Blas na hÉireann 2019 winners announced, with 46 producers winning from County Cork

Blas na hÉireann 2019 winners announced, with 46 producers winning from County Cork

Winner Caroline Murphy of West Cork Eggs receives her award from John Sheehy (left) of Blas
and David Henderson

Blas na hÉireann, the Irish food awards, announced this year’s winners, with 46 producers winning from Cork, announced at the 2019 finals which have just concluded in Dingle.

Now in their 12th year, the Blas na hÉireann awards are the all-island food awards that recognise the very best Irish food and drink products, and the passionate people behind them.

The bronze, silver and gold winners from Cork across a range of different categories are 9 White Deer Brewery Ltd., Bainne Codladh Ltd., Bandon Vale Cheese Limited, Bluebell Falls, Bó Rua Farm, Caherbeg Free Range Pork Ltd., Centra - Inspired by Centra made in store salads, Clonakilty Food Company, Cooke's At The Gallery, Elbow Lane Brewhouse Ltd., Fitzgeralds Butchers, Follain, Gloun Cross Diaries, Good Food Processing Ltd., Gourmet Pantry Kinsale, Happy Days Artisan Ice Cream, Henry Denny & Sons (IRE) Ltd., Hodgins Sausages, Irish Yogurts Clonakilty, Keohane Seafoods, Kepak Cork, Kinsale Mead Co., Longueville House Beverages, Maggie's Homemade Jam, MamaBear Foods Ltd., Mellas Fudge, Nohoval Drinks Company, Ó Crualaoi Feoil Teo, O'Leary Family Butchers, On The Pig's Back - La Charcuterie Irlandaise Ltd., Praline Pastry Shop, Quish's Kitchen, Saturday Pizzas, Serendipity Smokehouse, Shannonvale, Skeaghanore  Duck, Spice O' Life Ltd., St. Patricks, Distillery Ltd., The Fresh Fish Deli, Tom Durcan Meats Ltd., Uflourish Foods, Union Hall Smoked Fish, Velo Coffee Roasters, West Cork Distillers, West Cork Eggs Ltd. and West Cork Garlic. With Follain winning Best in Cork and On The Pig's Back - La Charcuterie Irlandaise Ltd. winning Best in Farmer’s Market for Cork.

The biggest blind tasting of produce in the country, the criteria on which the product is judged as well as the judging system itself, which was developed by Blas na hÉireann with the Food Science Dept of UCC and the University of Copenhagen, is now recognised as an industry gold standard worldwide.

Products entered are blind-tasted, meaning that all packaging and identifying features are removed from products before being presented for judging, creating a level playing field for products from both large and small producers. Judges come from a range of food backgrounds from chefs to restaurateurs, academics, journalists, authors, food champions, caterers and enthusiastic home cooks.

The founding mission of Blas – establishing quality benchmarks for Irish produce on a level playing field – is strictly adhered to and measurably applied.

Speaking after the announcement Artie Clifford, Chairperson and founder of Blas na hÉireann said, “Blas na Éireann 2019 has been another exceptional year showcasing the talents and hard work of some of this country’s most innovative, forward-thinking and disciplined food entrepreneurs. This is our 12th year of the Blas na hÉireann awards, and our aim continues to be to assist Irish producers to tell their stories by marking them out as special, and worth exploring. Winning a Blas award has been shown to work for our previous winners in bringing them to the attention of food-lovers both at home and abroad and we are looking forward to yet another exceptional year for our worthy winners of Blas na hÉireann 2019.”

 Press release