Hastings Hotels celebrates Northern Ireland suppliers at breakfast event

The booklet, which tells the story of how food gets to the plate, who makes it and why it tastes so delicious, showcases 18 of the group’s suppliers and is available for guests to read as they enjoy the first meal of the day in each of the six Hastings properties.

The new booklet was launched at a breakfast event hosted by celebrity chef, Paula McIntyre, in the Culloden Estate & Spa, which celebrated not just the suppliers featured in the booklet, but the extensive list of local food and beverage companies that supply Hastings Hotels throughout the year.

Over 200 guests from Northern Ireland’s tourism and hospitality industry attended the event where they enjoyed a taste of Hastings with a menu created to showcase some of the local breakfast suppliers.

Dishes included Clandeboye Estate Natural Yoghurt, Poached Rhubarb, Erin Grove Preserves Lemon Curd and Just Live a Little Granola and William Grant & Company Sugar Pit Pork, Ragout of Annaghmore Mushroom & Erin Grove Preserves Tomato & Red Pepper Chutney, Gracehill Fine Foods Black Pudding, The Yellow Door Sourdough bread and air-dried North Down Group Tomato.

Hastings Hotels also announced the launch of White Velvet milk which has been specially produced for the group by Farmview Dairies in the Castlereagh Hills. The artisan milk froths better than traditional milks, enhancing the flavour of the bean and making each sip extra velvety.

Howard Hastings, Chairman of Hastings Hotels, commented: “As a group, it is no secret that we are heavily committed to supporting local provenance and only use the finest ingredients across the restaurants in our six hotels. It is this commitment that has seen us lead the way with a reputation for offering high quality produce which is locally sourced and prepared by our talented chefs.

“In doing so, we are proud to help celebrate Northern Ireland’s unique food and drink proposition. It is very much a collaborative effort and together with our suppliers, some of which we have been working with for over 30 years, we are showcasing to overseas tourists and local visitors alike, the fabulous array of what our local soils and climate can produce. It is also important to acknowledge the vital role supporting local food provenance plays in food sustainability – both with regards to the positive environmental benefits and the local employment it helps sustain through local job creation.”

Howard continued: “At Hastings Hotels, we are proud to be in a position to support our local suppliers, who all play a giant part in our local food and drink journey, and we are delighted to help showcase, not just their produce, but their businesses across our menus, and indeed provenance booklets just like ‘The Hastings Book of Breakfast’. In addition to this, we continue to work closely with Food NI and share a commonality of purpose through the ‘Our Food. Power of Good’ campaign which is firmly aligned with our own ethos.”