This Year's Star Tastes

This Year's Star Tastes

The results are in for what are considered to be the world’s most coveted food and drink awards. Great Taste, organised by the Guild of Fine Food, values taste above all else. All products are blind-tasted and enter a robust, layered judging process, taking place over 90 days by a rotating panel of industry experts. This year's judging line-up was made up of over 500 food and drink professionals, among them critics, chefs, buyers and retailers, including head buyers from Selfridges, Whole Foods, Fortnum & Mason and Waitrose, BBC Good Food editor Keith Kendrick, delicious. editor Karen Barnes, MasterChef Professionals finalist Santosh Shah, BBC’s Nigel Barden, Felicity Cloake (The Guardian) and Xanthe Clay (Telegraph).

Great Taste award-winners will now proudly display the iconic black and gold Great Taste logo on their award-winning products. Past winners have claimed that displaying a Great Taste sticker has increased sales by as much as 50%. A wide range of the award-winning products are available to buy in delis, farm shops and independent retail outlets across the country.  Out of 14,205 different products entered from 110 countries, 4,078 were awarded a Great Taste 1-star ‘food and drink that delivers fantastic flavour’, just 1,237 were awarded a Great Taste 2-star ‘above and beyond delicious’, and only 241 were awarded a Great Taste 3-star – ‘extraordinarily tasty food and drink’.

Discover your local Star buys. These include the following Hampshire Fare members winning TWO Stars
Butler Country Estates for Smoked Trout Pate with Dill
ChalkStream for Cold Smoked Trout
Chococo for Speculoos Caramel, Molasses & Brown Butter Caramel, and 80% Uganda Origin Hot Chocolate Flakes
Dampney’s Remarkable Drinks for Dampney’s Damson Gin Liqueur
Giddy Nibbles for Harissa & Chilli Giddy Nibbles
Hill Farm Juice for English Cox Apple Juice
Jude’s Ice Creams for Strawberries & Cream Ice Cream
Lyburn Farmhouse Cheesemakers for Old Winchester 
The Garlic Farm for Roast Garlic Jam
Tipsy Wight for Crabapple Vodka Liqueur
Two Hoots Cheese for Barkham Belle

The following Hampshire Fare members won ONE Star
Butler Country Estates for Hampshire Smoked Trout Fillet
ChalkStream for Trout Gravadlax
Chococo for Cherry Bakewell, Tangerine Dream, and Espresso Gelato
Dampney’s Remarkable Drinks for Remarkable Raspberry Gin Liqueur
Giddy Nibbles for Coastal Cheddar & Fennel Giddy Nibbles
Goddards Brewery for Quarr Abbey
Hill Farm Juice for English Braeburn Apple Juice, and English Cox & Bramley Apple Juice
Laverstoke Park Farm for Laverstoke Park Organic Buffalo Mozzarella, and Laverstoke Park Organic Buffalomi
Lyburn Farmhouse Cheesemakers for Stoney Cross
Minghella Ice Cream for Crushed Walnuts & Maple Syrup Ice Cream
New Forest Shortbread for New Forest Shortbread
Summerdown for Summerdown Dark Mint Neapolitans, and Summerdown Peppermint & Camomile Tea
The Garlic Farm for Garlic Butter with Black Garlic
The Homemade Brownie Company for Triple Chocolate Brownie, and Coffee Caramel Brownie
The Wasabi Company for Yuzucello
Two Hoots Cheese for Barkham Blue