Food producers win five Great Taste Awards
WICKLOW producers performed well at the International Great Taste Awards, with no less than five Star Awards heading home to the Garden County.
The awards, organised by the Guild of Fine Food, are acknowledged as the benchmark for fine food and drink and have been described as the ‘Oscars of the food world’.
Miena’s Handmade Nougat, based in the Glen of Imaal, received a coveted 2 Star Award. Miena’s handmade almond and fig nougat is part of the Simply Better Collection at Dunnes Stores and was one of over 12,000 products blind-tasted by a panel of industry experts, including acclaimed chefs, restaurateurs and food critics, to find the best tasting entries, with less than 15 per cent awarded 2 stars.
Miena Rust is South African and has lived in Ireland for 17 years. She was an architect by profession but was made redundant in 2010. Living in rural Wicklow, there were not many job opportunities, which led her to her pursing her ultimate passion: making nougat.
‘ To be recognised with such a prestigious Great Taste Award is a dream come true, and something that would not have been possible for a small producer like myself without the support of the Simply Better team,’ she said.
‘I am proud to collaborate with people who are as passionate about quality Irish food as I am. The collaboration has opened up so many doors for me, allowing my business to grow and has given me the opportunity to share my quality products with customers across Ireland’.
McCabe’s Coffee topped the award count for all Irish coffee roasters. The business, located in Newtown Business Park, received two 1 Star Gold Awards for their organic Guatemalan medium roast Catuai from Finca Ceylan and for their post blended medium and light roast Mocha Java Reserve from Yirgacheff, Ethiopian and Sulawesi.
They also received a 2 Gold Star Award for their organic Brazil medium roast yellow bourbon from Nossa Senhora de Fatima.
Wicklow Way Wines, also located in Newtown Business Park, received a 1 Gold Star for their Irish Strawberry Wine which is created from hand-picked Irish strawberries, with around 150 small strawberries in each bottle.