Area: Belfast

Dale Farm

Dale Farm is the largest UK farmer-owned dairy co-operative, using fresh local milk from its 1300 farmer owners to create award winning dairy products.  The Group’s activities span the food chain – from providing farm inputs and services, to collecting and marketing its members milk supplies, manufacturing an extensive range of dairy consumer and food ingredient products, distributing these to both domestic and over 40 export markets worldwide. Turnover is £500 million.

Dale Farm is committed to adding sustainable value to its members milk through supply chain excellence, consumer led innovation and building added value positions in consumer and nutrition markets.

The cooperative was formed in 1995. Since then, the Group has developed its business interests through organic growth and a series of acquisitions. The group now has 9 manufacturing sites throughout the UK. An extensive capital investment programme has been completed aimed at reducing costs and increasing capacity. This has resulted in processing facilities that are best in class.

Group businesses include;
Dale Farm –  A major UK dairy processor serving domestic and export markets
Dale Farm Ingredients – Supplier of dairy based food ingredients to domestic and export markets
Ash Manor Cheese  – Grates, slices, dices and packs a range of convenience cheese products
Dale Farm Lakeland – Manufactures consumer dairy products, including yogurts, desserts and cottage cheese
Rowan Glen – Manufactures consumer dairy products, including yogurts, probiotic drinks and desserts
Dale Farm Ice Cream – Distributes a wide range of ice cream products
Mullins Ice Cream – Manufactures a range of ice cream products
Dairy Herd Management – Provides herd recording and health management information
United Feeds – Manufactures animal feeds and other farm inputs
Dale Farm Tankcare – Supplies and maintains on-farm milk storage tanks

Bailies Coffee Roasters

This is a One stop coffee roasters for coffee shops and the hospitality industry, including coffee, equipment, maintenance, barista training, brew classes and sales support.

This Belfast-based company has evolved to become one of the UK and Europe’s leading specialty roasters through their supply and maintenance of industry leading brands in espresso and filter coffee equipment, including Kees Van Der Westen, La Marzocco and Bunn.

From sourcing and import to roasting and brewing, Bailies follow their coffee from bean to cup, with engineering services and barista training ensuring it tastes as good as it should. Whether a coffee shop, restaurant or hotel, Bailies look to provide coffee of the highest quality and taste wherever served taking a unique hands-on approach.

How They Started

Since founding the company just over 20 years ago, Russell Bailie has endeavoured to support local coffee shops and equip them with the product, tools and knowledge they need in order to challenge the larger global brands which have dominated our highstreets.

Emblematic of Bailies is the unique hands-on approach to customer service, training and support. With machine engineers and SCA accredited trainers all harboured within Northern Ireland’s first and only Premier Training Campus. Bailies work directly with their trade customers and offer unparalleled customer support.

More than just a pretty package, the Bailies brand is indicative of a business built on direct trade – on not only travelling to the locations of some of the world finest coffees, but also forging lasting links with farming partners. Bailies Coffee Roasters aim to bring out some of the best tasting coffee in the world while ensuring fair prices and ethical treatment.

So, if you are thinking of starting a coffee shop or want a change of direction, give them a call on 028 90 771535 or email sales@bailiescoffee.com.

Home coffee enthusiasts can also buy Bailies Coffee online, with a variety of home brewing equipment for all preferences and skill levels. The web shop offers one-time coffee purchases, coffee subscription, gifts and barista training classes!

 

SD Bell & Co Limited

They’ve been doing their thing for over 125 years! What started off as a general store and hardware business down in Belfast City Centre in 1887 remains Ireland’s oldest independent Tea Importer and Coffee Roaster.

The hub is just down the road from Stormont at the aptly named Leaf and Berry Coffee House, Tea Rooms and Emporium. You can smell the roast in the air if you’re up early enough. That’s also where they blend and pack their teas, and serve their internet business and their long list of quality delicatessens, hotels and restaurant customers.

Robert represents the fourth generation of the Bell family to carry on the trade.

Suki Tea

Established 2005, Suki Tea is a local loose leaf tea company. Co-founders Oscar Woolley and Anne Irwin, alongside their small team, have been blending tea leaves from all over the world at their warehouse on Belfast’s peace line since 2007.

Their award-winning range is exported as far as Japan, and Norway, with blends that include: Belfast Brew, Apple Loves Mint, Green Tea Lemon, Earl Grey Blue Flower and a plethora of fruit and herbal infusions as well as a good range of Green, White and Oolong teas.

Striving for ethical perfection, in 2013 they were the first company in the UK to launch triple certified teas – Fairtrade, Organic & Rainforest Alliance. They sell award winning natural loose leaf teas and pyramid teabags to cafes, restaurants, shops, deli’s, spa’s, health food stores and hotels throughout Europe. They even have an iconic teapot which doesn’t drip.

New to the range is a collection of Sparkling Iced Teas in Black Tea Peach and White Tea, Apple & Elderflower flavours.

These new infusions are made using real brewed leaf teas with no essences, no extracts and no artificial flavourings.

Deli Creightons

Creightons stores are located in South Belfast – Balmoral, Finaghy and Blacks Road.

The Balmoral store opened recently and is a 6,000 sq ft Eurospar, Butchery and Deli specialising in local products. Creightons endeavour to sell as many local products as they can source including Givan’s Ham, Cavanagh Free Range Eggs and Kennedy Dry Cured Bacon All the meat for the butchery is sourced locally from the family farm in the Clogher Valley.

A state of the art kitchen means all the food in the deli counter is produced fresh every day. The kitchen also produces an excellent range of ready meals and pre-packed salads which are sold in all the stores. Deli cooked breakfasts include soda farls and potato bread baked daily by Country Kitchen just up the road in Lisburn.

Creightons now produce their own Gelato ice cream, with a huge range of flavours – unbeatable on a hot summer’s day!

NEED TO KNOW Open 7 days a week, Parking, Post Office (Finaghy only) Gluten-Free, Disabled Access, Wi-Fi, Baby-Changing

Keenan Seafood

The Keenan family name has been associated with the fish business for three generations. The business was originally founded in 1942 and the company now trades as Keenan Seafood Limited under ownership of Gerard Keenan.

The company operates from a modern purpose built facility (which has been fitted to the highest hygiene standards) based on the outskirts of Belfast. A fleet of refrigerated vehicles make daily deliveries to their wide customer base throughout Northern Ireland. Today the company specialises in supplying a full range of fresh and frozen seafood to many of the leading hotels, restaurants and contract catering outlets.

Fish is sourced each morning from the local Northern Ireland ports as well as from Scotland and the West of Ireland. Only the finest quality seafood is selected and transported to their premises for further processing and order assembly.

Keenan Seafood also imports a wide range of fresh exotic seafood lines each week from Turkey, Sri Lanka and the Azores to offer a fuller choice of products to its ever discerning customer base.