Fifteen of Europe’s most prominent chefs visited the ABP Plant in Bandon recently, as part of the Chefs Irish Beef club. The club is a Bord Bia initiative that unites Michelin star and well renowned chefs who promote or use Irish beef in high-end restaurants in Europe and further afield.

The primary focus of the Chef's Irish Beef Club is to emphasise the extremely high standards that exist in Irish beef production.

The two-day visit, which included a trip to the Old Midleton Distillery, lunch at the Malt house restaurant and a tour of the English Market in Cork, culminated in a comprehensive tour of the ABP Plant and Facility in Kilbrogab, Bandon.

The chefs had the opportunity to look at every stage of the meat production process and see first-hand what is involved in the preparation of the beef before it reaches their restaurants.

With almost 80 members worldwide of the Chefs Irish Beef club, the fifteen visiting chefs to ABP Bandon were from the UK.

Visiting chef, Mr Jonny Glass from Dinner by Heston Blumenthal said: “We take considerable pride in the food we serve to our customers in order to maintain the highest culinary standards possible. Our visit to ABP today reaffirms our commitment to Irish Hereford beef as we can be assured of the highest quality and be completely confident that the meat lives up to the standards we aspire to in our restaurant, having visited the plant today.”

Eoin Ryan of ABP, said: “We are delighted to welcome the culinary experts to our ABP Plant here in Bandon as part of the Chefs Irish Beef Club. Opening our doors to the chefs to see the care and consideration we put into our meat production, strengthens the relationship we have with these culinary experts, and proves the quality of our Irish beef”.