Cork honey producer in running for prestigious Great Taste's Golden Fork
Andrew and John Shinnick of Blackwater Honey will attend the Great Taste Golden Forks ceremony in London on September 9, where their Blossom Honey is one of three contenders for the Golden Fork from Ireland award, and is one of 33 products contending for the overall Great Taste 2025 championship.
It's a huge achievement to be shortlisted from 14,340 Great Taste entries, from more than 3,611 companies across 110 countries.
Also contending from Ireland are Goatsbridge Fresh Water Trout Farm, Thomastown, Co Kilkenny, with its Hot Smoked Rainbow Trout Fillets; and Green Pastures, Donegal, with its 25% Sour Cream.
After four months of meticulous Great Taste judging, they are through to the 'Oscars of the food world' at London's Battersea Arts Centre on September 9.
Alongside them will be Northern Ireland's Basalt Distillery, Giant's Causeway, with its Basalt Volcanic Rock Gin; and Get 'Er Brewed, Randalstown, arguably the most successful of all because two of its products are shortlisted, the Razma Barrel Aged Keptinis Beer, and the Untamed Barrel Aged Wild Ale.
All three are vying for the Golden Fork from Northern Ireland, and the overall championship.
In the midst of this celebration of the very best in food and drink from around the world will be the Shinnick brothers, who describe themselves as a mainly hobbyist, bee farming business.
Andrew and John are from a third-generation beekeeping family producing 100% natural Irish honey made by their native Irish honeybees.
They have several apiaries, and each one produces its own distinctive honey flavour, taste, colour, and aroma.
Their honey has won several awards nationally and internationally. Blossom Honey already has one-star Guild of Fine Food Great Taste Awards, but has now made it to the coveted three-star status. Also, this year, their Heather Honey is a two-star Great Taste winner. Their Section Honeycomb has also been a one-star winner.
The Shinnicks are huge supporters of biodiversity, for example, supporting and endorsing the All-Ireland Pollination Plan, by routinely giving away wildflower seeds with honey gift packages.
Blackwater Honey is keen to raise awareness that Ireland has been identified as one of the largest gene pools of the European dark honeybee, the family to which the native Irish black honeybee belongs. Once found all over the continent, it is now found in only a very small number of isolated areas.
Andrew is an army officer with the Irish Defence Forces. In 2020, he set up Blackwater Honey with John, his younger brother, who is a dairy farmer.
One of the places you can get their honey is Hanna's Market & Café, Fermoy.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Irish Independent
2 hours ago
- Irish Independent
My favourite room: ‘Growing up gay in rural Ireland and being bullied is what I figured is at the root of my alcoholism' – inside Noel Cunningham's renovated childhood home
Broadcaster, hotelier and author Noel Cunningham spent many years living in luxury in plush hotels here and abroad, however he's delighted to make his base the house in Donegal where he grew up with his five siblings, now furnished in a riot of joyful colour Today at 00:30 Half doors used to be a common sight in the Irish countryside, and while they were designed for ventilation, an open half door also meant the occupants were at home and welcoming. So, it seems fitting that Noel Cunningham put a half door on his family cottage when he took it over nine years ago. Noel, the second most famous hotelier in Ireland after Francis Brennan, has spent his life welcoming people in his professional capacity as a hotel manager. He's worked in hospitality since his teens and he's spent many years with Jurys Doyle Hotels (now The Doyle Collection), Trust House Forte in England, then with Harvey's Point in Donegal. He retired some years ago but because he has such an engaging personality, colourful way of dressing and eloquent turn of phrase, he's been in demand ever since for TV, radio and charitable activities.
Agriland
3 hours ago
- Agriland
Video: Irish beef cattle producing key ingredient for new skincare range
While Irish beef cattle are known worldwide for their high quality and green image, their role in producing skincare products may be less well known. Agriland recently paid a visit to a new start-up company based in Enniscorthy, Co. Wexford that uses a product derived from Irish beef cattle as the key ingredient in their new skincare range. Mihael Sanko is the founder of Ancestral Cosmetics, a new premium skincare range using beef tallow as the key ingredient. He explained to Agriland what the brand is and how it came about. Mihael said: "Ancestral Cosmetics is a natural brand making cosmetics from beef fat here in Ireland. "We use the pure Irish beef fat that we process here in-house to make products like face cream, body creams, deodorants, and other skincare products." Mihael said that the business venture started in 2023 in the kitchen of their house with the help of his wife and four kids. "We started just making products for our family and then we saw this as an opportunity," the Ancestral Cosmetics founder said. "I think the big step for us was when we discovered beef tallow - or beef fat - as an ingredient that you can actually use in face creams." "Tallow is very compatible with human skin, and it's been used in skincare for thousands of years. "We said 'Ireland has the best beef, Ireland has one of the highest-quality beef fats in the world, and beef and meat in general' so we asked ourselves, 'Why is no one doing the skincare from this high-quality beef tallow?' "So we decided to start with that and one thing led to another." He said that the business idea "started to turn from a kind of a side hustle, more into a business". With just two people working in the business at the start, the huge level of interest in the market has seen their workforce now grow to over 20 staff. "So we started making more and more, as much as we could in the house, but eventually we overgrew the kitchen, and we had to get a proper facility," Mihael added. In 2024, Ancestral Cosmetics started employing people and created a company, which is how the business has got to where it is today. Mihael said: "Tallow is very similar to human skin, which makes it very compatible as a skincare ingredient. "100 years ago, most of the soaps and creams would have been made from tallow, and in the last 50 years or so, it kind of went away to more plant-based ingredients and plant-based products. "But right now, tallow is becoming more and more popular because people are interested in what older generations of people used." All products produced by Ancestral Cosmetics are hand-made. The process begins with beef fat sourced from beef cattle produced on local farms. Mihael explained: "Essentially, what comes in is raw fat which we then process. We do it in a way that we remove all the impurities from the fat. We melt the fat here and we create tallow and then the tallow is our main ingredient. "We combine it with products like beeswax, Irish honey, olive oil, and other ingredients to create different types of products. We create everything here in house. "Everything is handmade and every step of the process is completed by hand. We still try to make it the same way I did in our kitchen back in 2023 - just at a bigger scale." Mihael believes that the beef tallow sourced from Irish cattle is unique because of the predominantly grass-fed diet of Irish cattle. He said: "The fat stores nutrients but it can store toxins as well, so the diet of the cow is very important. Grass-fed cows are much higher quality - as they are for meat and for consuming - the same thing goes for the fat. "That's why I think Irish beef fat is amongst the top in the world when it comes to quality, and that's why we are delighted to be in Ireland and to be able to make the product here."
The Irish Sun
4 hours ago
- The Irish Sun
Ireland's govt hit with €46k rent hike as taxpayer forced to foot €508k ambassador bill after ‘unsuccessful' negotiation
The Dept is also looking to buy a residence outright ON THE UP ON THE UP Ireland's govt hit with €46k rent hike as taxpayer forced to foot €508k ambassador bill after 'unsuccessful' negotiation ANNUAL rent for the Irish Ambassador's residence in London was increased by more than €46,000. And the Department of Foreign Affairs said it had little choice but to agree to the hike — even though it brought the cost of the pad close to €10,000 per week. The new lease of €508,925 per annum — a rise of ten per cent — was agreed in September 2022 because no better options were available, according to records released under FOI. The Irish Ambassador to the UK, formerly Adrian O'Neill and now Martin Fraser, had been living in the property since September 2019. And in late 2022, when the Dept of Foreign Affairs sought to extend the lease, the landlord said they wanted a 'substantial increase' in rent of over 11 per cent. Officials tried to negotiate but 'after several months, the landlord indicated that they would not accept any offer below £8,400 (€9,787) per week'. A spokesperson said: 'It was clear that a move would have no added benefit and would incur an additional cost to the Irish Exchequer. 'Accordingly, the Department decided to renew the lease to September 2026.' The Dept is also looking to buy a residence outright. Last year, sky-high lease costs included payments of €485,000 for Ireland's official residence in Tokyo. We also fork out €291,000 for an apartment in New York, and €204,000 for a pad in San Francisco. The rental bill in Tel Aviv, Israel, was almost €200,000, around €176,000 in Boston, and €135,000 in the South Korean capital Seoul. The Department also ran up 15 separate hotel and accommodation bills in excess of €5,000 last year, according to FoI figures. This included a spend of €30,480 at the five-star Intercontinental Hotel in Dublin 4 to host a delegation during the state visit by To Lam, the former President of Vietnam, last October. HUGE COSTS There was another bill of €9,300 from the same hotel for a visit by the Egyptian President, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, in December. And €5,241 was spent on accommodation at the Seven Alpina Hotel as part of Ireland's participation in the annual World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. The Department said an €8,408 bill at the four-star Fifty Sonesta Hotel in New York was for a staff member taking up a new posting. Among the other bills last year were €24,054 paid to the Dublin Airport Authority for platinum services for visiting dignitaries. Around €64,000 was spent on chauffeured cars with €11,600 paid out for a BMW in Washington DC. And €3.7million went on major maintenance of our residences overseas.
