06 September 2011, 09:42 AM
  • A Northern Irish food producer has scooped the Supreme Champion title after beating off 7,000 entrants

The award-winning product, corned beef, is made by McCartney’s of Moira which has been in business in County Down for around 140 years.

The business has been making this particular speciality for four years with a traditional meat press.

At the awards dinner, George McCartney, of McCartney’s of Moira said, “I’m stunned. I have such a fantastic team with my longest members having been with me for 27 years. I want to pay tribute to the Guild of Fine Food for the amount of effort they put into each producer. As we all know, there is a recession still on and this will really give Northern Ireland the boost it needs and deserves.”

Over 350 chefs, restaurant critics and specialist retail buyers and other independent food experts were involved in this year’s judging, including TV chef Antonio Carluccio, Masterchef winner Dhruv Baker and top food buyers at Fortnum & Mason and Selfridges.