National award for Dunbia’s top development chef
Andrew Brondon, Group Head Development Chef at Dunbia, the Northern Ireland headquartered meat processor, has been named ‘Best Own Label Development Chef’ in the influential Grocer magazine’s recent ‘Best Own Label Awards’.
Mr Brondon joined Dunbia in 2007 and has been at the forefront of creating hundreds of new meals in conjunction with many leading retailers.
In its citation for the prestigious award, the Grocer judges said: “Andrew doesn’t have an easy job. Each day is a tightrope when you’re juggling the expectations and demands of several high-profile retailers, but Andrew Brondon does it with style. Andrew has over 20 years of culinary experience and uses a collaborative approach to bring over 100 new concepts to customers each year.”
The judges praised Mr Brondon’s’s ability, in particular, to “bring something new to the table each time” as well as his record of careful relationship management: it takes immense skill to regularly pitch new products to retailers”. And this is what he has been doing very successfully for the past 12 years and is looking forward to continuing to do in 2020 and beyond.
He is justifiably proud of the Grocer’s praise for his work and is quick to acknowledge the contribution of the other unsung heroes of his team. “This award has provided an opportunity to shine a spotlight on our new product development team at Dunbia, which I am proud to lead and to share this award with,” he says.
“Development chefs are the industry innovators, who work tirelessly behind the scenes to develop exciting on-trend applications using an extensive breadth of technologies, whilst maximising the value for retailers. The Grocer award gives the whole team here at Dunbia the recognition they genuinely deserve,” he continues.
Mr Brondon joined Dunbia as Group Head Development Chef in 2007 from an ethnic cuisine retailer in Britain and currently splits his time between Dungannon and the meat processor’s operations in Britain.
Dunbia began as a family butchery business in Moygashel, Co Tyrone owned by brothers Jack and Jim Dobson in 1976 before agreeing a strategic alliance with Waterford-based Dawn Meats in 2017. The Dobson brothers developed the business to one of Europe’s most successful and creative in meat processing, especially premium beef. It continues to play a pivotal role in the vibrant local food industry.
Andrew and his team work closely with major UK retailers.
He’s worked with them to create popular dishes such as beef stronganoff, a slow cooked diced beef in a creamy stroganoff sauce, with portobello mushrooms and onion wedges); duck à l'orange, slow cooked half duck with a burnt orange and sage rub and an orange and red wine sauce; and lamb shoulder with honey and rosemary, also slow cooked lamb shoulder marinated in herbs and spices with a redcurrant, rosemary and honey glaze.
His role includes travelling the globe on “trend spotting missions, to discover fresh flavour insights and new fusion flavours.
“Once these key food trends have been discovered, I will identify and evaluate why a particular flavour combination works. I take these concepts and ingredients and develop on-trend recipes, formulas and products that best showcase these flavour combinations,” he explains.
Taking a new product idea from development kitchen to commercial production can take up to six months. “We work on comprehensive briefs for numerous retail partners, with respect to specific product requirements and developing new concepts into viable market ready products. Timescales vary depending upon the product and customer specifications.
He prefers working with beef because “It can be enjoyed in so many different and tasty ways. It is versatile, nutritious and naturally contains essential nutrients that help keep the body healthy and strong”.