51 Cork food producers shortlisted for Blas na hÉireann awards
Rob Horgan pictured with member of his team Suzanne Casey at Velo Coffee Roasters preparing to send their first international bulk export to a premium retail food chain in Malaysia. Picture: Clare Keogh.
The finalists of this year’s Blas na hÉireann awards have been announced with 51 producers from Cork shortlisted ahead of the final in October.
The awards weekend is set to take place virtually again this year on October 2 and will reward the very best food producers in Ireland.
Producers will be awarded not just in their category but will also be recognised locally with the Best in County award supported by LEO Cork.
Now in their 14th year, the team at Blas na hÉireann have worked harder than ever to make sure the awards went ahead, moving the blind-tasting judging system from the University College Cork (UCC) campus to Dingle to work within Government guidelines and the constraints of social distancing.
A total of 51 producers from Cork are anticipating the final awards, including Velo Coffee Roasters, West Cork Distillers, Clonakilty Food Company, Durrus Cheese, Fitzgerald Butchers, Hanna’s market café, Kinsale Mead Co., On The Pigs Back, Rebel Chilli, Tom Durcan, Happy Days Artisan Ice Cream and Trace Of Cakes, to name a few.
Chairperson of Blas na hÉireann Artie Clifford said that he and the team are “delighted” to announce the finalists for 2021 and “chuffed to see so many new products being entered into Blas na hÉireann this year”.
“Last year was new territory for us but the team here did tremendous work to make sure the awards went ahead and the sense of community that we experienced over the virtual awards event was just brilliant.” says Chairperson, Artie Clifford.
“We saw a large increase in entries this year and these new producers have really raised the bar across all categories and will allow us to introduce new producers to the buyers and press whom we work with which is really exciting,” he said.
The awards will be announced over the course of the day on October 2 on the Blas na hÉireann website www.irishfooodawards.com and across social media channels with the team and wider Blas community gathering virtually to make sure #Blas2021 trends all day.
The Blas team are also working on a lineup of online presentations and workshops as part of The Blas Backyard which is supported by Bank of Ireland and Taste4Success.
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