Taste Ireland With Me

2009-07-01T16:32:00.003+01:00

Mr Gourmet has a meeting tomorrow with the representatives of Frank Design, which is a fancy design company in Ireland. They are going to tell us everything that is wrong with the web-site and create a new vision for the company.

However, we have a clear direction where we want to take the Irish Gourmet website and we think customers are going to really love it. It will be like no other web site in Ireland. It will be an artistic masterpiece. It will be everything you could ever want. It will be the finest hamper company website in Northern Ireland. All we need is a little time to roll it out.

Functionality will be massively improved with new javascript shopping carts and navigational array. Alongside this, we have completely new photography.

Information wise, we'll provide all the information you need to make a purchasing decision. There will be discussions with the artisan manufacturers. We'll even compare our products to competitors within Ireland.

Basically our objective is that if you're a looking for a hamper delivered within Northern Ireland or originating from the Emerald Isle, then it will be impossible to look beyond Irish Gourmet Hampers.

In the meantime, Irish Gourmet has a summer-time slant to it. By the Autumn or Fall, it will be transformed and ready to create the Ultimate Christmas Hamper of our customers dreams.

Mr I Gourmet

2009-06-25T11:48:00.002+01:00

We're doing our Independence Day and Canada Day range of hampers to celebrate the 4th of July and 1st of July respectively. We are aware of a few gatherings across Ireland for the celebrations. In Belfast there is an Independence Day Party at the US Consulate, whilst in Groomsport there is the Eagle Wing festival.

The following is taken from www.groomsportvillage.co.uk There are some great pictures on tyhe site of last years parade with the big American cars and the strange sight of so many star spangled banners flying in a small coastal village.

The Eagle Wing

The Eagle Wing Festival celebrates our links with America during the 4th of July celebrations. In 1636 an emigration ship called Eagle Wing sailed out of Groomsport taking 140 Presbyterians in search of a new life in the New World.

Although they did not reach their destination and were forced to return home after two months at sea, the Eagle Wing was the spark that lit the flame of emigration to the New World. Since then several million people have left these shores, taking with them their culture and traditions. We have become familiar with American Culture, but in Groomsport there is special reason to celebrate it.

The Festival aims to foster good Community Relations between neighbours, whether they live next door or 3,000 miles away in America. The event includes open-air concerts, a carnival parade, talks and workshops and much more.

The 2009 party starts at 7pm in Groomsport.

Canada Day or Dominion Day is on Wednesday 1st July. Obviously with a much smaller population, there are fewer of their citizens in the UK and Ireland. Get togethers to celebrate the Day appear to be at house parties or bars.

Happy Independence Day and Canada Day to all our cousins and relatives in the States and Canada.

The Irish Gourmet

2009-06-24T16:45:00.002+01:00

Northern Ireland Hamper

We've been asked by a number of people to put together a Northern Ireland Hamper. Obviously as the top Gourmet Hamper company in Northern Ireland they approached Irish Gourmet.

To be honest we are finding it quite difficult to assemble a hamper made of exclusively Northern Irish products. The main difficulty we are experiencing is in the chocolate department. The reason for this is that we buy most of our chocolate from the Irish Republic.

We have found chocolate to be one of those difficult products to judge. For instance when does a gourmet product stop being a gourmet product and become a retail product.
Naturally we want to showcase Irish and Northern Irish products, but if those products are too expensive without having a clear quality advantage, then it is difficult to sanction their inclusion solely on regional bias.

We'd like to hear from companies in Ulster which produce chocolates and lollipops. In the past we have encountered certain Irish companies produce such high quality and imaginative products that their products simply demand inclusion in our hampers. The companies which spring to mind are Wicklow Fine Foods and Skelligs Chocolates.

Both these companies packaging is not great, but the product quality is astounding. We keep on using them because customers who recieve them often write to us expresssing their surprise that such a high quality product was included in their hamper.

The problem is when too much money is spent on packaging and the product moves out of a particular price bracket. In the Irish Gourmet's opinion companies must consider packaging to be an advertising cost and not a product cost for at least the first 2 years as the main advantage to pretty packaging is its ability to position a product in anticipation of future sales.

The other difficult thing to source is Irish wine. We've had the obvious suggestions such as Irish owned vineyards in France or Australia. But we have never gone down that route. In our opinion everybody knows that the Irish and British can't make decent wine at a competitive price, so we use New World Wine from places like Margaret River or the Adelaide Hills. Places which we know make great wine and we don't need to pay a taste testing panel of wine experts to confirm it. Are we making some seriously wrong assumptions?

We'd love to hear from any chocolate producers or wine producers in the UK, Ireland and especially Northern Ireland who can dispel our opinions and hope that somebody reading this can prove that we are clearly mistaken in our beliefs.

The Irish Gourmet

2009-06-17T12:04:00.001+01:00

Balmoral Show May 2009

Irish Gourmet Hampers were presented to two members of the Northern Ireland Assembly at the recent Balmoral Show held in Belfast. Pictured below is Michelle Shirlow of NI Good Food presenting a Taste of Northern Ireland to Michelle Gildernew of Sinn Fein (MP, MLA) who is the Minister for Agriculture & Rural Development in Northern Ireland.

Also receiving a Hamper was Arlene Foster MLA of the Democratic Unionist Party, who is the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Investment.

We hope that both minister enjoy their hampers which include award winning products made in Ulster. If you wish to read more about NIgoodfood at the Balmoral Show, please visit www.nigoodfood.com

2009-06-12T14:09:00.002+01:00

Update on New Irish Gourmet

Hello, we recently found the password for this little blog and decided to resurrect it. Exciting things are happening with this little company as the brand is due to be revamped over the next few months.

Irish Gourmet was set up to compliment our very first web-site which was Basketsgalore. Originally the site was meant to be the create-your-own food hamper division. Thus when people wanted to change our hampers and baskets on Basketsgalore, we would direct them towards Irish Gourmet and they would select their own items.

The concept proved successful and the website grew enormously in popularity.

Over the past 2 years it became increasingly difficult to maintain such a complex website. So many products needed to be updated with regards to imagery and pricing. The Euro/Sterling exchange was in a state of constant fluctuation and the group's priorities lay elsewhere.

However, the site has continued to gradually grow in popularity over the past 2 years, it now fills a niche in the market catering for a mostly domestic clientelle. Existing customers keep returning to us and new ones join our client list through word of mouth recommendation.

We're keen to modernise the experience and offer ever increasing value, so we'll be launching a new version of IrishGourmet shortly and look forwrad to hearing what our customers think.

IG

2006-11-16T10:26:00.000Z

Thought the following information might be useful to our customers. It is the Consumer opinions Research Paper conducted in 2006. Source for this information is
www.agriaware.ie
It is a website designed to promote Agricultural Awareness in Ireland.

Two out of every five (40.2%) consumers rated quality as the most important factor when purchasing food. Price was the second most important factor (33%). Only 3% rated convenience as the most important factor for them when purchasing food.
In the eyes of consumers, the retailers (supermarkets/shops) benefit most financially from the retail price of food and the producers (farmers) benefit the least.

Four out of every five (81%) of the consumers surveyed try to buy Irish food when shopping. Women were more likely to do so than men. The older consumers (over 65 years) were also most likely to but Irish and the younger consumers (under 25 years) least likely to do so.

Some 87.3% of consumers stated that the country of origin was important, however, it was only rated as the sixth most important factor when purchasing food.

The vast majority (98.6%) of consumers favour the introduction of a 'green label' to identify food as Irish.

In the region of nine out of ten consumers consider Irish food to be of a higher quality than food produced in Eastern Europe, Asia or South America. Three quarters consider Irish food to be of a higher quality than that produced in the rest of the EU and half consider Irish food to be better than Australian and New Zealand produce. Therefore, the greatest competitor on quality in the eyes of the Irish consumer is produce from Australia and New Zealand.

Some 62.4% of consumers considered that there was not enough information provided on the labels of meat products. For those consumers who stated that there was not enough information provided, the majority wanted more details on the country of origin.·

While consumers are concerned about the price of food, a high quality product is the most important factor when they go shopping. This was evident in the fact that when given the direct choice between quality and price, consumers choose quality.

I particularly liked the thoughts of the Irish consumer regarding their perception of the quality of Irish food. The Irish consider their greatest competitor to be the two countries directly on the other side of the world. This puts them at a major logistical disadvantage. Other interesting points were the desire for a Green Irish label to denote source of the products. Personally the Irish Gourmet has found it difficult to get our producers to put their Great Taste Award Winning Stickers on their products such is their lack of time, so a Green label will probably remain on the ideas table.

The site is worth a look as it contains useful information about the quality of Irish food and if you want to comment on any of the findings then feel free to drop me a note.

Regards,

The Irish Gourmet

2006-11-14T16:10:00.000Z

Irish Hampers: Self Perception and Reality at Christmas Time

What sort of hamper or gift basket are you sending this Christmas?

A quick glance around the internet can be very revealing in terms of the marketing straplines of the Irish Hamper companies at Christmas time.
There are claims of being the most luxurious, there is a claim to be Ireland's Largest Hamper Company. Others suggest they are the cheapest and offer free delivery. However, generally the market revolves around high quality gourmet food assembled together offered at a number of price points.

Years ago there was a company called Gourmet Ireland, which capitalised on the Paul Rankin name. Their food was branded Gourmet Ireland and they used local Irish producers. Unfortunately they overestimated the size of the market and exited. I hasten to add that unlike the ridiculous situation with Farepak Hampers in England that Gourmet Ireland did not let any of their customers down.

Retail stores have a propensity towards offering a lot of alcohol without much food since it is easier to manage. Some of the major players such as Fortnum and Masons or Harrods obviously can capitalise on their brand identity. With them the message you are sending is quality and history.

However with a BasketsGalore Hamper the claim is that your hamper or Basket will be "The Best." Quite an audacious claim, but backed up by a welter of testimonials. Irish Gourmet is a subsidiary of the Basketsgalore Group and the emphasis on Irish food is totally unsurpassed anywhere on the island.

This Christmas Irish Gourmet hampers are almost exclusively Irish in origin. The quality of the producers is exceptional. So this Christmas we want all our customers to ask one simple question of the people that they send a Christmas Hamper or Gift Basket to this Christmas.
Was it the best Christmas Hamper they have ever received?
Let me know!

The Irish Gourmet

2006-11-08T09:45:00.000Z

Irish Hampers... When an Irish Hamper is not really an Irish Hamper

Recently the Irish Gourmet has received a plethora of Christmas brochures from around the UK and Ireland. We get them from the likes of Harvey Nichols, Harrods, Fortnum & Masons and a few other top regional companies. There are a few companies in Ireland, and on the high street I always cast my eye over the range of hampers in Belfast and Dublin's leading delicatessens.

What I'm seeing is very little in the way of Irish products in their hampers and baskets. Now I understand that the IrishGourmet is unique in that it offers Luxury Irish food within the United Kingdom and relies very little on the local population. However, if its a genuine taste of Ireland that you wish to send, then the irony is that the only place you can expect to order this is in the UK province of Northern Ireland where it will then be re-exported back to the Republic of Ireland.

High Street Delis in Ireland and the North contain "luxury" food products from around Europe on the basis that they can achieve higher margins. So for those looking to support the small local Irish food producers, the Irish Gourmet is the only commpany to use.

2006-10-23T14:48:00.000+01:00

CHRISTMAS GIFT BASKETS IN IRELAND

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Delivery of Gift Baskets in Ireland differs slightly from the service that is on offer in the United States. The Main differences are:

1) There is absolutely no Saturday or Sunday delivery service available. Local florists will probably deliver on Saturdays, but there is absolutely no chance of having anything delivered on a Sunday in Ireland. For special occasions such as Mother's Day and Father's Day, certain companies will deliver on this day at a surcharge. The exception to this rule is Northern Ireland. Saturday delivery can be executed in the 6 counties of Down, Antrim, Derry, Armagh, Tyrone and Fermanagh. but it will cost an extra £15.

The reason for this is that the Irish couriers don't find it economically viable to open on Saturdays and their workers don't want to work on a Saturday.
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2) There are no zip or post-codes in Ireland. As you can imagine, this makes things more awkward and more prone to human error. It is not uncommon to have addresses which are more like descriptions of where the house is located rather than a proper address.
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We are frequently asked by American customers in particular why we can't deliver on Christmas or over the holidays. This is because the couriers don't operate over this time. Basically Ireland closes down at 5.30pm on Christmas Eve and most businesses don't reopen until the 3/4 January.
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Last year many customers again mostly from the States would try to order 2 days before Christmas. Irish Gourmet would explain that delivery even in the UK could not be before Christmas, so would send after Christmas. However, many of the address that we were sending to were closed for the Christmas period, which meant that the recipients were not receiving their Christmas Basket until the first week in January.
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Therefore this year we would strongly recommend that for deliveries to Ireland, customers order as early as possible. This year Irish Gourmet expects to sell out in Early to Mid - December at the very latest and has already been taking advance orders for past 2 months.
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Finally, certain areas of Ireland especially the west coast are so inaccessible that it can take 2-3 days to enable delivery. What we are very keen to ensure is that all orders are delivered prior to Christmas Day, so will use our own common sense to do our best on your behalf.

All Irish Gourmet deliveries within Ireland require a signature. One option available to customers is to send Irish Gourmet an e-mail giving permission for the delivery driver to leave without a signature. Although this may sound hard to believe, in remote areas it usually works as the delivery driver will leave in a garage or nearby post-office or with somebody in the village.
Whilst Irish Gourmet cannot accept any liability for any losses or damages for customers who avail of this service, our experiences to date have been very positive.

2006-10-18T13:36:00.000+01:00

Qualifications for Irish Gourmet Entry

It can be difficult finding products in Northern Ireland and even to an extent in the Irish Republic, which are suitable for entry to the Irish Gourmet site. There is no problem securing fresh tasty products, but packaging is a different matter altogether.

Due to the island mentality, many food producers tended to have looked towards their domestic customers and skimped on the question of packaging.

The producers themselves will testify to this themselves, that they would rather spend their budget on the product itself rather than an improved quality of packaging. However, things are changing; ever decreasing transportation and distribution costs are enabling producers to innovate and introduce higher quality packaging yet maintain the quality of the food produced.

Irish Gourmet can play an important part in the development of the Northern Irish Fine Food and Artisan Industry by revealing customer preferences and tastes. With an absolutely huge array of products, the Irish Gourmet can identify customer taste preferences and then make suggestions to their counterparts in the Basketsgalore Gift Basket and Hamper Division of the company. For instance the prevalence of Irish Porter Cake within the Basketsgalore range of hampers is a reflection of its popularity on an individual basis in Irish Gourmet.

Indeed what's more is that this Christmas Irish Gourmet is working with a leading baker from Newry in Co. Down, Northern Ireland to produce a Mourne Mountain Valley Artisan Porter Cake. The baker in question won a Gold Medal in the UK Great Taste Awards for this cake in 2006 and a Silver Medal recently in 2006.

When Basketsgalore first started at the turn of the century, it was difficult to procure Gourmet food products, now only the finest can qualify and sometimes its a question of getting on the road and travelling to find them. We'll bring you our experiences as we travel.

Regards

The Irish Gourmet

2006-10-11T15:48:00.000+01:00

Hello, I am the Irish Gourmet. Join me as I travel around Ireland finding the finest food and speaking to the producers and food critics of Ireland. My goal is to bring the highest quality foods to the attention of the people of Ireland and the United Kingdom.