Final call for products to enter Great British Food Awards

Organisers of the expanded Great British Food Awards are putting out a final call for 2020 trade entries this week, as the final closing date of Monday 13th July approaches. Despite some of the great challenges facing British producers, this year’s awards have already seen a record number of entries, with hundreds of products vying to be declared best of British and gain an all-important endorsement from a high profile judge.

The Great British Food Awards set out to recognise, celebrate and reward artisan producers who create exceptional food and drink, with provenance and traceability informing a substantial part of the judging criteria alongside quality and great flavour. The vital job of elevating local producers has been given particular prominence this year, with new regional categories introduced to ensure producers from every corner of the UK are rewarded.

Judging the 47 food and drink categories is a prestigious panel of chefs, critics and tastemakers, including the Hairy Bikers, Monica Galetti, Tom Kitchin, Michel Roux Jr, William Sitwell, Raymond Blanc and Asma Khan, alongside many other respected and prominent names in British food and drink.

This year, The Great British Food Awards has partnered with Booths, the local supermarket that’s truly committed to supporting local British producers, and Booths’ buyers will be judging the overall Best of British supreme champion, as well as a category for start-ups, targeted at exciting new British brands launched since January 2018, with the successful product winning a listing.

Other new categories include Best British Speciality, an award dedicated to delicious products based on classic and traditional regional recipes, and an increased number of categories for alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks to enter, reflecting the array of fantastic distilleries, breweries, winemakers and presses to have emerged in recent times.

Natasha Lovell-Smith, editor of Great British Food and organiser of the awards says: “Each year, our awards entries yield exciting new flavours from all across Britain, ‘undiscovered’ local gems as well as better-known British producer-brands. Feedback on the finalists from our famous judges, the majority of which return every year to support the awards, is always packed with praise and appreciation for the skill, passion and knowledge that goes into producing food and drink of such high standard. To win an award means that your product is truly one of the best in Britain, and is a seal of its provenance too.”

If you have a question about the awards, please go to the Great British Food Awards FAQs section or contact Jenny O’Neill at jenny.oneill@aceville.co.uk or on 01206 506227 for further information.