GREAT TASTE AWARD

All three of our core brands now have Great Taste gold stars!

Great Taste, the world’s most trusted food and drink awards, has announced its stars of 2020. Out of 12,777 products sent in from 106 different countries, we were awarded a gold star Great Taste award, which means judges dubbed it a beer that delivers fantastic flavour, for our HERESY Golden Ale.  This is added to the Great Taste stars awarded to us last year for RIDLEY’S RITE and 1555.

Judged by 144 of the most discerning palates, belonging to food critics, chefs, cooks, restaurateurs, buyers, retailers and producers, as well as food writers and journalists, Great Taste is the most coveted of all food and drink awards. As well as a badge of honour, the unmistakeable black and gold Great Taste label is a signpost to an outstanding product, which has been discovered through hours and hours of blind tasting.

This year’s winners have been found through a combination of remote judging and socially distanced judging sessions, after the lockdown began just one week into the schedule. This necessitated a swift and comprehensive reinvention of the Great Taste process to ensure that robust judging standards were maintained and the quality of feedback was not compromised, all in time to provide a much-needed boost for food and drink producers during the all-important Christmas period.

In 2019 we were awarded gold star Great Taste awards for our RIDLEY’S RITE and our amber ale 1555. The logo has added value to our business in terms of credibility, opening doors to new retailers, and ultimately increasing sales.  So this award for our golden ale makes it a hat-trick for our core brands.

Recognised as a stamp of excellence among consumers and retailers alike, Great Taste values taste above all else, with no regard for branding and packaging. Whether it is cake, coffee, kippers or kombucha being judged, all products are removed from their wrapper, jar, box or bottle before being tasted. The judges then savour, confer and re-taste to decide which products are worthy of a Great Taste star.

The panel of judges this year 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, Kavi Thakrar from Dishoom, food writer and cook, Xanthe Clay, and baker and author, Martha Collison, as well as drinks buyers from Selfridges, Fortnum & Mason and Waitrose.