Willowbrook Foods Awarded For Innovative Products & Service
Willowbrook Foods, has won the ‘Best New Service and Product of the Year’ award at the recent Northern Ireland Food Manufacturing Awards 2017. Furthermore, founder and Managing Director of Willowbrook Foods, John McCann MBE, was singled out for individual praise after he was announced as a runner up in the Special Recognition category. Now in his 70’s, John has dedicated his life to the successful company and remains at the heart of the business.
The Northern Ireland-based company supplies some of the largest retail, ingredient manufacturers and food service providers in the UK including Iceland, KFC and the Henderson Group.
The ‘Best New Service and Product of The Year’ award was received in recognition of the new service Willowbrook Foods developed in the form of a major international contract with Alpha Catering. This involved developing, producing and supplying a new range of deli-style salads for airborne passengers on more than 30 international airlines worldwide.
The salads created by Willowbrook Foods were intricately researched and developed and included Thai quinoa, lemon olive pasta, apricot tabouleh and potato Liegeoise demonstrating the diversity of NI produce.
Willowbrook Foods worked at its Innovation Centre in partnership with the catering company to develop the highly bespoke range which includes halal versions for relevant airlines including Emirates.
The company was established in 1968 and has continued to go from strength to strength, experiencing double digit growth year on year.
John McCann MBE says: “We are extremely proud to have been recognised at the Northern Ireland Food Manufacturing Awards 2017 for our new service with Alpha Catering. We are delighted that that fresh Northern Ireland food is being served throughout Alpha Catering’s 320,000 in-flight meal service in over 130 airlines in 21 countries on a daily basis.”
He adds: “This year so far has been remarkable both for the business and for me personally having been included in the New Year’s Honours List for 2017 and to also have received recognition in the Special Recognition Category.”
Willowbrook Foods employs over 350 people across three sites in Northern Ireland and supplies over 70 retail and foodservice customers, across an impressive 10 product categories in the UK and Ireland.
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Pictured are: John Mullholland, Fiona McMullan, John McCann MBE and Julie McCann from Willowbrook Foods.
