Organic News
Kelly family scoop major award
Moonshine organic dairies non-homogenised milk recently picked up the best overall product prize at the 2009 Bord Bia National Organic Awards. Mary and Gerry Kelly’s organic milk faced stiff competition from a total of 140 products, but won both the best local and the best overall product award. The milk retails at €1.50 a litre, and €2.39 for two, and is available in and around Westmeath, at their farm shop and also in the Dublin Food Co-op. The Kelly’s IOFGA certified farm in Westmeath started converting to organic on 1st January 2000, and has gone from strength to strength ever since. At present, the entire family is employed in the Moonshine farming and food business, which produces an Emmental cheese, fresh cheeses, yogurts and yogurt drinks.
This year's awards saw something of a ‘back to basics’ emphasis, with four of the top six awards going to food make by farmers on their own farms. Along with the Moonshine awards, St. Tola’s organic Goat's Cheese Log won best export product, while Drumeen farm’s Happy Heart Oil is grown, pressed and bottled on the Colchester’s Kilkenny farm.
The other two category winners were Glenisk’s organic Greek Style natural yogurt for best retail product, and Sowan’s Organic Gluten Free Real Wholegrain bread mix for best new product.
Meat products also scored well, with the Good Herdsman’s Organic Steakhouse and Joe Condon’s Omega Beef Direct steak burgers receiving highly commended awards, in the new and sustainable categories respectively.
The other highly commended awards went to Ummera Irish Smoked Organic Salmon (retail), Organic Choice Dark Choc Almond cake (local), Flahavan’s Organic Jumbo Oats (export).
The judging panel consisted of Hugo Arnold (journalist and food consultant), Evan Doyle (Brooklodge Hotel), Ann O'Neill (Musgraves), Darren Grant (The Organic Supermarket) and myself.
Taste, branding and value for money were the main overall criteria, while the categories also had their own specific aspects.
The entire judging panel was impressed with the taste and value for money aspects of the winning and highly commended products, which were considered to be high quality foods at reasonable prices.
However, one area in which the majority of products, including some of the winners and highly commended, fell down was branding. In straightforward terms, many of the products were far better than their branding boasted.
However, it is surely heartwarming that the foods that did well were simple, affordable foods, mostly for the kitchen, quite connected to the farm, rather than value-added convenience foods. This probably reflects the general attitude to food in this post-celtic tiger nation quite well.
Well known organic goat’s cheese makers, Inagh Farmhouse, have launched two new products in the St. Tola range. Named ‘Divine’ and...
