Taste of success at awards
COUNTY’S BEST FOOD AND DRINK RECOGNISED
THE best food and drinks in Leicestershire have been named in the Great Taste Awards 2022.
A total of 19 products have been recognised in the annual awards, just announced.
From baklava cake to miso sauce, all are made in Leicestershire.
Great Taste organisers the Guild of Fine Food said the awards valued taste above everything else.
All products are removed from their packaging before being blind tasted. The judges, which number more than 500, then savour, confer and re-taste to decide which products are worthy of a 1, 2 or 3-star award.
This year’s line-up saw food and drink products submitted from 110 counties. Judges included head buyaward, ers from Selfridges, Whole Foods, Fortnum & Mason and Waitrose, BBC Good Food editor Keith Kendrick, Delicious editor Karen Barnes, Bake Off contestant and author Chetna Makan, MasterChef Professionals finalist Santosh Shah, food and drink consultant Mallika Basu, the BBC’s Nigel Barden, national journalists and food writers Gill Meller, Melissa Thompson and Georgina Hayden, among many others.
John Farrand, managing director of the Guild of Fine Food, said: “We are chuffed to be unveiling the list of
award-winners for 2022. It’s been another exceptional year of high quality, innovation and creativity.”
He added there had been a “steady increase” in plant-based products year-on-year.
“I was extremely impressed to see that many of the entries have come from businesses which started trading in the last year or two,” he added. “These are companies who incorporated in the middle of the most challenging period in economic and social history. And they’re thriving.
“It isn’t easy doing what these producers
do, neither for the start-ups nor the established businesses.
“Growing a business and a brand in the food industry has so many variables to consider from standards, to policies, learning to sell and market your products, and that’s before you think about aiming for excellence in the taste and flavour of your products. I have the utmost admiration for them all.”
Overall, 5,556 products received either a Great Taste 1-star award, for “food and drink that delivers fantastic flavour”, a Great Taste 2-star
for produce that is “above and beyond delicious”, or a Great Taste 3-star award, for “extraordinarily tasty food & drink”, out of 14,205 entries.
The producers can now display the black and gold Great Taste logo on their award-winning products. The logo states the year of the win, and whether the product was awarded 1, 2 or 3 gold stars.
The highest-scoring producers will now go through to the regional finals.
PieFest returns Page 16.