Great Taste Awards 2012 announced

After a long wait, finally the winners of the Great Taste Awards 2012 have been announced, and as usual South West producers have picked up a huge haul of awards.

This year had seen more applications for the prestigious foodie awards than ever before;

Total number of products judged – 8807
Total number of companies entered – 1823
Total number of Awards given – 2793
Total number of 3-star Awards – 123
Total number of 2-star Awards – 631
Total number of 1-star Awards – 2039
Total number of judging days – 45

Friends of The Chefs Forum who picked up at least one award included: Hillside Speciality Foods, Pipers Farm, Quickes Traditional Ltd, The Upton Cheyney Chilli Company, Lovely Drinks and Global Harvest Ltd. To see the complete list of winners visit the Great Taste Awards here: www.greattasteawards.co.uk

The Great Taste accreditation scheme, run by The Guild of Fine Food, is recognised by both producers and consumers, as a sign of quality.

Judges this year included Masterchef winner and restaurateur Mat Follas, restaurant critic and Masterchef judge Charles Campion, food writers Lucas Hollweg and Xanthe Clay and over 300 food buyers from leading food halls, delicatessens and farm shops, including Harrods, Selfridges and Fortnum & Mason.

Guild of Fine Food chairman Bob Farrand said: ‘To achieve a Great Taste award is a significant achievement and for a product to merit a three star grading involves at least 25 experts unanimously agreeing that the product tastes divine.’