Your Local Stars!

Your Local Stars!

Good news in uncertain times! Here's an opportunity to celebrate Hampshire Fare members' success - Gold Stars awarded by Great Taste, and providing a vital boost for the food and drink businesses in the all-important run-up to Christmas. Announced later than usual, due to lockdown delaying the judging process, Great Taste 2020 saw a record-breaking 12,777 entries. Among the 1-, 2- and 3-star winners are tasty products perfect for festive gifting or delicious additions to Christmas celebrations.

Great Taste is widely acknowledged as the most respected food accreditation scheme for artisan and speciality food producers, and recognised as a stamp of excellence among consumers and retailers. Organised by the Guild of Fine Food, Great Taste values taste above all else, with no regard for branding or packaging. All products are removed from their packaging before being tasted. Judges then savour, confer and re-taste to decide which products are worthy of a 1-, 2- or 3-star awards.

This year’s winners were found through a combination of remote judging and socially distanced judging sessions, after lockdown began just one week into the schedule. However, a reinvention of the Great Taste process has ensured that robust judging standards have been maintained and the quality of feedback not compromised. The expert panel of judges included: cook, writer and champion of sustainable food, Melissa Hemsley; cook, writer, stylist and voice of modern vegetarian cooking, Anna Jones; celebrated Spanish chef, José Pizarro; Dishoom's Kavi Thakrar; food writer and cook, Xanthe Clay; baker and author, Martha Collison; as well as food buyers from Selfridges, Fortnum & Mason and Waitrose.

Out of all 12,777 entries, just 205 were awarded 3-star, only 1,294 were awarded 2-star and 3,818 awarded 1-star - making the award of all stars a significant achievement to be celebrated!

Many congratulations to our Two Star Winners:
Chococo (Dorset Sea Salt Caramel, Wild Thing and Madagascar 70% Gelato)
Lyburn Farmhouse Cheeses (Old Winchester Extra Mature)
Island Roasted (Wight Label Tea Yunnan Green)
Owton's Butchers (Pork, Cheese & Marmite Sausages)
Summerdown (Peppermint Tea and Milk Mint Neapolitans)
Tipsy Wight (Crabapple Vodka Liqueur)
Two Hoots Cheese (Barkham Blue, Baby Barkham and Cream Cheese with Garlic & Chives)
Wessex Wild Plum Co (Sloe Fuse)
Wild Island (Cherry Infused Vinegar)

A huge well done to our One Star Winners (there are stories of massive achievement here):
A Basing Bakes (Bacon & Brie Quiche)
Applegarth Farm (Mince Pie)
Butler Country Estates (Hampshire Smoked Trout Pate)
Chococo (Orange Odyssey Gelato; Squidgy Pecan Brownie)
Hill Farm Juice (English Bramley Apple Juice; English Russet Apple Juice and English Apple Juice with Ginger)
Island Roasted (Wight Label Tea All Day Breakfast)
Jude's Ice Cream (Fudge Ice Cream Sauce; Salted Caramel Dairy Ice Cream; Vanilla Clotted Cream Dairy Ice Cream; Vanilla Dairy Ice Cream; Vegan Oat Honeycomb; Vegan Oat Salted Caramel; Vegan Salted Caramel Ice Cream; Vegan Vanilla Ice Cream)
Lyburn Farmhouse Cheeses (Stoney Cross)
New Forest Spirits (Wyrd Barrel Aged Gin - Moscatel)
Owton's Butchers (Black Pudding; Merguez Sausages and Oriental Duck Sausage)
Summerdown (Chocolate Peppermint Creams; Chocolate Peppermint Crisps; Chocolate Peppermint Cream Dominoes; Heritage Peppermint Fondants; Heritage Peppermint Crisp Discs)
The Garlic Farm (Creamy Horseradish Sauce)
The Wasabi Company (Wasabi Powder; Wasabi Vodka)
Tipsy Wight (Medlar Vodka Liqueur; Cherry Vodka Liqueur)
Tom Parker Creamery (Double Cream; Banana Fudge Flavoured Milk)
Two Hoots Cheese (Skyr Natural and Skyr Baked Apple; and Plum & Apple Chutney)
Wild Island (Blackberry Infused Balsamic; Pip & Bean Fruit Chocolate Spread Orange)

Details of this year’s winners can be found at www.greattasteawards.co.uk and a wide range of award-winning products are available to buy in delis, farm shops and independent retail outlets across the country.