The finalists for Blas na hÉireann, The Irish Food Awards, 2024 have been announced with eight hopefuls from Kilkenny destined for Kerry in October.
Dingle once again plays host to the awards, a three-day event running 3-5 October, with the very best in food and drink producers from across the 32 counties descending on the seaside town in the hope of taking home a gold award. Now in its 17th year, Blas na hÉireann saw another record-breaking year for entries across all categories along with many new producers entering the awards for the first time.
The eight finalists shortlisted from Kilkenny across a range of different categories are
- Arán Bakery & Bistro (Barrack St.)
- Callan Bacon (Callan)
- Eurospar Kilkenny (Newpark)
- Goatsbridge Trout (Goatsbridge, Thomastown)
- Lekker Food Collection (Thomastown)
- Outdoors Herbalist (Ex-Ormonde St., now online)
- TCF Foods t/a Lisduggan Farm Foods (Ferrybank)
- Tirlán (Kilkenny)
This year’s Blas na hÉireann awards in Dingle will see the return of Eat Ireland in a Day market and the Blas Village where the 2024 finalists will get the opportunity to showcase their products, engage with customers and meet key industry buyers.
This year’s focus will be on sustainability with a commitment to encourage zero-waste throughout the three days of the awards in line with the Dingle Food Festival ethos. One new element at Blas will be removing any single-use cups and introducing the first electric van delivering food and drink to the awards from across the country.
With over 3,000 products entered in this year’s Blas na hÉireann, making it as a finalist is a huge achievement and one to be very proud of. Some of those on the Kilkenny side of things have been there before (Arán were also Supreme Champion in 2022 on the sourdough front), for others it is a first time out, but getting there is the important thing and can be a huge boost when it comes to retail offerings.
The competition ramps up yearly, meaning those producers who are shortlisted as finalists really are the crème de la crème of Irish food and drink. For finalist producers, it is not just their exceptional food and drink which will be celebrated in Dingle but the people themselves, the passionate producers who make the very best of Irish will be recognised and rewarded making Blas na hÉireann 2024 a food event not to be missed.
This year’s judging took place between June and July, with the winners announced on 4 October. For more, check out irishfoodawards.com.
