Thornbridge Brewery is celebrating after winning a range of prestigious 2011 Great Taste Awards. Thornbridge has been presented with coveted three-star awards for its Jaipur and Bracia beers and two-stars and a one-star respectively for its Kipling and Wild Swan beer.
Simon Webster, Thornbridge’s Chief Operating Officer, says that after winning a three-star award with Jaipur in 2010 we were delighted but to win again this year is really special and with the other awards is a phenomenal achievement and a testament to the professionalism of our brewing team. We have recently launched Jaipur, Kipling and Wild Swan in Waitrose stores across the UK so those that want to buy these award winning beers can now do so”.
The Great Taste Awards, organised by the Guild of Fine Food, are now in their 18th year and going from strength to strength. 7481 products were entered from 1600 companies for the 2011 Great Taste Awards. It took 350 experts 34 days to blind taste all the entries and decide which entries would achieve the coveted one, two and three star gold awards.
The Great Taste Awards judging standards, devised by the Guild of Fine Food, are the most rigorous in the UK. To achieve the 3-star rating a minimum of 20 -more often 30 – judges need to be in complete agreement that the food delivered that indefinable ‘wow’ factor. All the judges’ comments are made available to producers. If no gold is awarded, they need to know why.
Bob Farrand, Chairman for The Great Taste Awards, said: “Winning Gold in the country’s largest and most respected independent food accreditation scheme is a massive pat on the back for any producer – independent proof their products are of the highest quality. We provide constructive feedback from our expert judging teams and for many, winning 1, 2 or 3-star Gold is exactly what’s needed to help grow their businesses, even during a recession. Every winner should feel very proud that their hard work has been rewarded.”
The four regional nominated foods for each of the Great Taste trophy winners have been announced by the Guild of Fine Food and the identity of the regional and national winners and the 2011 Supreme Champion remains a closely guarded secret until the night of 5th September when all will be revealed at the invitation only awards presentation dinner at London’s Royal Garden Hotel. That is the night we find out who carries away the coveted Golden Fork trophies.
A full list of award-winning products is available at www.greattasteawards.co.uk, and can be searched by region, award or product category.