Artisan salt, eggs, butter and leaves producers among winners at Ireland food awards
food
producers have been honoured by leading chefs at the 2025
Euro-Toques food awards
. Winners across a range of categories included: Dingle Sea Salt, Coole Farm, Moy Hill Farm, Salt Rock Dairy and Ballylisk.
The awards ceremony, held on Monday afternoon at Ashford Castle, recognised products nominated by chefs who use them in their restaurants and voted for by members of the Euro-Toques Ireland Food Council. More than 100 chefs, producers and Euro-Toques members gathered for a celebratory lunch featuring a harvest table of more than 30 Irish producers, including this year's winners and nominees.
The annual awards, now in their 39th year were first established in 1996 by the late Myrtle Allen of Ballymaloe House in Co Cork.
This year's theme, honouring Ireland's kitchen table, paid tribute to the place where food meets tradition, memory and storytelling and honoured seven champions, all makers of key cookery ingredients.
READ MORE
The Euro-Toques Ireland Food Council is a European community of chefs and cooks that champion local food integrity, craftsmanship and community-led gastronomy. The 2025 awards celebrated seven winners chosen across the categories of Water, Land, Farm, Dairy, Artisan Produce and Craft/Traditional Skills.
The 2025 Awards winners
Water
Husband and wife Brian Farrell and Marie Holden are owners of West of Dingle sea Salt. Photograph: Bryan O'Brien/The Irish Times
Dingle Sea Salt for its innovative and sustainable solar-evaporated, Atlantic-harvested sea salt that uses a fully off-grid, low-carbon process.
Land
Coole Farm for its cultivation of organic salad leaves using a regenerative approach that restores soil health and supports biodiversity.
Farm
Moy Hill Farm, Fergal Smith of Moy Hill Farm in Co Clare. Photograph: Paul Sherwood
Moy Hill Farm for its ethical, regenerative egg production, its education programmes, community-supported agricultural boxes and on-farm transparency.
Dairy (cultured butter)
Salt Rock Dairy for handcrafted cultured butter using milk from its own herd and Wexford sea salt, a method that revives traditional butter-making.
Dairy (soft cheese)
Ballylisk Triple Rose cheese. Photograph: Paul Sherwood
Ballylisk for The Triple Rose, a rich triple cream cheese, a luxurious product with depth and distinction, made from a single pedigree herd in Armagh.
Artisan produce
Wild Irish Foragers for helping to preserve Ireland's edible heritage, keeping forgotten flavours alive with its handcrafted syrups, shrubs and jellies made from foraged botanicals.
Traditional craft/skill
Seagull Bakery for the championing of bread made from Irish-grown grains and bold fermentation, reimagining traditional baking with creativity and skill.
Lunch at the Ashford Castle event was prepared by chefs Liam Finnegan and Jonathan Keane, whose menus served local ingredients.
Conor Halpenny
of Square Dundalk and chair of Euro-Toques Ireland, said: 'We are honouring those who have kept Irish food grounded – producers and craftspeople who quietly shape our national identity through their work every single day.
'The Irish kitchen table is a symbol of trust, care and resilience,' said Aishling Moore of
Goldie in Cork, head of the Euro-Toques Food Council. 'It is where we learn the fundamentals of food – not just how to cook, but how to value what we eat and who we share it with.'
Each award category considered a fundamental element of the Irish food story, from ocean-harvested salt and nutrient-rich seaweeds to soil-nurturing salad leaves, pasture-raised eggs, and hand-churned butter.
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'I locked myself in the house to do branding, create new social pages, make content. Because I'm Gen Z, it's easier to do content and I understand that it's a really good marketing strategy.' Getting to grips with the Irish taxation system, insurance, fire regulations and renting a commercial space felt like 'learning a new language', says Bonderenko. But she now employs two people and wants to own her own studio. Between running a business, moving to a new country and trying not to be overwhelmed by the war, she doesn't get much time to just be a young person enjoying herself, but she wouldn't change it. 'Honestly, I can't work for other people. I've tried, but I can't. If I have an idea, I need to make it come true,' she says. 'I do travel a lot, so I would say I try to use travelling as a way to sit back and relax. I'm trying not to work all the time because there is always something you can do.' There is a degree of uncertainty around the immigration status of Ukrainians in Ireland. Most arrivals since Russia's invasion have been granted temporary protected status, according to a spokesperson for the Department of Justice. This is due to expire next March, but the State is in the process of adopting an EU agreement to extend it until 2027. This gives Ukrainians a residence permit for a year, which is extendable, says the spokesperson, along with access to the labour market. But what happens after 2027 is unknown, and this creates uncertainty for the thousands of Ukrainian people in Ireland, and the businesses many of them have established. The Department of Justice has supported a harmonised EU-wide approach for Ukrainians exiting temporary protection. The current recommendation, which is still to be negotiated at EU level, is to shift people from temporary protection to another legal status, or support a 'smooth and sustainable' return to Ukraine, the spokesperson says. However, the outcome of these negotiations will not be known for some time. For now, the Ukrainian refugees who wish to build a life in Ireland continue to live with uncertainty. 'Ireland is a magic island. We came here for a few weeks, but fell in love with this island,' says Kuleshov, around the table at Lucy on Clanbrassil Street over honey cake and coffee. 'We were happy from the first day we came here.' 'We didn't feel like strangers,' says Horbonos. 'As soon as we started the business, we dreamed of staying here.'
