A lockdown chocolate business and a decades-old cheese producer have taken the top awards in this year’s Blas na hÉireann Irish food awards.
Offaly-based Bon Chocolatiers, founded in 2020, took the Supreme Champion 2025 award.
Tipperary’s Cashel Farmhouse Cheesemakers, best-known for Cashel Blue, was named Best Artisan Producer.
The Blas na hÉireann awards are the centrepiece of a four-day annual celebration of Irish food and drink in Dingle, Co Kerry. Open to producers from all 32 counties, the gold, silver and bronze awards are among the biggest honours in the Irish food industry.
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Bon Chocolatiers is the fruit of a passion for patisserie and chocolate shared by founders Georgia Quealy and Daniel Linehan, who met while training to become chefs.
Having progressed through the kitchens of notable chefs, including Garrett Byrne at Campagne in Kilkenny and John Coffey at Thyme in Athlone, Co Westmeath, the pair joined forces to produce original and luxuriously designed quality chocolates.
They use ingredients including ethically sourced French, Swiss and Ghanaian chocolate, Irish butter and cream as well as foraged local berries. As well as selling online, Bon Chocolatiers can be found in Fallon & Byrne, Dublin, and in selected restaurants and hotels.
This week had already been a significant one for the couple, who celebrated the birth of their first child, a daughter, on Thursday.
Cashel Farmhouse Cheesemakers has been a familiar producer on the Irish food landscape since its founders Louis and Jane Grubb launched their groundbreaking Cashel Blue in 1984.
Now run by the next generation, the Grubbs’ daughter Sarah Furno and her husband Sergio Furno, the company has grown to produce a range of terroir-infused cheeses, including Shepherd’s Store, a sheep’s milk cheese, and Cashel Blue Organic.
About the winning firms, Blas na hÉireann chairperson Artie Clifford said: “Our Supreme Champion and Best Artisan Producer cover the full flavour spectrum from salty, savoury famous blue cheese made for over 40 years, now by the second generation of the same family, to the delicate, handmade sweetness of artistic chocolates created by a young couple setting out on their adventure in business together.”
Mr Clifford said the Grubbs had been a young couple taking a risk with Cashel Blue 41 years ago – while the Bon Chocolatiers founders were now at the beginning of their career in chocolate.
“Having examples like the Grubbs is certainly an inspiration for producers at every stage of their business journey,” he said.
Now in its 18th year, Blas na hÉireann attracted more than 3,000 entries from all counties across more than 180 food and drink categories. A full list of winners can be found here.
