Top chefs create original meals from locally sourced ingredients

Creative meals are being prepared and cooked from largely locally sourced ingredients for families and individuals across Northern Ireland by a team of highly skilled chefs in a purpose-built kitchen that’s located near Randalstown in Co Antrim.

Led by experienced chef Carl Johannesson, the talented team is part of an initiative by Henderson Wholesale, part of one of the UK and Ireland’s biggest food groups, to develop, cook and produce a wide range of tasty dishes that are restaurant quality and sold through many of the Newtownabbey-based group’s network of Eurospar, Spar, Vivo and Vivoextra community grocery stores.

The operation was formed as part of an initial £500,000 investment by the family group in 2020. Carl has over 20 years’ experience including executive head chef at the James Street South Group in Belfast.

The restaurant quality products are handmade in small batches using quality ingredients. They include popular roasts, pies, curries and Italian favourites, mostly made from ingredients produced by other local food processors. There’s also a successful and growing range of desserts.

The excellence of the existing range of around 120 meals, which are branded under The Kitchen, Enjoy Local and The Chef identities, being produced by the team have also deservedly won six UK Great Taste Awards.

The meals are prepared specifically to meet the tastes of local families and can be cooked at home without any fuss.

“We want shoppers to pick up a Chef meal, for instance, that they know, without thinking, will be full of flavour and pack a punch. Great Taste accolades last year show that we’ve nailed it,” says Carl.

Carl and his team have been coming up with a steady stream of original dishes that tantalise the taste buds and also demonstrate the versatility of a great many local ingredients that can be used to create stunning flavours from around the world.

The Chef range has also added to its under 500 calorie dishes in response to the growing market demand from consumers concerned about weight and other health issues.

The success of the existing range has encouraged the group to invest in the foods and the ultra-modern kitchen facility in Co Antrim for preparing and cooking them. The operation is an integral part of the family owned group’s longstanding investment in local food processors, including smaller producers and artisans, and the wider community here.

As a result of this commitment, the group is contributing substantially to the wellbeing of Northern Ireland’s £6 billion food and drink manufacturing industry, the single most important here, and also to the farmers who provide essential ingredients.

The tremendous support for local ingredients by the group over many years is also in line with Food NI’s longstanding focus on encouraging chefs and meal producers here and further afield to use more local ingredients and to collaborate with the companies on developing foods in line with their requirements.

The team at Randalstown has been developing close relationships with producers here on creating ingredients for use in premium meals.

Consumers are also able to pick up, easily cook and enjoy a delicious meal that they know has been developed and cooked by expert chefs using the best local ingredients from producers such as DailyBake in Armagh, Big Pot in Cookstown, Portadown’s Davison Puddings and Irish Black Butter from Portrush.

It has never been more important to build and promote partnerships between major enterprises like the Henderson Group and local food suppliers and farmers, keeping food miles low, offering alternatives to foods imported from abroad and providing great value, quality products for local families and individuals.

Support for local food producers from major enterprises like Henderson Group benefits the economy, especially in rural areas where many of the companies are located, and can lead to greater employment opportunities.

A number of smaller companies featuring in the meals also appear on the shelves of the group’s stores due to the organisation’s longstanding commitment to the local food and drink industry. Ballylisk of Armagh cheese from Portadown, for example, was most recently added to the foods the group supplies to hospitality outlets here and in the Republic of Ireland.