Great Taste, the world’s most coveted food awards, which celebrates the very best in food and drink, has announced the Great Taste stars of 2017. Out of over 12,300 products to be judged, OAST TO HOST was awarded a 2-STAR Great Taste award (OUTSTANDING) for their Roasted Vegetable Quongo (quote: ‘A truly delicious quiche. I never get hot & bothered about quiche so this is a first. It is refreshing to have a quiche with so much fresh produce and less cream & egg. This is the best pastry we have tried and even better given it is gluten free. Very well seasoned. We found this very difficult to find fault with it.’ & ‘This is indisputably a well made quiche, the pastry is crisp with good flavour, the filling generous and creamy and it is baked to perfection, deliciously browned’
and 1-STAR Great Taste award (DELICIOUS) for their Prosecco Mince Pies. (quote: ‘Very appetising appearance. We like the sugar glaze and the two little holes. Best gluten free pastry one judge has ever eaten. This product moves the mince pie on’
Judged by over 500 of the most demanding palates, belonging to food critics, chefs, cooks, restaurateurs and producers, as well as a whole host of food writers and journalists, Great Taste is widely acknowledged as the most respected food accreditation scheme for artisan and speciality food producers. As well as a badge of honour, the unmistakeable black and gold Great Taste label is a signpost to a wonderful tasting product, which has been discovered through hours and hours of blind-tasting by hundreds of judges.
OAST TO HOST is utterly thrilled with this recognition from The Guild of Fine Food (described as the ‘Oscars’ of the food world and the ‘epicurean equivalent of the Booker prize’). It is no mean feat bearing in mind the competition and reinforces our own opinion! We entered 2 products and BOTH achieved recognition! This brings our total of Awards achieved to 6 and we await final results of the shortlisting with Great British Food Awards which is due at the end of the month. In our experience these awards help catch the eye of the end user resulting in sales – if ‘you’ had a choice of 4 Quongos and one had a Great Taste Award which one would you choose?!
This is perfect timing as 2 of the kitchen team depart on their well earned holiday today so celebrations with them will be on ‘hold’ but it won’t stop those of us left behind in ‘Blighty’!
explain Sally and Claire (Founders of OAST TO HOST).
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 gin, biscuits, sausages or coffee 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 1-, 2- or 3-star award.
There were 12,366 Great Taste entries this year and of those products, 165 have been awarded a 3-star, 1,011 received a 2-star and 3,171 were awarded a 1-star accolade. The panel of judges included; chef, food writer and author, Gill Meller, MasterChef judge and restaurant critic, Charles Campion, author and chef, Zoe Adjonyoh, baker, Tom Herbert, and food writer and baking columnist Martha Collison as well as food buyers from Fortnum & Mason, Selfridges, and Harvey Nichols. These esteemed palates have together tasted and re-judged the 3-star winners to finally agree on the 2017 Top 50 Foods, the Golden Fork Trophy winners and the 2017 Supreme Champion.
Great Taste 2017 will reach its exciting finale on Monday 4 September, when the world of fine food gathers at the Intercontinental Park Lane Hotel, London to find out the Golden Fork winners for each region at an Awards Dinner, with the final applause reserved for the Great Taste Supreme Champion 2017.
Date: 1st August 2017
For more information: OAST TO HOST – info@oasttohost.com
