Redmond Farm hosts a Harvest Lunch with Taste Wexford for Bord Bía as part of the 2022 World Steak Challenge
Redmond Farm and Taste Wexford invited over 20 food and drink producers from Wexford and beyond to showcase their products and stories to over 100 judges and international guests of Bord Bía and the 2022 World Steak Challenge in September.
On Wednesday 28 September, an immersive harvest lunch was organised for our international guests on Redmond Farm just outside Gorey in County Wexford in a festival-style setting beside two old beech trees in the middle of a barley field.
Our wonderful Wexford food and drink producers with Paul Finnegan, General Manager of Ashdown Park Hotel, Anthony O’Toole, Jean O’Connell , Lorraine O’Dwyer and Laura Codd from Taste Wexford, and producer guests Claire Dalton from Dungarvan Brewing Company (Waterford) and Santina Kennedy from Powerscourt Distillery (Wicklow).
About Redmond Farm
Redmond Farm is situated in Craanford, just outside the market town of Gorey, spanning 120 hectares of grassland, tillage and vegetable crops. Each Spring, over 500 Angus-cross heifer calves are born, raised to cattle and finished on the farm to consistently produce approximately ten heifers a week for their two hotels, Ashdown Park and Amber Springs, along with their food truck and online store farmhousegrocer.ie. Alongside their cattle, they grow a wide range of seasonal vegetables and salads, all in a herbicide and pesticide-free environment.
farm Tour
On arrival, the Bord Bía guests were welcomed by farm owners Pat and Tom Redmond to learn about their ‘farm-to-fork’ approach on their Origin Green certified farm. They all got a chance to tour the farm where cattle were grazing the fields, workers were picking vegetables, and the barley fields were about to be ploughed for the year ahead.
Festival-style lunch with 20 producers from Wexford and beyond
On return from the farm tour, guests had to work for their lunch by going around the communal buffet table and chat with producers, who all brought something to the table for their lunch. The chefs of Ashdown Park Hotel and Amber Spring Hotel also provided some delicious snacks through their food and coffee trucks using beef and vegetables from the Redmond Farm alongside ingredients from the invited producers.
Producers and ingredients in attendance were Ballyhack Smokehouse, Bean and Goose, Gorse Farm, Isle of Crackers, Jackford Irish Potato Gin, Killiane Castle Honey, Killowen Yoghurt, Meadowfield Farm, Naturally Cordial, O’Neill’s Bacon, Regan Organic Farm, Salt Rock Dairy, Scúp Gelato, Tasty Parlour, Trudie’s Kitchen, Wheelock’s Fruit, Wild About and Yola Bakery. Many of the producers in attendance are members of the Wexford Food Family, a business-to-business network that shares knowledge, ideas and insights with each other and their team members.
Taste Wexford invited two producers from neighbouring counties to be part of the harvest lunch, Dungarvan Brewing Company (Waterford) and Powerscourt Distillery (Wicklow), to share Ireland’s Ancient East food story with our guests.
The cosy farm set-up featured straw bales as seats and tables, compostable bamboo plates and crockery, sustainable-produced merchandise and decor from Taste Wexford to showcase the harvest season at this time of the year.
Sharing Wexford’s vibrant food heritage with our guests
Taste Wexford’s official tour guide and storyteller, Lorraine O’Dwyer from Gallivanting.ie, spoke on the day about Wexford’s vibrant food heritage and explained why Wexford is known as the Model County of Ireland. She told one of her many stories of Wexford’s culinary heritage.
Lorraine encouraged them all to return to Wexford soon to visit the many immersive food and drink experiences, tours and trails on offer. She highlighted that Taste Wexford and Visit Wexford is full of exciting events and activities waiting for them to experience all-year round!
World Steak Challenge
That evening after the harvest lunch at the World Steak Challenge awards ceremony held at the Round Room at the Mansion House in Dublin, the quality of the beef reared at Redmond Farm was recognised by the judges as they were awarded a gold medal for their fillet and 2 bronze medals for their sirloin and ribeye steaks. Congratulations to all involved!
To learn more about Taste Wexford, visit tastewexford.ie/who-we-are
The design and coordination of this best practice showcase event was supported by Visit Wexford and Wexford Local Development through the LEADER Programme 2014-2020.
