The Mansion House Dublin marked a proud evening for The Q Café Company who not only scooped the prestigious Contract Catering of The Year Award 2015 with The Irish Café Quality Food and Drink Awards but also received overall winner for Breakfast Solutions with CJ’s Healthy Breakfast Granola and overall winner for Lunch Solutions with Ger’s Smoked Mackerel Paté.
It doesn’t end there, the team topped the evening off and went on to win overall Gold Winner for CJ’s Healthy Breakfast Granola.
The Irish Café Food and Drink awards reward excellence in food and drink product development within the thriving Irish multiple and independent café sector. The awards are open to all National, Regional and Independent cafés, as well as food producers, wholesalers, contract caterers and food service operators who serve the Irish café industry. They recognize the increasing demand for quality own-label and branded ranges at affordable prices in the retail and catering channels.
Judges said “CJ’s Healthy Granola provides a light, unique breakfast. This crunchy nutty product is made from the freshest of local Irish ingredients. Using Dublin Mountain Honey, produced by the Murphy Family from Glencullen and Flahavans Porridge Oats, this sugar free Granola is best served with natural yoghurt and/or fresh fruit and berries.
Impressed by the Irish ingredients, judges quickly found that this healthy granola also delivered with taste.
“Great, not too sweet, good colour. I would buy this,” said one. “This is excellent. The granola has a lovely crunchy texture and a nice aroma,” gushed another adding that “you can taste the nuts and honey and the product works amazingly well with fresh fruit.”
“Top marks for every aspect of this amazing product”.
Ger’s Smoked Mackerel Pâté impressed the judges achieving winner in the Lunch Solutions Category. Made by combining a few simple but well accompanied ingredients, the result is a creamy, tangy and tasty product that’s versatile to serve. Paired with the likes of carrot or celery sticks for a Wellness option Ger’s Pâté is a fantastic all-year-round starter that will tantalize the discerning palate and leave you looking for more. Just two quenelles of this pâté served with toasted sliced baguette, salads or seasonal vegetables and you’ve got a deliciously classy main course.
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Breda Quigley Managing Director, Anne Dunne Catering Assistant, Geraldine Dolan Chef Manager, Natalie O’Brien Area Manager receiving award for Ger’s Smoked Mackerel Pate.
“The teams are delighted with their recognition and we are absolutely trilled for them. Not only receiving Winner out of a competitive category from expert judging panel comprised of chefs, chef-lecturers, home economists, food writers, consultants, restaurateurs, food technologists and representatives from regional food groups, it is a huge honor for us to win overall Gold Winner for CJ’s Healthy Granola. These awards recognize the hard work and dedication of the team at The Q Café Company and the important contribution of our Chef’s to innovation and the development of new and exciting food creations in their restaurants for our customers daily” says Breda Quigley, Managing Director The Q Café Company.
Receiving Contract Catering Café of the Year 2015 for the Catering Contract at European Foundation highlighted excellence in financial performance, company development, range and product development, staff training and development, marketing, advertising and promotion, customer service innovation, community involvement, supplier relationships, Logistics improvements and Environmental efforts. Laura Olson, Head of Operations and Business Development at The Q Café Company said: “It’s an honour for our company to be named Contract Caterer of the Year at Eurofoundation. Our Clients and Team are delighted with the recognition as we strive for excellence in all judged categories”.
Other winners on the night were the Musgrave Group who won five awards – Savoury Winner in the Added Ingredients category, Best Bagged Snack, Healthy Choice winner in the Grab and Go category, Soup winner in the lunch category and the Soft Drinks winner. Dunnes Stores’ Considered Café were not far behind with wins in the Sweet category for Added Ingredients, winner of the Chocolate and Confectionery category and winner of the Hot Drinks category. The Bagel Factory won the Grab and Go category with their Pepperoni Sensation Pizza Bagel; O’Briens Sandwich Cafés’ Pulled Ham Ciabatta won the Sandwiches category; Aryzta Food Solutions won the Sweet Treats category with their Chocolate and Hazelnut Torte and Wildberry Bakery won the Free From section in the Sweet Treats category with their Orange and Almond Cake Slice.
Headline sponsor for all the awards is innovative packaging company Graphic Packaging International. Other sponsors include the Coeliac Society of Ireland, who played an important role during the stringent judging process of the ‘Free From’ categories, Dairymaid, Invest Northern Ireland and Tesco.
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Leah Moore Business Wellness Consultant, Laura Olson Head of Operations and Business Development, Breda Quigley Managing Director, Dave Gorman Executive Chef, Natalie O’Brien Quality Assurance & Systems Manager, Anna Finlay Catering Manager.
For more information on the awards see http://irishcafe.qualityfoodawards.com/
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