Our Local Stars!
Great Taste is the world’s largest food and drink accreditation scheme based entirely on taste with every star awarded a recognition of a great achievement. However this year many members have also been awarded 2-Stars and four Hampshire Fare members have achieved the rare accolade of 3-Stars – namely Church Paddock Fishery for their Vistong Original, Hockey’s Farm Shop for their Rare Breed British Lop Spare Rib of Pork, Lyburn Farmhouse Cheesemakers for Stoney Cross and The Wasabi Company for Sansho Spiced Rum.
Established in 1994, Great Taste is organised by the Guild of Fine Food and is the world’s largest, longest standing and most respected food accreditation scheme for artisan and speciality food producers. This year it celebrated its 30th anniversary with a staggering 14,195 entries from 109 countries blind tasted by more than 500 judges over 89 judging days. Altogether 4,088 products were awarded a Great Taste 1-star for ‘food and drink that delivers fantastic flavour’; 1,568 were awarded a Great Taste 2-star for ‘above and beyond delicious’; and just 248 were awarded a Great Taste 3-star ‘extraordinarily tasty food and drink'. Only 1.8% of entries received a 3-star.
Recognised as a stamp of excellence and actively sought out by food lovers and retailers alike, Great Taste values taste above all else. All products are blind-tasted with every product removed from its packaging before entering a robust, layered judging process. The distinguished judging panel consists of chefs (among them Hampshire’s James Golding, Chef Director of THE PIG), critics, recipe developers, senior buyers (from the likes of Fortnum & Mason, Harrods and Waitrose), journalists (including Felicity Cloake and Xanthe Clay), retailers, broadcasters, and industry professionals.
Look out for the sign of the Great Taste star in your local deli, farm shop and independent retail outlet. Past winners have stated that displaying a Great Taste sticker has increased sales by as much as 50%! For the full list of this year’s winners visit www.greattasteawards.co.uk. A list of Hampshire Fare members are listed below in alphabetical order.
Three Stars
Church Paddock Fishery Vistong Original
Hockey’s Farm Shop Rare Breed British Lop Spare Rib of Pork
Lyburn Farmhouse Cheesemakers Stoney Cross
The Wasabi Company Sansho Spiced Rum
Two Stars
Butler Country Estates Smoked Trout Pate with Beetroot & Horseradish
ChalkStream Foods Ltd ChalkStream Smoked Trout Terrine
Chococo 43% Colombia Oat Milk Chocolate Gelato
Forest Edge Roasting Muddy Paws
Hill Farm Juice Pear With Apple Juice
Jude’s Ice Cream Flat White Coffee
Jude’s Ice Cream Salted Caramel Bars
Jude’s Ice Cream Vegan Chocolate Ice Cream
Laverstoke Park Farm Buffalomi
New Forest Shortbread Rosemary Flavoured New Forest Shortbread
Sky Park Farm Smoked Back Bacon
Sky Park Farm Smoked Dry Cured Streaky Bacon
Sky Park Farm Unsmoked Back Bacon
Sky Park Farm Unsmoked Streaky Bacon
Summerdown Summerdown Peppermint Dark Chocolate Crisp Bar
The Garlic Farm Oak Smoked Garlic Butter
The Hampshire Cheese Company Tunworth Cheese
The Hampshire Cheese Company Winslade Cheese
The Homemade Brownie Company Christmas Cake Chocolate Brownie
Wild Island Raspberry Vinegar
One Star
Beres Bakes Stilton & Walnut Sourdough
Chococo 47% Colombia Milk Chocolate
Chococo 72% Ecuador Origin Dark Chocolate
Chococo Tawny Port & Fig
Chococo Black Forest Gateaux
Dampney’s Remarkable Drinks Elegant Elderflower Gin Liqueur
Dampney’s Remarkable Drinks Dampney’s Sloe Gin Liqueur
Dampney’s Remarkable Drinks Dampney’s Rustic Rhubarb Gin Liqueur
Downton Distillery Chardonnay Vodka
Downton Distillery Fifteen
Hill Farm Juice English Juice With Raspberry
Hockey’s Farm Shop Rare Breed British Lop Loin of Pork
Hockey’s Farm Shop British Lop Rare Breed Olde English Pannage Pork Sausages
Jude’s Ice Cream Plant-Based Chocolate Brownie
Jude’s Ice Cream Plant-Based Chocolate Shake
Jude’s Ice Cream Plant-Based Honeycomb
Jude’s Ice Cream Plant-Based Madagascan Vanilla
Jude’s Ice Cream Plant-Based Mint Chocolate
Jude’s Ice Cream Plant-Based Mocha Shake
Jude’s Ice Cream Lower Calorie Salted Caramel Ice Cream
Jude’s Ice Cream Lower Calorie Bar Madagascar Vanilla Ice Cream with Belgian Chocolate Coating
Jude’s Ice Cream Lower Calorie Flat White Coffee
Jude’s Ice Cream Dairy Mint Choc Chip Stickbar
Jude’s Ice Cream Ginger Spice
Jude’s Ice Cream Salted Caramel Crunch
Jude’s Ice Cream Vegan Salted Caramel Ice Cream
Jude’s Ice Cream Vegan Strawberry Ice Cream
Laverstoke Park Farm Organic Buffalo Bocconcini
Laverstoke Park Farm Black Pudding
Lyburn Farmhouse Cheesemakers Lyburn Lightly Oak Smoked
Lyburn Farmhouse Cheesemakers Old Winchester
Mavrik Drinks Venetian Spice
Mavrik Drinks Storm & Spice
Moonroast Coffee Moonshot
Naked Jam Raspberry Jam
New Forest Shortbread Earl Grey flavoured New Forest Shortbread
Plot 34A Chillis Hot & Smokey Peanut Butter
Plot 34A Chillis Bajan Pepper Sauce
Summerdown Summerdown Chocolate Peppermint Crisps
Summerdown Summerdown Peppermint Dark Chocolate Bar
The Homemade Brownie Company Peanut & Caramel Chocolate Brownie
The Homemade Brownie Company Chocolate Orange Brownie
The Homemade Brownie Company Salted Caramel Chocolate Brownie
The Portsmouth Distillery Co 1812 3-year-old Rum
The Tomato Stall Tomato & Flamed Pepper Pesto
The Wasabi Company Shiso Gin
The Woodland Pig Co Saddleback Pork Shoulder
Wild Island Spiced Fig Balsamic Dressing & Dip
Pictures with thanks to Sam Pelly
