2020 Award Winners NATURAL FOOD AWARD 2020

NATURAL FOOD AWARD 2020

POULTRY Carlow Free Range Fenagh Co Carlow

One of the few Irish poultry businesses to own and manage the entire supply chain process from rearing birds in a stress free environment through to the processing, packaging and delivery, the highly regarded company Carlow Free Range started production in 1993 - and it’s been a force to be reckoned with since 2004, when Bertram and Celine Salter married. Now a byword for quality, they’re true to their philosophy that ‘Free range tastes better’ and have an EU Licensed slaughterhouse on site. They’re sold in leading retailers such as Ardkeen Quality Food Store and some of the butchers who took the first deliveries in 1993 are still proudly selling the product today.

FISH Goatsbridge Trout Farm Thomastown Co Kilkenny

Previous generations of Margaret and Gerard Kirwan's family business took over where the Cistercian monks of Jerpoint Abbey left off in this area, ensuring there's trout aplenty in the Arrigle River in the Nore valley. While fundamentally steeped in tradition, they are constantly innovating; new products are regularly introduced and they welcome visitors to see their eco-friendly working environment and to try their Premium Fresh and Smoked Trout - and also their delicious Irish Trout Caviar, which is a first for Ireland.

VEGETABLES Drummond House Garlic & Asparagus Baltray Co Louth

Having inherited a Co Louth farm from his uncle, architect Peter Collier and his wife Marita decided to specialise - and it is now 'The Home of Irish Garlic'. This enterprising couple produce a number of garlic varieties - and Elephant Garlic (a member of the leek family, not a true garlic), Green Garlic (the young plant of any of the garlic varieties), and delicious crunchy Garlic Scapes (stalks, which are a by-product). Distributed by Redmond Fine Foods, the superb Drummond House produce (including, since 2014, asparagus) is also sold in local shops and at the farm.

DAIRY Cashel Farmhouse Cheesemakers Fethard Co Tipperary

Veterans of farmhouse cheese production, Jane and Louis Grubb and family have been making cheese on their Tipperary farm since 1984, with daughter Sarah and her husband Sergio Furno now closely involved in the business, Cashel Irish Farmhouse Cheesemakers. The internationally renowned Cashel Blue is still made by hand on the same 200 acre farm, using their own milk and supplies from selected nearby farms. They also make Cashel Blue Organic, Crozier Blue (Ireland’s only sheep’s milk blue) and the newer Shepherd’s Store (a hard sheep’s milk cheese) and offer an on-farm Visitor Experience.

DRINKS Longueville House Beverages - Mallow Co Cork

Established by the late Michael O’Callaghan, who planted orchards (and vines!) in the 1980s, and now made very successfully by his son William, the single estate Longueville House Beverages are made using sustainable traditional processes (crushing, pressing, fermentation, filtration), and the ciders are lightly carbonated and pasteurised. Longueville House Irish Apple Brandy is distilled annually and the newest product, Longueville Mór Cider, is fermented and aged in Longueville Apple Brandy casks; it is the only cider made this way in Ireland, producing a truly delicious and unique cider which has received well-deserved acclaim.