What Does It Take to Bake a Loaf of National Standing?

Every year the judges of the Quality Food & Drink Awards taste hundreds of products from across Ireland — and only a handful make the final. This year, our Country Loaf is among them. It's the same 700g sourdough-style loaf our bakers shape and slow-prove every single night — only now it wears a finalist badge, and you may have already spotted it on our home page.

The loaf behind the badge

The Country Loaf is the simplest kind of bread to describe and the hardest to make well. A slow prove gives it deep, complex flavour; the oven gives it a rustic, flour-dusted crust; and inside waits an open, airy crumb with that unmistakable tang of traditional country bread. No shortcuts — just carefully selected flours, time, and a night shift that knows what it's doing.

Over the years it has become one of our best sellers — a favourite of foodies and Eastern European families alike. It's the loaf people put on Irish cheese boards, tear into alongside a bowl of soup, toast into bruschetta, or build a proper sandwich around.

Scale — and the standard of craft

We are Ireland's largest ethnic bakery. Every night, while the country sleeps, our ovens run at full tilt — and by dawn fresh bread is on its way to 300+ stores, from Dublin supermarkets to local shops in Donegal. Baking at that scale while holding the kind of quality a national awards jury notices — that is the hardest part of our trade. And the most rewarding.

What happens next

A finalist place means the judges have tasted their way through the category and put our loaf among the best in it. So now we do the only sensible thing a bakery can do: keep baking it exactly the way that got it there, and wait for the final verdict.

If you haven't tried the Country Loaf yet, it's baked tonight and on the shelf tomorrow morning in 300+ stores across Ireland — our store locator will point you to the nearest one. And if you're one of the people who already bring it home every week: this finalist badge is half yours. Thank you.