Connemara Smokehouse shortlisted for Good Food Ireland Awards

Graham and Saoirse Roberts – Connemara Smokehouse

Connemara Smokehouse has been shortlisted for the “Sustainability Award” at the prestigious Good Food Ireland Awards 2023.
Connemara Smokehouse have developed and implemented clean production initiatives and sustainable practices.
Located in Ballyconneely and looking out over the Wild Atlantic from Bunowen Pier,  here the Roberts family have been filleting and smoking Atlantic Salmon for more than 40 years.
They face six rivals in their bid for the Sustainability Award and are also nominated for the “Food Lovers Choice Award – Wild Atlantic Way”.

The public has the opportunity to cast their votes for their favourite places across the island of Ireland in the Food Lovers Choice Award.
The shortlist will be drawn from the finalists in all other categories.
Public online voting for which remains open until March 20.

The winners are due to be revealed at a high-profile business lunch taking place on Monday, April 17, at The K Club, Co Kildare.

An independent panel of Irish and International leaders including Founder and Managing Director of Good Food Ireland Margaret Jeffares, journalists John Wilson and Amii McKeever, IFAC Consultant Stephanie Walsh and Executive Chairman and Owner of Odyssey International Kevin Shannon, shortlisted the nominees from those businesses approved by Good Food Ireland.

The expert panel will select the overall winner following mystery inspections and assessments. The awards are proudly sponsored by Kerrygold, Irish Farmers Association, Tourism Ireland, Bord Bia and the National Dairy Council.

Other awards of recognition will include Outstanding Contribution to Food Production, Outstanding Contribution to Irish Food/Drink Internationally and Lifetime Achievement Award.

Returning for the first time since pre-Covid, the awards – will be opened by guest of honour, Simon Coveney T.D., Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, and attended by some 300 guests including business owners, Irish and international chefs, buyers, food and drink writers, media and industry leaders. Anita Mendiratta, Special Advisor to the Secretary General of the United Nations World Tourism Organisation, will deliver the afternoon’s Key Note speech.

Margaret Jeffares, Founder and Managing Director of Good Food Ireland says: “There is great excitement around the return of The Good Food Ireland Awards. All of those wonderful businesses who have made the shortlist are a committed collection of passionate and driven people who genuinely capture the essence of Ireland’s food and drink, setting it in a cultural context to inspire travellers, international consumers and locals to seek out real authenticity and Irish provenance.”

“All the judges would like to extend our congratulations to them all and wish everyone the best of luck for the April 17.”