Nourish EU Project Showcase

The focal point of this event was to highlight the key intellectual outputs achieved as part of the Nourish EU project. Canice Hamill from Canice Consulting Ltd, as one of the project partners talked through the highlights and achievements of the project which include

1. Nourish Toolkit
2. Regional Partnerships (x 4)
3. Food Industry Curriculum
4. Online Course
5. Pilot Test
6. Food Industry Work Placements

Overall this was a well-attended event. Attendees included key members of the ABC nourish eu Partnership in Northern Ireland who are pictured below. Over 106 attendees enjoyed the event of which 16 were from outside Northern Ireland.

Pictured left to right

• Ciaran Cunningham from Banbridge District Enterprises Ltd
• Conor McLoughlin from Marks and Spencer
• Cara Dallat from CIDO
• Simon Dougan from the Yellow Door
• Drew McIvor from Invest NI

Sarah Jane MacDonald –Armagh City, Banbridge & Craigavon Borough Council Discussed how the agri-food sector is a priority growth sector within the area. The borough has been branded the ‘Food Heartland’ of Northern Ireland due to the abundance of specialist artisan food & drink producers as well as household brands.  She talked about the help and assistance available to local producers to drive the local agri-food sector forward.

Drew McIvor – Invest NI Advised food SME’s about exporting both through distributors and directly to retail and how innovation should be market lead.

Conor McLoughlin – Marks and Spencer Spoke about M&S and the process they go through to source suppliers. He spoke on how local supply is vital in their Food Strategy and provided useful hints and tips on what buyers want.

Sheena O’Hanlon – Moy Park As a guest speaker she talked about the process Moy Park went through to bring a product to market. She specifically talked about how they went about producing their BBQ Grill range and how they went about becoming the local supplier to M&S for this range.

As part of this event, food companies where provided an opportunity to pitch their innovative food business idea/ product to a panel of industry expert judges, which included Conor McLoughlin from Marks and Spencer, Drew McIvor from Invest NI and Simon Dougan from the Yellow Door. The following 7 food business pitched their idea/ product.

1. Name: Louise McCreesh – Business name: Rocket Van. Business idea/ product for pitching: Gourmet Food Van

2. Name: Nandi Jola – Business name: Nandijproject. Business idea/ product for pitching: Poetry Supper

3. Name: Liam McEvoy – Business Cajun Lean Supper Club. Business Idea/ product for pitching: Low calorie Meal Plans

4. Name: Ciaran Devine –Business name: Devine Health – Established: Jan 2013. Business idea/ product for pitching|: Wheatgrass product

5. Name Fiona Lee – Business name: Fix It Food Ltd. Business idea/ product for pitching: ecommerce platform that allows Artisan Food Producers to sell directly to customers through the website

6. Name: Rory Chapman – Business name: The Red Bus Company. Business idea/ product for pitching: Woodfired oven and smoker for the private catering industry using local meat.

7. Name: Jonjo Power – Business name: PubsPriceChecker. Business idea/ product for pitching: Marketing Tool for the Food Industry

After much deliberation, the judges decided the winner of the innovation pitch was Liam McEvoy from the Cajun Lean Supper Club. His business was established earlier this year offering low calorie meal plans to the public. He demonstrated his product range and his plans on how to further develop his business. He showed the most potential and received the £500 prize to assist him further with this business   The Panel of judges of the Innovation Pitch along with Cara Dallat from CIDO and Ciaran Cunningham from BDEL Pictured left to right

• Cara Dallat from CIDO
• Liam McEvoy from the Cajun Lean Supper Club (Winner of the Innovation Pitch)
• Kirsty Watson from CIDO

CIDO presenting Liam McEvoy the winner of the innovation pitch with £500 cheque to assist him with his food business