Best Food and Agriculture Companies in Northern Ireland, United Kingdom
The 49 best Food and Agriculture companies in Northern Ireland, United Kingdom in 2026, ranked by funding and momentum. Funding, investors, founders, valuation, tech stack and live signals. Top: Mash Direct.
Our analysis of 75 Food and Agriculture companies
$9.3b in tracked funding; 92% of the stack-profiled cohort runs cloud-native; funding activity peaked in 2025.
Ranked: Best Food and Agriculture companies in Northern Ireland
| # | Company | Disclosed funding | Last round | Stage | Founder | Founded | Tech stack | Recent signals |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mash Direct Brand of frozen ready meals | $13M | 78 mo ago | Funding Raised | Martin Hamilton Founder | 2004 | Cart FunctionalityWooCommerceWordPress+27 | 1 expansion · 2 awards |
| 2 | Mackle Food Company Manufacturer of extruded snacks for various markets, including baby & toddler, organic, conventional 60Fin. health top 32%Growth top 36%Funding top 40%Market bottom 49% All 7 signals ▾Fin. healthtop 32% Growthtop 36% Fundingtop 40% Marketbottom 49% Techbottom 34% Globalbottom 32% Newsbottom 21% Fin. health: Revenue ~$28.4M · Revenue +19% YoY Growth: Headcount 81 → 111 (+37%) across vintages · Revenue +19% YoY rank vs industry peers · Fliar Intelligence Index 60/100 | $8M | 17 mo ago | Series A | — | 2005 | WordPressMySQLPHP+16 | 1 launch |
| 3 | Titanic Distillers Brand of wine 67Growth top 35%Talent top 38%Tech top 44%Funding top 48% All 5 signals ▾Growthtop 35% Talenttop 38% Techtop 44% Fundingtop 48% Globalbottom 36% Growth: Fresh capital in last 24 mo Talent: 2 named leaders on record · 2 C-suite/founder profiles curated rank vs industry peers · Fliar Intelligence Index 67/100 | $6M | 17 mo ago | Series A | Peter Lavery Founder & Director | 2018 | ShopifyAmazon Web ServicesDigismoothie Candy Rack+28 | 3 awards |
| 4 | Bia Analytical Provider of food safety testing services | $2M | 34 mo ago | Seed | Chris Elliott Founder | 2020 | WordPressMySQLPHP+21 | — |
| 5 | Boatyard Distillery Provider of premium Irish gin and vodka | $916K | 74 mo ago | Seed | Joe McGirr Founder & CEO | 2016 | Concrete CMSPHPBootstrap+15 | 2 partnerships |
| 6 | Bold Bean Internet first brand offering subscription-based multi-category bean products | $195K | 51 mo ago | Seed | Ed Whelpton Co-Founder | 2021 | ShopifyShop PayApple Pay+23 | — |
| 7 | AD Fertilizer Technologies Developer of organic granular fertiliser from anaerobic digestate | $121K | 81 mo ago | Funding Raised | Quinton Fivelman Founder & CEO | 2013 | — | — |
| 8 | Bob & Berts Chain of coffee | $18K | 75 mo ago | Funding Raised | — | 2013 | Cart FunctionalityWooCommerceWordPress+25 | — |
| 9 | Around Noon Chain of limited service restaurant offering sandwiches | — | 3 mo ago | Funding Raised | — | 1989 | Tailwind CSSNginxAlpine.js+7 | 1 partnership |
Top 11 Food and Agriculture companies in Northern Ireland
#1
Series A · Dungannon, Northern Ireland · founded 2005 · 111 employees$7.8Mraised▾
Mackle Food Company is a leading manufacturer of premium extruded snacks, serving various markets such as baby & toddler, organic, and conventional. The company specializes in developing and manufacturing a diverse range of snacks, including organic, free from, and functional varieties. With a strong focus on quality and safety, Mackle Food Company is committed to delivering high-quality products to its customers.
- Feb 2025Series A$7.8M
#2
Series A · Belfast, Northern Ireland · founded 2018$6.3Mraised▾
Brand of wine
- Feb 2025Series A$6.3M
#3
Funding Raised · Comber, Northern Ireland · founded 2004 · 214 employees$13.1Mraised▾
Brand of frozen ready meals
- Jan 2020Conventional Debt$13.1M
#4
Seed · Belfast, Northern Ireland · founded 2020 · 5 employees$1.5Mraised▾
Provider of food safety testing services. It develops advanced AI-powered authenticity screening models using spectroscopy and chemometrics to provide rapid, reliable, and accessible testing solutions at various points in the supply chain. The company primarily serves food manufacturers, retailers, and suppliers to help ensure product quality, fight food fraud, and streamline quality control processes.
- Sep 2023Seed$1.2M
- May 2020Seed$209.3K
- Mar 2020Seed$116.1K
#5
Seed · Enniskillen, Northern Ireland · founded 2016 · 17 employees$916Kraised▾
Provider of premium Irish gin and vodka. It produces a core range of spirits such as Boatyard Double Gin, Old Tom Gin, Sloe Boat Gin, and Vodka, using organic and locally sourced ingredients. It emphasizes place‑based provenance, sustainable practices, and distillery‑based experiences rather than software, platforms, or digital‑tech products.
- May 2020Seed$777.3K
- Mar 2018Conventional Debt$138.7K
#6
Seed · Northern Ireland · founded 2021 · 8 employees$195.1Kraised▾
Internet first brand offering subscription-based multi-category bean products. The product catalog includes chickpeas, butter beans, white beans, and more. It also offers organically made products, bundle packs, and taster packs. It offers a subscription model for users in which they deliver a bundle pack biweekly.
- Apr 2022Seed$195.1K
#7
Funding Raised · Belfast, Northern Ireland · founded 2013 · 1 employees$120.9Kraised▾
Developer of organic granular fertiliser from anaerobic digestate. This process concentrates nutrients from liquid digestate, creating a value-added fertiliser easier to store and transport than liquid alternatives. The resulting product eliminates the need for expensive wastewater treatment for companies and farmers. The technology uses a low-cost, bolt-on device for existing anaerobic digestion plants.
- Oct 2019Grant (prize money)$55.6K
- May 2019Grant (prize money)$65.3K
#8
Funding Raised · Portstewart, Northern Ireland · founded 2013 · 800 employees$18.5Kraised▾
Chain of coffee
- Apr 2020Grant (prize money)$18.5K
#9
Funding Raised · Newry, Northern Ireland · founded 1989 · 800 employees$14.6Mraised▾
Chain of limited service restaurant offering sandwiches
- May 2026Unattributed—
#10
Acquired · Belfast, Northern Ireland · founded 1994 · 76 employees—raised▾
Manufacturer and supplier of freshly made pre-packed sandwiches and snacks to the foodservice industry. The company provides a range of products that includes fresh sandwiches, paninis, wraps, hot and cold pasta meals and fruit salads to local retailers, convenience store operators and coffee shops.
#11
Funding Raised · Londonderry, Northern Ireland · founded 1905—raised▾
Restaurant serving alcoholic drinks and dishes
Funding & investor landscape
Notable founders
Market landscape — 10 sub-themes by coverage
Share of Food and Agriculture coverage by sub-theme.
Regulatory-risk over time rising
Funding & growth over time
funding rising · growth rising
How research on Agritech is moving in the United Kingdom
A read on the academic research around Agritech — which themes are gaining ground, the institutions and researchers driving them, and how the tone is shifting. Based on 199 United Kingdom-affiliated papers.
- University of Bristol15
- University of Lincoln12
- University of Sussex7
- University of Oxford7
- University of Reading6
- Agriculture8
- Robot5
- Precision agriculture3
- Field (mathematics)2
- Testbed2
- Agriculture3→31
- Food security2→9
- Climate change1→6
- Agriculture4→36
- Food security1→6
- Climate change2→6
Where agritech is researched across United Kingdom
Location clusters by institution affiliation — each city's volume, stance tone, and a quick read on its hot topic, what's advancing, the opening opportunity, and the main concern.
Who's filing agritech patents in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom agritech patent filing is cooling — 3 filings from 7 assignees (2024–2025), led by S&A Group Holdings, IBM UK, IBM; annual filings 2→1.
- S&A Group Holdings6
- IBM UK1
- IBM1
- Suffern Edward1
- Wooldridge James1
- Bozek James1
- Francis Kellie1
Common questions
Riya reads income statements for fun. She covers the real money in a sector — revenue, growth, who actually earns — and never met a vague claim she didn't want a number for.