects it is involved in. It makes biogas from food and cheese waste and Mr Berridge has also set up a travelling eco-cabin to get children interested in renewable energy.

Maírín Uí Chomáin, chairwoman of the Irish Food Writers’ Guild, said the awards were about one thing – “true excellence”.

“At a time when many in the food industry are suffering from the major challenges presented by the economic downturn, it is more important now than ever before to recognise companies that are striving to deliver consistently wonderful produce,” she said.

Producers cannot enter the awards. They must be nominated by the Irish Food Writers’ Guild, which has more than 30 members.