Entries for Blas na hÉireann 2024, the Irish Food Awards are open. Blas na hÉireann is the largest blind-tasted food awards on the island of Ireland, designed to recognise and celebrate the very best Irish food and drink. Entries are open to producers across all categories of food and drink. There is also an opportunity for a producer to be awarded in every county with Best in Cork supported by Cork LEO.
Deirdre O’Mahony “The Cork City & County Local Enterprise Offices have always been champions of the local food & drinks sector and have been involved in providing a range of business, training, advisory and financial supports to the many food producers in Cork over the last 30 years.
We are delighted to partner with Blas na hÉireann, the Irish food awards, the largest food awards on the island, which celebrates the range and quality of local food, to sponsor the Best in Cork award, and we would encourage all local Cork food & drinks businesses to enter the competition this year.
The awards, in their 17th year are a barometer of quality, and last year saw 51 Cork food producers win various awards, second only to Dublin, so in 2024 we would hope to continue with that success to continue to showcase our local Cork food & drinks producers.”
Entries will finally close for this year’s awards on May 16th, with judging happening over the summer months and the awards announced on Friday 4th of October. After a wonderfully successful year in Dingle in 2023 celebrating Irish food and drink producers, the excitement for the upcoming awards this October is already building.
“It’s hard to believe we are now in our 17th year running the awards,” says Artie Clifford, Blas na hÉireann Chairman. “Looking back to when we started and had just under 400 applications to where we are now with nearly 3,000 entries last year, it is testament not only to the fantastic food and drink producers of Ireland, but also to the measurable impact these awards have on small artisan businesses. Since creating the Blas village, we have seen even more momentum and opportunities for producers with high engagement between them and key industry buyers. We are very much looking forward to seeing what this year brings and welcoming new producers participating right across the island.”
Together with the Food Science Dept of UCC and the University of Copenhagen, the team at Blas na hÉireann have developed a blind-tasting judging system that is now recognised as an industry gold standard worldwide.
Winners and finalists are always the best Blas ambassadors — something to which many hundreds of small producers, farmers, growers, bakers and artisan food makers who have won a Blas na hÉireann award and proudly put the winner’s sticker on their product can attest. Research has shown that the Blas na hÉireann accreditation has the highest recognition among Irish consumers and having the award logo on products encourages shoppers to buy – it is a recognised guarantee of a top-quality Irish product.
“In our second year trading we had amazing growth of 80% YoY. Our award in Blas na hÉireann and other awards certainly helped us to grow our B2B accounts and we had our first B2C product this year too!” Steve, Original7
Key dates for 2024
16th May – Deadline to enter www.irishfoodawards.com
June/July – Judging with UCC
Mid August – Finalists Notified
4th October – Blas na hÉireann awards presented
(Blas Village with Networking, Showcase, Awards & Eat Ireland in a Day running from 4th – 6th Oct)
2024 Categories
2024 Delivery Locations & Dates for Judging
2024 Entry Form
A look back at 2023 Cork winners
