The Guild of Fine Food’s Great Taste Awards for 2024 have been announced – so it seems the perfect time to shed a little light on what the awards are all about and how producers can achieve those coveted three stars.
Dame Cathy Sloman explains how it all works and why it’s worth looking out for the Great Taste badges when you’re out and about at the shops.
It was a huge pleasure to be accepted as a judge on the awards this year, joining fellow Dames Kate Howell, Jen Greenhalgh and Fiona Richmond on the GTA panel. It’s a bit odd at first starting the day with an artisan chocolate, moving on to a taste of cottage pie, closely followed by a scoop of ice cream, a cheese, some cured meat, jams, marmalade. You get used to it though and enthusiastically have a taste of whatever appears in front of you.
Once you’re in the know, you spot those stars on products in all sorts of places. It’s led me to many a fun conversation with shop owners, who are always happy to chat at length about the produce they’ve selected.
Great Taste’s aim is to support, promote and mentor people crafting fantastic food and delicious drinks in businesses large and small, giving buyers and food lovers in the UK and overseas reliable recommendations for great tasting products. And the panel of judges give each item presented to them a thorough tasting and provide thoughtful and practical feedback to improve the product if needed.
So how does it all work?
The tasting takes place either in London, just handy for Borough Market, or the Guild’s HQ in Gillingham, Dorset.
It’s a robust and rigorous process – three judges work together, then each product will move on to at least one other set of judges and often more. Around 65% of what’s submitted for judging don’t get a star at all. So it does truly mean something when you spot one, two or three stars on a label.
And it’s really not easy to get three stars – I’ve done a day’s judging a couple of times without a single three star product emerging. It’s a real cause for celebration when it does happen – in London, a bell is rung (in Dorset it’s a hooter) and everyone stops to applaud and hear about the outstanding product.
It’s a full-on day of work and such good fun. I loved meeting fellow judges, from various walks of life and all involved in food in one way or another. I learned from some, while others benefited from my bakery and culinary knowledge.
Also I had to try things I wouldn’t necessarily have chosen to taste but you just have to go for it (unless, of course, there’s something you really can’t eat). Marmalade, coffee flavoured anything, rhubarb – but I faced my fears and tried everything.
The Guild makes sure there’s as little waste as possible – both sites send leftovers to charities and all the honey left at the end of judging goes to Hive Mind Mead to be made into mead!
If you’re interested in joining the panel for next year, chat to Cathy, Kate or Fiona and we’ll happily tell you more.
Now the results are out, there are a few delights I’m looking forward to popping in my shopping basket!