Celebration of Irish food and beverages LIVE from New York

IrishCentral and Digital Irish were in the Irish Consulate in New York on Wednesday, December 12, to hear from some of Ireland’s most exciting companies in the food and beverage industry.

Irish food and drink are so much more than just bacon and cabbage and Guinness (as much as we love them both). IrishCentral joined with Digital Irish for the last time in 2018 for a fireside chat to talk all things Irish in the food and beverage industry and hear pitches from four exciting new companies.

You can watch the full discussion here:

NYDI CHRISTMAS FOOD & BEVERAGE EVENT: FIRESIDE CHAT

Moderated by Tony Cheevers, Board Member of  Digital Irish and Vice President at Researchscape International. 

Panelists:

Cronan McNamara, Creme Global,

and

Kelly Spillane, Enterprise Ireland.

Digital Irish has also invited five exciting Irish companies to present their unique place in the food and drink space in pitches that will take place after the main discussion. Topics will include agribusiness, spirits, data science, food quality and a new approach to fighting childhood obesity.

NYDI CHRISTMAS FOOD & BEVERAGE EVENT: PITCHING COMPANIES

Beekon Batches: beekonbatches.com

BEEKON Batches, founded by its namesake, Karen O'Neill (KON), is a soon to be, an exciting new entrant into the alcohol category.

This is the ultimate collaboration between Karen, Beekons Founder & her collaborators, The Bees. Hence the name, BEEKON.

Made from nothing other than Honey, Water & Yeast, this Honey Refresher drink is a first of it’s kind. 100% natural, no additives, sulfites or preservatives, just as nature intended.

After 20 years working with Global drinks companies such as Diageo and Heineken, Karen will share her story on the inspiration behind Beekon, her vision for this new alcohol brand & category and her ambition to change the role alcohol plays in our lives.

Hidden Heroes: babyledfeeding.com

Hidden Heroes is a range of convenient, natural and super tasty, vegetable-based food products for children. Our products are positioned to support Mums and Dads in their daily battle to encourage their children to eat veggies in a fun and positive way. Our mission with Hidden Heroes is to be known globally as the go-to-brand for healthy convenient food for children.

Founded by Aileen Cox Blundell, number one bestselling author and the creative force behind Baby Led Feeding. Aileen has a social media following of over 100k followers across Europe and North America.

Lough Ree Distillery: lrd.ie

Lough Ree Distillery is a new, family-owned distillery in our hometown of Lanesborough overlooking Lough Ree in the very center of Ireland. We opened in July this year with a Microdistillery just across from our main site which is in construction and will be operational with our Whiskey Distillery and Visitors Centre by early Q3 2019. We’ve launched Sling Shot Distilled Irish Gin this October, it’s being well received in trade and with consumers and is now the pouring gin in Ireland’s only 2 Michelin Star Restaurant, with export orders from Germany and UK to date.

MagGrow: maggrow.com

MagGrow, an Irish company, was set up in 2013, employs over 25 people and currently operates in four main territories; the USA, Canada, Europe and South Africa.

MagGrow has developed and commercialized a patented, proprietary technology for droplet formation that yields superior drift reduction of over 70% and spray coverage performance of up to 40% compared to conventional spraying for customers.

MagGrow has many other benefits to drift reduction and coverage such as significant reduction in water usage by up to 50%, extended spray windows, and reductions in labor.

The MagGrow system has no moving parts, is easy to install and maintain, and can be fitted to a new or existing crop sprayer. There is an increasing demand for food and water, and MagGrow's technology is supporting a more sustainable approach to primary food production.

About Digital Irish

The mission of Digital Irish is to connect Irish expats and Irish-Americans who explicitly work in the Digital Media arena (or those interested in meeting them) either with established firms or startups. They are folks who touch on the following areas – social media, mobile, online advertising, digital agencies, search, analytics, video, e-commerce or other online-centric b2c or b2b plays.

Digital Irish aims to give Irish startups a soft landing in NYC through regular fast-pitch meetup events. You can join the group (it's free!) here.