The Irish Food Champions are an assembly of expert food, beverage and tourism advocates on the island of Ireland.
We are producers, chefs, brewers, restaurateurs, hoteliers, educators, retailers, academics, food historians, writers, speakers, content creators, menu designers, food festival & event planners, and, of course, food tourism professionals.
We believe in the importance of food and beverage in the growth of a country’s culture, heritage and tourism.
This is Irish Food
In 2017, we founded an online campaign called #thisisirishfood.
In its initial iteration, #thisisirishfood was a digital campaign for St. Patrick's Day that invited chefs, producers, restaurateurs, publicans, and the broader public around the world to use the hashtag #thisisirishfood on social media to showcase our Irish food and the people and stories behind it.
It has grown organically over the years, and our average monthly reach on social media is over 600,000, with an average of 11,000 engagement impressions.
Consultation
Our members are available to advise on food tourism strategy, network development, public speaking, and the promotion of food and beverage and food tourism experiences throughout Ireland and beyond.
During our time with Fáilte Ireland, we regularly carried out international benchmarking trips, meeting our peers in other destinations, sharing knowledge, and making connections. We met teams regionally and nationally to ensure food and drink were at the heart of Ireland's tourism offering. As well as consulting on and influencing Ireland's first food and beverage tourism strategy (2018-2023), we guided Fáilte Ireland, Tourism Ireland, and Tourism Northern Ireland in relation to the Taste the Island celebrations designed to place food and drink from the island of Ireland at the centre of our tourism offering internationally.
Boxty without Borders
Our Boxty centred event hosted in 2019 on Belcoo Bridge, connecting Belcoo, Co Fermanagh and Blacklion, Co Cavan. caught the attention of local, national and international press, and even trended on social media.
It celebrated existing, meaningful, and unshakeable connections between the regional counties but also created a higher awareness of the value of regional food as a cultural language and the benefits of food tourism experiences not only to domestic and international visitors but also to locals, irrespective of any sort of boundaries.
“When we travel we like to discover the local cuisine of the destination, to explore its restaurants, to taste the typical products, the traditions, and to be able to live surprising, unique and special experiences.”
