Finalists Announced For 2019 Irish Food & Drink Business Awards
The finalists have been announced for the 2019 Irish Food & Drink Business Awards. The prestigious awards programme, which was first introduced last year, is the first of its kind on the island of Ireland in celebrating and promoting the best of the Irish food and drink manufacturing industry and the people behind the products.
The Awards recognise innovation and excellence across the entire food and drink industry on the island of Ireland.
The winners of the 2019 Irish Food & Drink Business Awards will be named at special ceremony and gala dinner at the Citywest Hotel & Convention Centre in Dublin on the evening of Thursday, 5 September 2019.
18 Categories
The Awards cover 18 categories across the full spectrum of the Irish food and drink industry. This encompasses the major sectors – ingredients, fresh produce, dairy, meat/poultry, seafood, beverages, bakery, confectionery and spirits. The Awards also recognise achievements within specific product categories – free from/vegan, health & wellness and own label brand. Other Award categories include: Food & Drink Innovation Company of the Year, Food Service Company of the Year, Sustainable Company of the Year, Supply Chain Company of the Year and Packaging Company of the Year.
The SME Food & Drink Company of the Year Award category reflects the vital importance of this sector within the Irish food and drink industry. Over 90% of the more than 1,000 food producing companies in Ireland are classified as SMEs. Indeed, SME food and drink companies have a greater regional spread than any other manufacturing sector.
The finalists in each of the 18 categories are listed below.
Sylvia McCarthy, Director of the Food & Drink Business Awards, comments: “Innovation and industry excellence are crucial to driving growth and offering consumer value within the food and drink sector in Ireland. These awards are unique in that they recognise the key industry players who are working hard at driving food production and manufacturing. The Food & Drink Business Awards recognise the most talented producers in the industry in Ireland.”
She adds: “We are delighted with the quality of entries this year of the Awards and we look forward to building on its success in years to come.”
Overall Winner
The overall winner – the Gran Prix Company of the Year – will be selected from the winners of each category. Dairygold won the Dairy Manufacturing Company of the Year category within the 2018 Irish Food & Drink Business Awards, and also scooped the overall prize, taking the Food & Drink Company of the Year title.
The Awards allow entrants to promote their businesses before the biggest names in the Irish food and drink manufacturing, grocery and food service sectors, while raising their profile and receiving industry-wide recognition. Participation in the awards scheme provides an opportunity to showcase a company’s products and services to a wider audience, including potential buyers and investors, and also to gain publicity from media coverage.
The Awards have also been introduced to highlight and encourage new talent and innovation in the food and drink industry and to promote this in both domestic and international markets. Furthermore, the Awards presentation dinner provides an excellent opportunity for networking with other finalists and winners.
The Irish Food & Drink Business Awards were established by Premier Publishing & Events, the Dublin-based international conference and exhibition organiser and the publisher of Food & Drink Business Europe magazine and the www.fdbusiness.com industry news portal.
2019 National Food & Drink Business Conference and Exhibition
The awards presentation dinner will follow this year’s National Food & Drink Business Conference and Exhibition, Ireland’s premier trade event for the food and drink processing and retailing sectors, which is also being held on 5 September 2019 at the Citywest Hotel & Convention Centre in Dublin.
2019 Food & Drink Business Awards Finalists
BAKERY/ CONFECTIONERY COMPANY OF THE YEAR
Bretzel Trading Company Ltd
Foods of Athenry
Lily O’Brien’s
Offbeat Donuts
Thunders Bakery Ltd
BEVERAGE COMPANY OF THE YEAR
Allied Retail Solutions
Java Republic
Kinnegar Brewing
RTM Beverages Ltd
Silk Tree Botanics
CRAFT BEER/CIDER COMPANY OF THE YEAR
Dead Centre Brewing
Dundalk Bay Brewery and Distillery
Kinnegar Brewing
Poterhouse Brewing Company
Rye River Brewing Company
DAIRY MANUFACTURING COMPANY OF THE YEAR
Gino’s Gelato
Glenisk
Kerrygold Butter Packing Ltd
Natural Milk Company
North Cork Creameries
FOOD & DRINK INNOVATION COMPANY OF THE YEAR
Alltech Beverage Division Ireland
Copper Castle Foods Ltd
Freshways Food Co
Nobó
RTM Beverages Ltd.
FREE FROM/VEGAN PRODUCT OF THE YEAR
Applegreen
Birds Eye Pizza
Freshways Food Co
KBH Nutrition
The Gluten Free Kitchen Company
FRESH PRODUCE COMPANY OF THE YEAR
Allfresh Wholesale Ltd.
Clarkes Fresh Fruit
Delicious Food Company
`Hapi Food Co Ltd
Kilbride Classic Cuisine
FOOD SERVICE COMPANY OF THE YEAR
Blanco Niño
Freshly Chopped
Freshways Food Co
Kilbride Classic Cuisine
Sweet Cicely Ltd
HEALTH & WELLNESS PRODUCT OF THE YEAR
Everest
Freshly Chopped
Glenisk
Ice Cream Treats
KO Kombucha
Proiseail (An Clochan Liath) Teoranta T/A Irish Fish Canners Ltd
Sadie’s Kitchen Ltd
The Irish Biltong Company Ltd
INGREDIENT SUPPLIER OF THE YEAR
NCC Food Ingredients
Oriel Sea Salt Company
Rebel Chilli
MEAT/POULTRY COMPANY OF THE YEAR
Dawn Meats
Foyle Food Group
Hilton Foods Ireland
Manor Farm
Waldron Family
OWN LABEL BRAND OF THE YEAR
Dunnes Stores Simply Better
Funky Monkey Foods
Aldi Ireland
Mama Nagi’s
TS Foods
PACKAGING COMPANY OF THE YEAR
Down2Earth
NevPak
SEAFOOD COMPANY OF THE YEAR
Keohane Seafoods
Nicholas Lynch Ltd
Proiseail (An Clochan Liath) Teoranta T/A Irish Fish Canners Ltd
SME COMPANY OF THE YEAR
Blanco Niño
Gino’s Gelato
Hogan’s Farm (Hogans Turkeys Ltd)
Ice Cream Treats
Kilbride Classic Cuisine
Miena’s Handmade nougat
Smokin Butcher
Velo Coffee Roasters
SPIRIT COMPANY OF THE YEAR
Ballyvolane House Spirits Company Limited
Dingle Whiskey Distillery
Galway Gin Company
Great Northern Distillery Limited
SUPPLY CHAIN COMPANY OF THE YEAR
Foods Connected
Versatile Packaging
SUSTAINABLE COMPANY OF THE YEAR
ABP Food Group
Coca Cola HBC Ireland & Northern Ireland
Java Republic
Manor Farm
