Wexford chocolate bar wins award
WEXFORD chocolataires Zaeire have won a Great Taste award.
Out of 10,000 products to be judged, Zaeire Artisan Chocolates, Murrintown, Wexford, was awarded a one star Great Taste award for its 54% Dark Chocolate Slab with whole roasted almonds, candied orange and golden raisins.
Owner Leigh Kelly started her business which is named after her native country South Africa (ZA) and Ireland (Eire).
Great Taste, the world’s most coveted blind-tasted food awards which celebrate the very best in food and drink, awarded the Wexford company, which was established in January 2015, the star for its quality ingredients and craftmanship.
The judges said: ‘ This chocolate delivers on the description and looks very appealing. A great sheen to the chocolate. A very easy bar to eat. The almonds, fruit and peel all add layers of flavour to this bar. The almonds are fresh and crisp, while the peel adds a little zingy note and the raisins are juicy.’
As well as a badge of honour, the unmistakeable black and gold Great Taste label is a signpost to a wonderful tasting product, which has been discovered through hours and hours of blind-tasting by hundreds of judges.
Leigh Kelly of Zaeire Artisan Chocolates said: ‘ This the first time I have entered a product into any awards and am absolutely delighted to be awarded a gold star from The Guild Of Fine Food. It makes all the hard work worthwhile. I feel like I’ve won the lottery. I know many other producers, especially from within the Wexford Food Family, of which I’m a member, and they have all explained the benefits of winning awards for your products. Not only does it raise the profile of your products and company, but it also attracts new retailers that are interested in stocking products with Great Taste Awards acclaim.’
The award-winning slabs are currently available in Karoo Farmshop, Killinick, The National Heritage Park, Wexford and Ronan’s Full & Plenty farm shop in New Ross.
There were 10,000 Great Taste entries this year and of those products, 141 have been awarded a three-star, 878 received a two-star and 2,520 were awarded a one-star accolade. The panel of judges included: TV chef Valentine Warner, MasterChef judge and restaurant critic, Charles Campion, fifth generation baker, Tom Herbert from Hobbs House Bakery, and Great British Bake Off winner, Frances Quinn; food buyers from Harrods, Selfridges, Fortnum & Mason, Harvey Nichols and Waitrose and chefs including, James Golding, chef director of THE PIG Hotels, and Kevin Gratton, chef director of HIX Restaurants.
These esteemed palates have together tasted and re-judged the 3-star winners to finally agree on the 2016 Top 50 Foods, the Golden Fork Trophy winners and the 2016 Supreme Champion.
Great Taste 2016 will reach its exciting finale on Monday, September 5.