The Burren Smokehouse in Lisdoonvarna has come out on top at the prestigious Good Food Ireland Awards 2024.
The Awards celebrate businesses at every layer of Ireland’s food and drink industry. From primary producers, manufacturers, and chefs, to shops, hotels, tourism experiences, and restaurants, those businesses who made the shortlist and went onto become winners are regarded by the judges as embodying all that makes Ireland’s food and drink offering so standout.
More than 300 attendees including Irish and international chefs, buyers, food and drink writers, media and industry leaders enjoyed a five course gala dinner designed by The K Club’s Executive Chef Gary O’Hanlon inspired by our island’s landscape and seascape showcasing the freshest of ingredients from Irish suppliers.
Burren Smokehouse was declared the winner of the newly introduced Food Tourism Experience Award sponsored by Tourism Ireland which recognises food and drink producers, hospitality providers, cooking schools, food attractions, farm gate experiences, trails or other food tourism experiences featuring local, Irish produce as the core component of their experience.
Winners were selected through mystery inspections and assessments of those businesses approved by Good Food Ireland® and shortlisted by an independent panel of Irish and international leaders including Founder and Managing Director of Good Food Ireland® Margaret Jeffares, former Good Food Ireland® Operations Director Susan Kerr, journalist John Wilson, hospitality consultant Tom O’Connell, lecturer in the School of Hospitality Management & Tourism at TU Dublin Dr Detta Melia, Executive Chairman and Owner of Odyssey International Kevin Shannon, and previous chef and hotelier Maurice Keller.
Margaret Jeffares, Founder and Managing Director of Good Food Ireland® said: “To say that deciding on the winners from our magnificent shortlist of businesses from across the island of Ireland has been tough this year would be a huge understatement. We’ve seen a notable rise in confidence in the tourism and hospitality industry to prioritise Irish ingredients due to customers being far more vocal about wanting to see Irish produce on the menu.
Awareness around sustainability has increased across the board and utilising local food and drink is a fundamental way to assist sustainable goals as well as helping hotels and restaurants provide their clientele with true taste of their region. All these factors combined have given Irish farmers, fishermen and food and drink producers a renewed sense of purpose and desire to innovate.
“So many of our winners this year are second or third generation family-run businesses who make up the very foundation of what’s so special about Ireland’s food and drink. It is important to utilise our island’s own businesses and resources wherever possible, as well as keeping every layer of our food and drink industry exciting and dynamic in order to bring the next generation to the table. We’d like to congratulate every single one of this year’s worthy winners and thank them for their incredible service in promoting Ireland’s wonderful food and drink scene.”
FBD Insurance is the official partner of this year’s awards which are also proudly sponsored by: Tourism Ireland, Bord Bia, AIB, National Dairy Council, BIM, Roe & Co, Boursot Wines, and Waterford, along with The K Club, Co. Kildare as Host Partner .
See the full list of winners below. For more details about the awards and general information about Good Food Ireland® visit goodfoodireland.ie
