Wales Celebrates Its Great Tasting Food and Drink Stars

Wales celebrates its great tasting food and drink stars

Exceptional food and drink producers from across Wales are showcasing in the Great Taste Celebration Event in Cardiff Bay, following gold starred success at the UK’s Great Taste Awards.

Food and drink producers from across Wales who have been triumphant in gaining elusive gold stars at the UK-leading Great Taste awards have been invited to exhibit their award winning produce, in celebration of their success at the St David’s Hotel in Cardiff Bay on Tuesday 1 November 2016.

Hosted by the Welsh Government’s Cabinet Secretary for the Environment and Rural Affairs, Lesley Griffiths AM, the event aims to give producers a platform to highlight their produce at a national level, in addition to celebrating the producer’s success. Major food buyers from leading supermarkets, luxury department stores, specialist delicatessens and the public sector will all be in attendance eager to sample the best that Welsh food and drink has to offer.

Following the success of Welsh food and drinks at the Great Taste Awards, Cabinet Secretary, Lesley Griffiths AM commented,

“It truly is wonderful to see that so many Welsh food and drink producers have been recognised at the Great Taste Awards and it really highlights Wales as an area with the highest level of quality and innovation in food and drink production. We’re very proud of our food and drink sector in Wales and today gives us a chance to celebrate their success and them an opportunity to showcase exactly what Wales can produce on a wider stage. ”

The showcase has been organised by the Welsh Government’s Bwyd a Diod Cymru – Food and Drink Wales, the umbrella identity used to promote Welsh produce at home and abroad.

Often described as the ‘Oscars’ of the food world, this year Welsh food and drink producers won 125 awards across three categories with three products achieving an esteemed 3 star status with the Great Taste gold star accolades acting as a stamp of quality and excellence to customers and industry insiders alike.

This year, triple star winners originated each from North, South and Mid-Wales, demonstrating breadth and quality amongst food and drink producers right across Wales. In South Wales, Apple County Cider, based in Monmouth, scooped the Golden Fork from Wales award for a second successive year having gained three stars for their Dabinett Medium Cider. Hilltop Honey based in Caersws were triumphant with their Raw Thyme Honey in Mid-Wales, who were also presented with The Great Taste Nigel Barden Heritage Award.

Bodnant Welsh Food, based in Conwy, were victorious with their Traditional Welsh Caerphilly Cheese in North Wales.

Nigel Barden, Chairman of Judges for the esteemed Great Taste Awards, organised by the Guild of Fine Food, was delighted at the strength of the Welsh winners in this year’s GTA’s,

“A Great Taste award, be it one, two or three stars, is a magnificent achievement and a tangible sign of quality and excellence. The standard of Welsh entries is consistently high and reflects the ever increasing commitment to top notch food and drink emanating from the country.

I would be delighted if even more Welsh producers enter the Great Taste Awards in 2017, as GTA accreditation offers an invaluable platform to producers and retailers. The black and gold GTA sticker is recognised internationally, making it an excellent worldwide marketing tool.” 

In total, 125 Welsh products received Great Taste honours with 96 entries receiving 1-star, 26 receiving 2-star and 3 achieving the ultimate honour of 3 Great Taste stars.  Successful entrants ranging from new and emerging micro-businesses to established Welsh brands. One star means that’s the product was ‘Close to perfect’ whilst two stars represents the product being ‘faultless’ and three stars meaning ‘Wow, you must taste this’.

Each year, the Great Taste Awards are organised by the Guild of Fine Food and are among the world’s largest blind tested food ward schemes. Gold stars are an acknowledged benchmark for speciality food and drink products.

Apple County Cider, a small family business run by husband and wife Ben and Steph Culpin are incredibly proud of their continued achievements, proving that they are able to match their high quality with high consistency also,

“We are elated to have won this incredible award and for our efforts to be acknowledged in this way. Having won the Golden Fork from Wales award for the second year running is just unbelievable, it is a culmination of all our hard work over the years.

It is such an amazing feeling to know that some of the most discerning palates have blind-tasted a huge array of products, and have picked out ours for special commendation.”

Hilltop Honey is a Newtown based honey manufacturer. Already a household favourite and appearing on major supermarket shelves across the UK, owner Scott Davies explains that achieving the Great Taste Nigel Barden Heritage Award for its Great Taste 3 star award-winning Raw Thyme Honey just adds to what has already been an outstanding year.

“Out of 10,000 products entered in the Great Taste awards across the UK, only 141 were awarded 3 stars so for us to get that far was an achievement in itself. Winning this further award is just the icing on the cake – we couldn’t be more thrilled.”

Meanwhile, Bodnant Welsh Food, based in the heart of the Conwy valley, took away three gold stars for their Traditional Welsh Caerphilly Cheese. Having won 1 gold star in 2015 and this year gaining 2 stars for their Welsh Salted Butter, it was their Caerphilly Cheese which this year took the attention of the judges’ taste buds to earn them those coveted three gold stars.

Aled Rowlands, Bodnant Dairy manager, said: “We are over the moon at being given a three-star rating in the Great Taste competition, which is one of the biggest contests in the UK. The Caerphilly is a relatively new addition to our range and follows a traditional recipe… our salted butter is always one of the most popular products in the Bodnant Farm Shop, and after being awarded one star last year, we are delighted to have been awarded two stars this time around.”

Winners undergo rigorous testing from over 400 industry respected judges including top chefs, restauranteurs and acclaimed food writers to gain their gold stars. Judges test products blindly ensuring this award scheme is based on nothing but ‘Great Taste’.