Great Taste, the world’s most coveted food awards, which celebrates the very best in food and drink, has announced the Great Taste stars of 2017.Out of over 12,300 products to be judged, Good Carma Foods in Carmarthenshire West Wales was awarded a 1-starGreat Taste award, which means judges dubbed it simply delicious for its Spread Sensation a mature cashew based cheddar cheese alternative. Some of the judges comments were  “A great product concept, it spreads well, it makes a tasty spread, it’s a little sweet, which probably comes from the white miso.  Not too salty, and natural tasting which makes a pleasant change for a cheese alternative”.

Judged by over 500 of the most demanding palates, belonging to food critics, chefs, cooks, restaurateurs and producers as well as a whole host of food writers and journalists, Great Taste is widely acknowledged as the most respected food accreditation scheme for artisan and speciality food producers. 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.    

It has been a n emotional journey and I am so proud to receive this award.

“I started Good Carma Foods in memory of my Mum who passed away in 2013. I had never entered Great Taste before and thought this year I would make my Mum proud and enter as it is such a renowned award to get.

My husband and I are going to celebrate with a lovely walk with our dog in the welsh hills and a picnic. We will then  drive down the coast to our local restaurant for a meal.  We have also just done a tasting session in a local health store called Brontosaurus in Swansea”.  explains  Charlotte Bates, Owner of Good Carma Foods.

Recognised as a stamp of excellence among consumers and retailers alike, Great Taste values taste above all else, with no regard for branding and packaging. Whether it is gin, biscuits, sausages or coffee being judged, all products are removed from their wrapper, jar, box or bottle before being tasted. The judges then savour, confer and re-taste to decide which products are worthy of a 1-, 2- or 3-star award.

There were 12,366 Great Taste entries this year and of those products, 165 have been awarded a 3-star,1,011 received a 2-star and 3,171 were awarded a 1-star accolade. The panel of judges included; chef, food writer and author, Gill Meller, MasterChef judge and restaurant critic, Charles Campion, author and chef, Zoe Adjonyoh, baker, Tom Herbert, and food writer and baking columnist Martha Collison as well as food buyers from Fortnum & Mason, Selfridges, and Harvey Nichols. These esteemed palates have together tasted and re-judged the 3-star winners to finally agree on the 2017 Top 50 Foods, the Golden Fork Trophy winners and the 2017Supreme Champion.

Great Taste 2017 will reach its exciting finale on Monday 4th September, when the world of fine food gathers at the Intercontinental Park Lane Hotel, London to find out the Golden Fork winners for each region at an Awards Dinner, with the final applause reserved for the Great Taste Supreme Champion 2017.  

Date: 15.8.17

For more information: Charlotte Bates, Owner, email charlotte@goodcarmafoods.com or call  + 44 (0) 7855 354516.

Great Taste Press Enquiries:

Amy Brice at Freshly Ground PR; email amy@freshlygroundpr.co.uk or call +44 (0) 7717893123.

Irish Baker Scoops top spot at 10 year anniversary FreeFrom Food Awards

Irish bakers, BFree were last night presented with ‘Marble Mo’, the FreeFrom Food Oscar for 2017, for their Sweet Potato Wrap.

Judges praised the wrap not only for being ‘enormously versatile, beautifully soft and pliable, a lovely warm colour and tasting delicious’ but for being free of all of the major 14 allergens. ‘A totally inclusive, totally delicious product – just what a freefrom food ought to be!’

BFree were only one of over 30 winners to be presented with their certificates by Antony Worrall Thompson before 350 guests at the Royal College of Physicians last night.

Other winners included Asda, BoojaBooja, Del Ugo pasta, Rule of Crumb from Northern Ireland, Tesco and the West Cornwall Pasty Company, with Tesco winning Retailer of the Year for the third year running. (See below for full list.)

In celebration of the Awards 10^th Anniversary Clare Marriage of Doves Farm Foods was crowned as the Awards’ Freefrom Superhero for the massive contribution that the Doves Farm flours and foods have made to the freefrom industry over the last ten years.

All guests were give a copy of an anniversary book, FreeFrom and the Awards – 10 years on, charting the rise of freefrom food through the prism of the awards.

‘It is hard to believe how far freefrom has come in the last ten years’,  said Michelle Berriedale-Johnson, director of the awards. ‘No matter where you look in the food world there are now excellent freefrom equivalents to standard offerings, many of them as good, or better – and often healthier – than the originals’.

Said Antony Worrall Thompson, long term patron of the awards: 

‘It is amazing how much has changed in just ten years. All credit to the poineering small producers who have followed their dreams to create wonderful freefrom foods – to the supermarkets who have backed them – and to the FreeFrom Food Awards who have encouraged and celebrated them!’ 

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