Top ratings are given out to food producers

THE finale of the 2016 Great Taste awards has come to end with numerous Hampshire entrants winning awards.
From left, John Farrand from the Guild of Fine Food, Saskia Porretta, Catriona Watt-Smith and Romy Miller of The Bread Factory, Jason Fisher from Anthony Rowcliffe & Son and Tristan Kaye of The Bread 
Picture: Richard FaulksFrom left, John Farrand from the Guild of Fine Food, Saskia Porretta, Catriona Watt-Smith and Romy Miller of The Bread Factory, Jason Fisher from Anthony Rowcliffe & Son and Tristan Kaye of The Bread 
Picture: Richard Faulks
From left, John Farrand from the Guild of Fine Food, Saskia Porretta, Catriona Watt-Smith and Romy Miller of The Bread Factory, Jason Fisher from Anthony Rowcliffe & Son and Tristan Kaye of The Bread Picture: Richard Faulks

The competition was won by London’s The Bread Factory, which competed against 10,000 other entrants to win the award for best food or drink with its seeded cracker.

The Great Taste Golden Fork awards, which began in 1994, were set up as a way to help smaller producers gain recognition for their produce and are now the largest 
accreditation scheme for fine food and drink in this country.

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Though the awards do allow larger producers to enter, it focuses on attracting smaller producers as winning an award helps them to compete against supermarket brands.

On average, sales of a product increase by 20 per cent if it has a Great Taste sticker on the packaging which buyers see as a mark of quality.

‘Great Taste awards differ from other awards as they allow producers to get feedback from the judges’, said Tortie Farrand, marketing director at the Guild of Fine Food which organises the awards.

‘It means that producers can understand how to tweak recipes to submit and perhaps win another year.’

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All entries go through rigorous judging which takes place over 50 days.

Of all 10,000 entries, 141 were selected and given a three-star rating, the highest achievable in the awards.

These were recalled and judged again in London, where the top 18 products were then judged by a final panel and a supreme champion was crowned.

The winners were announced at the Great Taste Golden Forks Dinner held on September 5 at the Royal Garden Hotel in Kensington.

The winners....

THREE-STAR RATING

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n Highest quality Persian saffron from Black Saffron at Funtington Hall, Funtington.

n Belly pork black pepper & sea salt coated from Farmer’s Choice Free Range Ltd., in Crompton Way, Segensworth

n Organic pork belly from Home Farm, Goodwood

TWO-STAR RATING

n Russet apple juice from Hill Farm, Swanmore

n Organic topside of beef from Home Farm, Goodwood.

ONE-STAR RATING

n Hampshire peppercorn sauce, from The Shoe Inn, in Exton

n Back bacon oak Smoked, from Farmer’s Choice Free Range Ltd., Crompton Way, Segensworth

n Finest porchetta, from Beretta UK Sales, The Old Treasury, in Kings Road, Southsea

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n Mini lamb roast, Farmer’s Choice Free Range Ltd., Crompton Way, Segensworth West

n Minced pork, from Farmer’s Choice Free Range Ltd., Crompton Way, Segensworth West

n Traditional organic pork sausage from Home Farm, Goodwood

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