We Are Winners!

What are the Great Taste Awards?

The awards are given in an annual contest open to food and beverage companies that are producing exceptional products.

Awarded by the Guild of Fine Food, they are an ideal opportunity to gain recognition for specialty and artisan food or drink producers looking to build their brand in a competitive marketplace.

The aim of the awards is to unearth high quality and unique food products from manufacturers all across the country, and expose them to a wider audience.

Entrants provide a sample of their product to be judged by a group of experts as explained below.

The winners are able to promote that their products have been given a stamp of quality from a well-known organisation and judged on their unique taste.

 

How to enter (and maybe win!)

First up you need an exceptional product. This is easier said than done – standards are high and it is the taste and texture of the food, not the quality of the packaging, that will determine your success.

Entries are open early in the year and begin with a basic online account and form. There is a fee for each product entered, which varies depending on the size of your business, and there is also a cap of around 13,000 on the total number of entries – so it helps to get in early!

Judging is carried out over several weeks beginning shortly after the closing date for entries. Over 500 specialist judges work in small teams of 3 or 4 people, with a balance of age, gender and experience.

Each of your products will be tasted by at least 6 individual judges and are blind-tested so there is no risk of bias or favouritism – it’s all about the look, smell and, most importantly, the taste of the food itself.

All participants are given detailed instructions explaining how they should prepare and deliver their product to the judges beforehand as different foods and beverages have certain storage and packaging considerations.

Winning products are given 1, 2 or 3 stars – the more the better! In total in 2019 there were over 12,000 products entered:

• 208 achieved 3 stars
• 1,326 achieved 2 stars
• 3,409 achieved 1 star

There are no limits on the number of products that can get a star at each level – if every single entry was somehow top quality next year, they could all get 3!