South East's food products scoop 745 accolades in this year's Great Taste awards

By Giles Gwinnett

2 August 2023

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Great Taste 2023 - Credit Guild of Fine Food (Sam Pelly)

Food producers in the South East are delightedly digesting news they have won hundreds of awards at this year's Great Taste - the world’s largest accreditation scheme based solely on taste.

A distinguished judging panel of over 500 experts, including chefs, critics, buyers and journalists carried out blind taste tests, over 89 days, on 14,195 entries submitted from 109 different countries.

And products from the South East picked up a very impressive 745 awards, ranging from the 1 star to 3 star badge.

"When I come across a product with the iconic black and gold Great Taste logo, I see it as a badge of honour and feel compelled to purchase it," said a regular on the judging panel.

"Having knowledge of the effort required to attain such a rating and the exceptional flavour that accompanies it, I am confident the product will not disappoint."

Only 1.8% of entries received a 3-star accolade, representing "extraordinarily tasty food & drink".

One 3-star winner was Chestnut Smoked Coppa from Weybridge-based artisan producer Tempus Foods.
Meanwhile, the AmaZing Zari single variety apple juice from Tonbridge's Charrington Fruit Farms picked up a 2-star badge, while sliced smoked duck breast from The Weald Smokery in East Sussex was awarded a 1-star.

Great Taste is organised by the Guild of Fine Food. Its managing director John Farrand said: "A huge congratulations to the producers from the South East who have been awarded Great Taste stars for 2023 with their outstanding food and drink.

"Every year, we welcome new and established producers making fantastic products around the world and this year has been no exception.

"The breadth and quality of food and drink has been outstanding, and we wish everyone who entered huge success and hope they find the feedback from our expert judging panel beneficial as they continue in their onward journey."

Great Taste award-winners can now display the black and gold Great Taste logo as a badge of honour on their award-winning products.

Past winners have said that displaying a Great Taste sticker has increased sales by as much as 50%.
To celebrate the scheme's 30th anniversary, this year the Guild of Fine Food also offered 50 micro producers the chance to put one new product in front of the judges for free.

The bursary panel consisted of Adrian Boswell, buyer at Selfridges, industry commentator and food entrepreneur Mallika Basu, along with PR and marketing expert AJ Sharp. They selected the 50 most eligible entries.

21 products entered through the bursary scheme won a Great Taste award including Karobi’s Ghee from Karobi’s (3-star) in the Cotswolds.

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And the excitement of Great Taste 2023 is not over yet. All 3-star winning products were tasted and judged again by the panel in a bid to crown the so-called Golden Fork trophy winners and name the 2023 Supreme Champion - the highest accolade of all.

All will be announced at the Great Taste Golden Fork Ceremony on September 11 this year at the Battersea Arts Centre.

Of the South East's 745 awards, 548 won 1-stars, 182 picked up 2-stars and 15 entrants received 3-stars.

For a full list of this year’s winners and where to buy them, see HERE.

By Giles Gwinnett

Giles Gwinnett is a writer at The Business Magazine. He has been a journalist for more than 20 years and covered a vast array of topics at a range of media settings - in print and online. After his NCTJ newspaper training, he became a reporter in Hampshire before moving to a news agency in Gloucestershire. In recent years, he has been covering the financial markets along with company news for an investor-focused web portal. His many interests include politics, energy and the environment. He lives in Dorset.