Now Available in Tesco Northern Ireland

Mash Direct returns to The Royal Highland Show

The Royal Highland Show is one of Scotland’s most iconic, enduring and historic brands – an annual showcase of all that’s best in farming, food and countryside. A top summer attraction, the show has seen record-breaking attendances in recent years with the three-year average now standing at 175,000. In 2010, visitor numbers of 187,644 shattered the previous year’s record of 176,522 which in turn beat a figure that had stood for over 50 years!

A visit to the “Highland” - marketed as “The Greatest Show On Earth” - offers a multitude of features to enjoy with prize-winning livestock, the latest farm machinery, fine food and drink, outdoor living and countryside, traditional rural skills, renewable energy, music, cookery demonstrations, forestry events, handcrafts, children’s Discovery Centre, heavy horses, show-jumping, motor zone and shopping arcades just a few of the attractions. All of these are contained within well-signposted designated areas making it easy for visitors to find their way around the showground.

Mash Direct will be taking a large stand at 'The Greatest Show On Earth' where we will be sampling our full range of products including our brand new Mash Pots. Come along and meet the team, we would love to chat to you!

Mash Direct at Dalriada Festival

Saturday 18th & Sunday 19th June Best of Northern Ireland produce at Dalriada Festival Food NI set to host Fine Food Marquee at P&O Ferries Dalriada Festival in partnership with UTV FOOD lovers across Northern Ireland are in for a treat at this year’s P&O Ferries Dalriada Festival in partnership with UTV as Food NI get ready to showcase the best of Northern Ireland’s fresh local produce.

Food NI will be hosting a Fine Food Marquee, which will be open throughout the weekend and feature a wide range of Northern Ireland’s finest local produce such as Glenarm Organic Salmon and Beef, Comber Potatoes, Harnett Oils, Glastry and Hoys Farm House Ice cream, Bella Jo preserves and award winning products from Boozeberries, Big Ted’s Cookies and Mash Direct.

Womans World Dublin

Mash Direct took a stand at Womans World Trade Show in the RDS in Dublin over the weekend. This show proved to be a major success and our Mash Pots were top of the menu for a lot of hungry visitors looking for the deal of the show........ as far as we were concerned! Well Done to all the team involved it was busy from start to finish. ( From Left to Right- Brendan, Sam, Clare, Maeve)

Family Fun Day at Stormont 30/05/11

Monday, 30th May 2011

Stormont Estate once again offered this beautiful location for families to come along and enjoy a fantastic day out when the grounds will be filled with a huge range of fun activities for all ages.

Family Fun Day was organised in support of BBC Children in Need and was a great day out for all that attended. Attractions include kiddies rides, bungee trampolining, giant slides, the popular teddy bears ring which offers competitions for children and their favourite little toys, nine-hole mini crazy golf course, balloon modelling, laser games, a rodeo bull and much much more.

The Mash Bus was at the very front of the Parliament Buildings selling our famous Bangers & Mash all day long. Well Done to all the team that made the event such a success.

Mash Bus: Pulling Power!

Date for the Diary:

What is bound to be one of the most popular parades this summer season, 100 models (Pose Model Agency) will pull the Mash Bus around Belfast City Hall on Friday 3rd June in association with Comber based Charity Men on a Mission which helps support several projects in Ethiopia. The charity is hoping to raise £10,000 which will be handed over to Shelters in Ethiopia later this year. We hope to see you there. www.1stmenonamission.com

Martin Hamilton Wins Top Farmland Wildlife Award

ENDANGERED yellowhammer, tree sparrow, Irish hare and field mice are not what you would usually associate with farming on a big scale, but that is precisely what the RSPB found on Martin Hamilton farms, producers of the well-known brand Mash Direct. And so impressed were they that they are the Northern Ireland winners of this year’s Nature of Farming Award.

The annual award is a joint enterprise with the RSPB, Butterfly Conservation, UFU, Plantlife and The Telegraph who run this award to highlight the work that farmers are doing to help the wildlife on their farms.

Martin Hamilton farms and Mash Direct together make up a family-owned innovative farming and food production business. Based near Comber in Co. Down, they grow a wide range of vegetables which are used to produce an extensive range of mash potato and cabbage products under the Mash Direct brand.

Martin Hamilton who along with Mash Direct are the winners of NI Nature of Farming Award.

The farm has actively adopted a range of innovative methods and practices to maximise their positive impact on the environment. These include, integrated farm management, efficiency improvements to minimise carbon emissions and energy consumption, recycling and re-use of water, and ecological approaches to pest and weed control.

“We are delighted to have won this award,” said Martin Hamilton. “The family have had a long held interest in wild life and we hope that this demonstrates that good business can co-exist with good environmental practice.”

Wildlife flourishes on both the Martin’s home farm and at the Mash Direct farm with threatened seed eating farmland birds such as yellowhammer, tree sparrow and linnet using the hedgerows as a breeding ground.

Wild bird cover is sown each year and winter stubbles are retained to help these species sustain themselves over the winter months. Rough grass margins are also maintained which not only benefit breeding birds by attracting insects for them to feed to their chicks but mammals like the Irish hare, shrews and field mice.

Martin’s farm will now be put forward for the next level of the judging process and will hopefully make it through to national level of the award.

Balmoral Show 2011

Balmoral Show has finished for for another year. Well Done to the Mash Direct Team Clare Watson, Emer Flanagan, Sam Hamilton and Lance Hamilton for a marathon sampling and selling session over the three days. Food NI Marquee was the best yet with thousands of samples being handed out. Mash Pots were officially launched at the Balmoral Show and proved to be a major hit with everyone who tasted the products, all five lines sold out in the closing stages of the show. If this was the last Balmoral Show to be held at The Kings Hall we certainly made the most of it. The Show Season has officially begun!

Next Show:

Dalriada Festival

http://www.dalriadafestival.co.uk/

It's that time of year again!

The Balmoral Show in partnership with Ulster Bank is Ireland’s largest Agricultural and Food Show that entertains the whole family.

Around 80,000 people attended the 2010 Balmoral Show. It provides an excellent platform to sell, provide information, introduce new products, raise brand awareness and engage with a considerable and diverse audience.

In 2010 there were over 450 Trade Stands spread throughout the Showgrounds, exhibiting a wide range of products from food, holidays and leisure products to farm equipment, heavy machinery and 4x4 vehicles. Over 80% of these exhibitors return.

Mash Direct will be at the front of the NI Good Food Pavilion where we will be sampling our full range of products and launching our new range MASH POTS. Come along and say hello to our team. Sam, Clare, Lance and Emer.

Ulster Grocer Awards: Best New Product

There was a record entry to this year’s Ulster Grocer Marketing Awards and the judging panel had a particularly difficult morning at the Wellington Park Hotel in Belfast when they met to decide.

The event was held at The Culloden Hotel on Friday 8th April where Mash Direct Potato Cakes from the Farmers Garden Range won the Best New Product Award.

Our potato cakes have been one of the most successful new product launches to date. Officially unveiled at the Balmoral Show last year as part of the Farmers Garden Range, they were initially intended to help achieve a sales boost during the summer season. But following their successful performance and the high level demand over then summer, we realised that there was a high level of demand for potato cakes all year round.

Mash Direct Highly Commended

Mash Direct have been honoured at this year’s Ulster Bank supported Northern Ireland Food and Drink Awards. Winners in nine categories were commended for excellence in new products, training, supplier chain, best restaurant, food programmes and contribution to the industry and received their prestigious awards at Belfast’s Ramada Plaza Hotel on Friday 25^th March. Mash Directs Cauliflower Cheese Gratin, Chilli Baby Bakes and Potato Cakes were Highly Commended in the Best New Product Category.

NEW: MASH POTS

The inspiration for the Mash Pot range was to add value to our existing market-leading brand of vegetable accompaniments and to move away from the restrictions of mainly dinner-related products and to offer variety in the much larger lunch-time/in-between meal-time snack market-sector. We have been delighted by the enthusiastic and positive feedback that we have received from our product sampling sessions in Ireland and we are confident that our new range offers significant sales potential within the convenience retail sector and will be suitable for even the smallest stores with limited chilled shelf space.

The Mash Pot range consists of the following five variants, all 225g in weight – providing a generous snack/ready-meal for one: 1. Mashed Potato with Crispy Bacon Bits

2. Cheese & Onion Mash with Crispy Bacon Bits

3. Mashed Potato, Carrot and Parsnip with Crispy Bacon Bits

4. Colcannon* with Crispy Bacon Bits (* Mashed Potato+Savoy Cabbage+onion)

5. Mashed Potato and Swede* with Crispy Bacon Bits (*marketed as Turnip in Ireland and Scotland)

The pots can be microwave or oven heated - just 2&1/2 or 20 minutes respectively - and contain a small plastic fork in each pot.

With calorific values ranging from 80 - 116 Calories/100g, and low fat and low saturate levels in all except the Cheese&Onion (medium) - our MashPots offer a significantly healthier and more filling alternative to the existing choice of sandwiches, rolls, wraps and microwave burgers, subs and panini's. More importantly, they are delicious and offer a welcome alternative for those SOS (Sick of Sandwiches/Saturates!). Our award-winning, steam-cooked and gently mashed root vegetables are well proven in the veg. accompaniment retail sector - The added 'bacon bits' provide the ultimate marriage of convenience' and provide a launch pad into the much broader and exciting world of hot snack foods. Hence our strap-lines: 'Healthy, Handy, Honest and Hot' and 'It's Good Food - Fast' The new range is targeted primarily at working adults who are looking for an alternative to the normal lunch-time snack of sandwiches, rolls & soup. We believe that a hot Mash Pot provides a perfect solution. The fact that our products are significantly healthier than even most low-cal sandwiches, is an added bonus. Our secondary target is 16-24 year old males and females e.g. students.

IFE 2011: Mash Direct N1506

Make time for something new… 2011’s largest gathering of international food & drink suppliers will take place at IFE. From big brand suppliers to local & regional producers, over 1100 exhibitors from around the world will showcase thousands of NEW products. IFE is the only global food and drink event dedicated to showcasing new products, where international decision makers increase their competitive advantage by sourcing a diverse range of new and consumer driven products from around the world. The IFE experience invigorates the senses and embodies the spirit of learning and education through its innovation-focussed events programme featuring global trend analysis, thought leadership and face-to-face interaction with senior industry peers. Mash Direct will be at Stand N1506 sampling our full range as well as some NPD products due to launch in the very near future, come along and be one of the first to see our BRAND NEW RANGE! If you have not already registered click on the link below: http://www.cts-online.co.uk/Shows/ife11/Login.asp?SessionID=31303236343838323538373930353039323647&showcode=ife11

Happy Birthday Mash Direct

Happy Birthday to Mash Direct!

Today is our 7th Birthday, Thank you to all of our loyal customers for all your support, it's gone incredibly quickly... here's to many more

Farmers Weekly Article providing an insight into Mash Direct Farm

Making a decent margin out of vegetable mash

James Andrews

Wednesday 23 February 2011 17:48

Fresh potato and vegetable production was failing to pay its way, so in 2004 Martin Hamilton decided to add value by turning his crop into a healthy, convenience food.

Seven years later he is turning his entire crop into mashed vegetable products which he is supplying directly to major supermarkets.

Potato is the most important crop grown at Ballyrainey House, Comber, Co Down, N Ireland as it is the base for most products. Mr Hamilton devotes 130ha of the 325ha farm to the crop and Maris Piper is his variety of choice. "It gives consistent quality, even tuber size and high dry matter, which is essential for the our products. It also gives us the flavour and taste we need, it cooks well and produces a very even mash."

Potato planting was planned for mid-February, but a sustained wet spell means the tractors are at a standstill. "We do get high enough temperatures to start planting in February, but it's just too wet at the moment. It looks like we won't get going until early March now."

The area suffers from wet weather and drilling opportunities are limited so he runs enough equipment to have two planting teams running in tandem.

Drilling should be completed by the end of May, but the second week of June is his final cut off. Blight is the main agronomic problem and at the peak of blight season he sprays every seven days.

Vegetable growing

Clean ground is essential for vegetable growing so Mr Hamilton leaves at least a four year break between potato crops. Typically he will follow potatoes with a vegetable crop such as carrots, then spring barley and a cabbage crop before returning to potatoes. "Sometimes we squeeze in another barley crop after the cabbage if we think the land still needs a rest."

Some of the 205ha of rented ground is rotated to keep fresh, clean land coming in, he adds.

A Dewulf 3060 self-propelled harvester takes care of all potato lifting as well as some of the carrot and parsnip crops. It can lift 4ha potatoes in a day and can carry 7t on board before needing to unload.

The potato crop needs to last until July when tubers will be available from the new crop so they are kept in a 3000t cold store with temperature probes.

Bare land

Once vegetable crops have been lifted the ground is left bare until the spring drilling campaign starts. Some crops are overwintered and he still has small areas of carrot, parsnip, green cabbage, leek and swede to lift.

Early swede crops are lifted mechanically, but the overwintered portion will have to be picked by hand, says farm manager Gary Adams. "We've got 400t to lift by hand and put in the cold store. These will supply the factory until July."

The crop has been damaged by the harsh winter and 4-5% has been killed by frost, he says. "They are black and easy to spot so we just leave them in the field."

Savoy cabbage has been the biggest winter casualty, but has been hammered by pigeons, not frost, says Mr Hamilton. "They were like swarms of locusts. The sky was grey with them and there was no way we could control them."

The pigeon plague has written off a significant proportion of the crop and he is having to import cabbage to keep the factory running.

Swede is the second most important root crop on the farm and Mr Hamilton plans to establish 40ha this spring.

Boron is crucial for swede performance so he has it incorporated into a special blend from manufacturer Goulding. "Having it incorporated into the fertiliser gives it the best chance of being taken up by the plant."

Flavour

With all vegetable crops he chooses varieties for flavour rather than appearance. "This means we have moved back to some of the older varieties."

Mr Adams looks after the day-to-day running of the farm and is constantly walking fields to check crop condition. "I have an agronomist and a series of advisers to call on if there are any problems, but I walk them all myself."

He is working to reduce artificial inputs and has invested in a Garford Robocrop robotic hoe, which cuts chemical inputs by 25%. He is also experimenting with a garlic and willow sap spray to control cabbage root fly and slugs, and is using Omex's seaweed Bio-stimulant product.

Winter cereals are avoided because autumn trafficing damages the soil structure, but spring barley is grown as a break crop, says Mr Hamilton.

This spring he is putting in 60ha which will be drilled by a contractor. He combines the crop using his own 15ft cut John Deere 1450WTS, but all grain is sold directly off the combine. He hopes to install a drier and grain store on a separate plot at some point to improve margins.

The farm is a LEAF member and won FWAG's Northern Ireland Silver Lapwing award in 2010. This year he plans to enter the farm into the national competition.

Mash Direct

Martin and Tracy Hamilton started the Mash Direct business in 2004 after 20 years struggling to make a profit out of their fresh vegetable crops.

They started by making Champ, an Irish mashed potato recipe containing scallions (spring onions), but quickly branched out into other mashed vegetable products.

Mash Direct now processes 400t of vegetables and potatoes every week into more than 18 different mash products, says Mr Hamilton. "We distribute these throughout the UK, Ireland and beyond, and our products are available in most major supermarkets."

All vegetables are grown, steam cooked and packaged on the farm, he adds. "We use vegetable varieties grown for taste rather than appearance and we have developed a plant on the farm to recreate a traditional cooking style."

A unique masher and three steam cookers were designed specifically for the plant to allow such large quantities to be processed in the traditional way, he says. He also has a custom built root washer and a large-scale peeling machine. From harvest the crop can be processed and in the supermarket within 24 hours, he says.

The farm can't meet all of the factory demands, so some is bought in from local growers and he imports 20% of the material from abroad. Mr Hamilton is considering expanding production by contracting other local growers and is already in discussion with some.

His son, Lance, has recently joined the business and is helping to branch into new markets and adding new products to the line.

Farm facts

Martin Hamilton, Ballyrainey House, Comber, Co Down, Northern Ireland

Martin Hamilton farms 325ha at Ballyrainey House near Comber Co Down with his wife Tracy and son Lance. The family owns 120ha and 205ha is rented.

Soils are a mixture of light and medium loams and all ground is ploughed and cultivated each year.

The ground stretches as far as 20 miles from the base at Ballyrainey House, which is also home to his diversification business Mash Direct.

Potatoes and root vegetables such as parsnips, carrots and swede are the main crops and spring barley is grown as a break crop.

Potato Cakes: Good Food NI Competition 2011

Potato Cakes have been entered into The Peoples Choice Awards 2011 in association with Northern Ireland Good Food.

Perfect for breakfast, lunch or dinner they fit into any part of the day......especially when BBQ season rolls around, here's hoping for a hot summer! Completely unique to the NI food market and I'm sure you will agree absolutely delicious.

Please vote for Potato Cakes to win by clicking on the link below.

http://www.nigoodfood.com/survey.aspx

Quality Food Awards- Carrot Parsnip and Turnip Product 2010 Finalist

Now entering their fourth decade, the Quality Food Awards in association with Woman’s Weekly, are widely regarded as the leading food and drink awards. This has not only been achieved through independent, expert and rigorous judging process but also by recognising changes in the industry. Mash Direct's Carrot, Parsnip and Turnip was a finalist in the Fresh Produce Category. Quality Food Awards are a high-powered marketing vehicle which endorses products and sets business' apart from the competition.

Country Living Show Glasgow 2010

Last weekend Glasgow’s SECC was once again transformed into the ultimate Christmas emporium.

The show has been getting bigger and bigger every year and there were more than 250 artisans and craftspeople from all over the UK bringing unique and original products along to the show. Mash Direct had an extremely busy stand with almost all lines sold out by the close of the show on Sunday evening. It is a great opportunity to publicise Mash Direct particularly those that have never heard of the company before and also to show new lines which we hope to get listed in Scotland.

Food Manufacturing Excellence Awards: Mash Direct Small Company of the Year

Over 400 industry guests gathered at the newly refurbished Savoy Hotel in London on Tuesday 2nd November, as the 2010 Food Manufacturing Excellence Awards winners were announced.

Chris Hollins, BBC sports presenter and winner of Strictly Come Dancing 2009 hosted this year's awards whilst stand-up comedian Paul Thorne provided the evening's entertainment.

Chairman of the judging panel Paul Wilkinson said that this year's entries ‘were universally of a very high standard...reflecting the pre-eminence which UK food manufacturers have achieved to ensure the food sector leads in manufacturing productivity and innovation."

Now in their 10th year, the awards are dedicated to recognising and rewarding the very best food and drink manufacturing companies. They honour and highlight those companies that have displayed progress and achievements through their manufacturing process in this competitive and fast moving industry.

Mash Direct won the Small Company of the Year Award against very strong competition. (photos to follow)

Mash Direct into Morrisons

We are delighted to announce that our Carrot and Parsnip and Mashed Potato will be available in all Morrisons stores from Monday morning onwards. They will be on a special introductory offer so you can fill your fridges!

Mash Direct Farm- Silver Lapwing Award 2010 Winner

This competition again attracted a high level of enquiries with three farms being selected for final judgement. The FWAG Silver Lapwing Award, now in its 31st year, is one of the UK's most prestigious farm conservation competitions. The award recognises the work of farmers across Northern Ireland who demonstrate outstanding commitment to farming and environmental management. GaryAdams (Farm Manager) along with Martin and Tracy Hamilton received the award at a ceremony at Loughry College last night.

BBC Good Food Show Glasgow

Join us in celebrating Scotland's rich food heritage at the BBC Good Food Show Scotland. Packed with celebrity chefs, a tempting variety of local produce and plenty of entertainment including the arrival of MasterChef. Mash Direct will be sampling and selling our full range of products at stand SP1. Sam, Clare, Heather, Lance and Lee will be happy to talk to you.

Mash Direct Exhibiting at Eco Show- Kings Hall Belfast- This Weekend

Mash Direct will be

Sampling

and

Selling

our full range at the Eco Show this coming weekend at the King's Hall Belfast:

8-10 October 2010

Opening Times

Friday 10am-7pm, Saturday & Sunday 10am-6pm

Entrance only £5.00,under 16's free when accompanied by an adult.

Learn how to live more sustainably, reduce waste and save money in your home and business. Eco Show is a 'first' in Europe, it's good news for you, the economy and the planet. There are seven Eco Zones:

Food

Business

Health & Lifestyle

Transport

House and Home

Energy

Information