Eye on AgriFood Farms here rarely receive the recognition they deserve for their longstanding commitment to smart ideas for industries ranging from food processing to engineering, recycling and hospitality. Sam Butler looks at three recent farm-based innovations in food.
Smart Business Ideas Flourishing On Local Farms
Dean Wright of Ballylisk Cheese
Ballylisk Dairy Ballylisk Dairy in Portadown recently secured its first business outside Northern Ireland for its unique and highly rated Triple Rose cheese, a soft Brie. The farm-based dairy business, which is run by farming brothers Dean and Mark Wright in Co Armagh, has begun supplying its triple cream cheese to Heritage Cheese In London’s iconic Borough Market, which the Northern Ireland company sees as a significant breakthrough in Britain, a target market. In addition, Ballylisk, which sources fresh milk from its own grass-fed herd, has won business in Portugal from a top hotel group and has a serious inquiry from a high-profile business in Switzerland. Selling its Brie style
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cheese to the Swiss would be quite an achievement for the recently launched business. Ballylisk has won widespread acclaim, including from top food critics, for its cheese and is helping to raise the profile of Northern Ireland in the creation of innovative cheeses. Ballylisk’s Dean Wright says the company is delighted to have won business abroad just a few months after the launch of the new cheese. “It’s a tremendous development for us and a great endorsement of the outstanding taste and premium quality of our cheese,” he adds. “We met Heritage Cheese during a Food NI food and drink promotion over St Patrick’s week at the market. They loved the cheese and kept in contact with us. We’ve now supplied Heritage with a significant quantity of our cheese.
“Feedback from Enrico Messora and his team at Heritage has been extremely positive and encouraging. And we appreciate the support from such a respected and discerning cheese retailer.” Uniquely, Ballylisk only processes milk produced on the family dairy farm from its award-winning herd. Ballylisk has total control over its entire operation, from ‘farm to fork’. Triple Rose is the company’s first, bespoke offering and is a triple cream cheese. This rich, decadent cheese is made from pasteurised cow’s milk with added cream. It has a white mould with its full-flavour balanced by salty, lemony notes. Further cheeses are in development. These include a semi-soft blue and a high end Brie.
Planting for a healthier future William and Leanne Donnan of Flavour First have turned their family farm, near Donaghadee in Co Down, into a leading producer of an innovative range of ready to cook meal boxes using vegetables they grow.
The new meal kits draw on the company’s successful experience in developing popular vegetable boxes with fresh, seasonal ingredients from the 16-acre farm. They founded Flavour First in 2007 to develop delivered fresh to the door veggie boxes. The enterprising couple now grow a wide range of seasonal vegetables on the 16-acre farm. They also produce seasonal fruits, especially strawberries, and provide free-range eggs from their own hens. “What the new ready to cook range does is to add further value to our successful veggie boxes delivered to customers in the greater Belfast area as well as to many parts of county Down,” says Leanne. “The new boxes contain the fresh ingredients required to prepare tasty, home-cooked vegetarian meals,” she adds. The ready to cook meal kits use ingredients from the family’s farm and are: Rainbow Chilli with Rice, North Indian Vegetable Curry, Vegetable Paella, One Pot Italian Pasta, and Asian Style Cauliflower Rice.
