On the dairy farm outside Dungarvan where Eunice Power grew up, quality Irish ingredients were not a food trend; they were simply how the family ate.
Beef and milk came from the land around them, new potatoes were eagerly awaited, and September might see her father return from particular fields with a cap full of mushrooms. It is an appreciation she now brings to her role as a Tesco Ireland Foodie and her support for Blas na hÉireann, which celebrates the quality of food and drink produced across Ireland.
“We had a very simple life, and we really embraced seasonality,” she says. “I think the smells of the countryside growing up were a huge thing for us. The honeysuckles, the elderflower, embracing the rowan berries, just embracing seasons.”
Held annually in Dingle, Blas is Ireland’s largest blind tasting of Irish produce, with every product assessed on its own merits. For Eunice, that independent recognition can have a powerful effect on the businesses behind the food.
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“Any food or drink business winning Blas na hÉireann recognition for a product, it’ll result in a huge boost to their business profile and to their sales,” she says.
For finalists and winners, the awards offer a national showcase and an opportunity to meet buyers and fellow producers. Tesco buyers across all categories actively encourage suppliers to enter Blas and offer guidance on the categories most suited to their products, helping more Irish producers put their food forward for consideration.
“The premise of the Blas awards is [that] the food has to be produced in Ireland,” says Power. “A lot of the core range and Tesco Finest products, the Irish products, will be Blas na hÉireann award winners. That goes back to the research, the time and the efforts that Tesco put into producing their ranges.”
In all, Tesco products, produced in partnership with 33 different Irish suppliers, came home with a grand total of 86 honours at this year’s Blas na hÉireann Awards, including 29 gold, 30 silver, 24 bronze and three Chef’s Larder awards.
“Last Friday was a proud day for Tesco and the Irish producers it works alongside, with 86 awards brought home from Blas na hÉireann in Dingle. The wins are a celebration of Irish food and, above all, of the producers whose hard work earns the recognition.”
Food has taken Power from catering kitchens to television studios, but the thread running through her work is still the same: an interest in the ingredient and the person who produced it. The Dungarvan-based chef, food writer, broadcaster and entrepreneur runs Eunice Power Catering and the award-winning takeaway AndChips. She is a regular cook on RTÉ’s Today, the author of My Irish Kitchen Table and chief executive of Waterford Festival of Food. In May, she was named All-Ireland Local Food Hero at the 2026 Irish Restaurant Awards.
Her work as a Tesco Ireland foodie, which began in 2025, has brought her around the country to meet growers and suppliers, see their work at first hand and learn more about the relationships that allow Irish food businesses to expand.
“I hadn’t realised that Tesco was the biggest buyer of Irish food in the world,” she says. “I didn’t know how they grow businesses with the opportunities they give them.”
Tesco works with more than 500 Irish food and drink suppliers. Power points to John Dockrell, a lettuce grower who told her that the retailer collected his produce directly rather than requiring him to find his own distributor, as an example of “the support I’ve seen them giving suppliers”.
Another of those businesses is O’Hanlon Herbs, a previous Blas winner and a finalist again in 2026. The business began as a hobby in the founder’s parents’ back garden and has worked with Tesco for 30 years. Power says many of their decisions about growth have been made with Tesco because expansion depends on having a market for the produce.
She was also struck by the approach inside the company’s extensive glasshouses, where large plastic flycatchers trap insects without the use of pesticides. In her own kitchen, she regularly uses O’Hanlon Herbs, particularly the basil, coriander and mint.
The visits have brought home to Power how far many consumers have become removed from food production and how much knowledge that was once commonplace has been lost.
“For us as children, we had much more awareness of where food came from,” she says. “We lost that, but now I feel it’s coming back again, but honestly, not to a huge level.”
A Tesco film made with the Gilpin family, who grow Brussels sprouts in Co Louth, drew surprised reactions from people who had not known that sprouts grow on stalks in fields. More recently, Power filmed with Dockrell, who produces Little Gem lettuce outdoors in Wexford, where every crop remains vulnerable to too much or too little rain.
“People say, ‘how can you run out?’ Well, you can run out because you don’t have enough rain, you have too much rain,” she explains.
The Tesco product development team work closely with the producers in developing their products and their entry into Blas, offering guidance on categories.
Blas recognition can provide a significant boost to a producer’s profile and sales, but she repeatedly returns to the encouragement it offers. For Power, Tesco’s scale offers Irish producers an opportunity to reach more customers, enter new markets and grow their businesses, while Blas na hÉireann gives them independent recognition for the quality of what they make.
“I find that Tesco focusing on the Blas na hÉireann Awards really speaks volumes about their commitment to Irish food culture.”
Eunice’s Blas-winning favourites
Picking favourites is tough, as every product held its own, but a few have a special place in my kitchen.
- A staple is the Tesco Finest Potato Gratin from Ballymaguire Foods. It’s creamy, rich and endlessly useful, my ace in the fridge and a seriously good shortcut when time is tight.
- Bandon Vale’s Tesco Finest Vintage Irish White Cheddar was deservedly honoured.
- It’s superb on its own, but even better alongside the Tesco Finest Halloween Barmbrack produced by Irwin’s, which also made the awards list.
- Spread the brack with award-winning Tesco Finest Salted Butter by Tirlán, add a slice of cheddar, and tuck in.
- The wonderful Folláin based in west Cork are no strangers to the Blas podium. One of their winning products is Tesco Finest Tomato and Habanero Chilli Relish, which has a permanent residency in my fridge; its punchy, smoky flavour is utterly addictive and elevates everything I pair it with.
