Great Taste Results are in...
This week the results of the 2017 Great Taste Awards came in...
Last year we won a 1 star award for our Sriracha, something which we were extremely proud of as they're not easily won.
This year we are so pleased to announce that 5 of our products gained 1 star awards, meaning we now hold 6 awards over 15 products, and 4 of these were too new to even be entered this year!
The winners are South Carolina BBQ Sauce, Smoky Chipotle Ketchup, Lime & Coriander Sauce, Green Sriracha, and Really Hot Sauce.
South Carolina and Smoky Chipotle are two best sellers in our range, along with our Sriracha so we're particularly proud to receive awards for these two products.
The judges said of Smoky Chipotle Ketchup:
‘This is certainly hot and smoky - the chipotle comes through strongly on the nose and the palate. It is definitely a barbecue sauce with punch. We think it lives up to its description. It is hot, it is smoky, but the depth comes through slowly and lingers and the sweetness enhances it. It has a long finish that remains warm and slightly sweet.’
And of South Carolina BBQ Sauce:
‘A lovely enticing smell to this sauce. It has a great consistency for marinating. We love the mustard and acidic elements married with the BBQ smokiness. We could see this working brilliantly with chicken. The balance of sweetness and acidity is just right.’
We have just reformulated the Lime & Coriander recipe to make it more flavoursome with a smoother texture and so to win an award for this is great validation of the new recipe:
‘A fresh aroma of coriander, mint and lime to this product. We really like the combination of flavours in this product. The coriander, lime and mint all shine and the heat is very mild so the other delicate flavours aren't overwhelmed. We can see this being used as a drizzle over foods or for dipping.’
It is also great to see recognition for two of our spicier sauces and show that they can have heat and flavour together. The judges commented of Green Sriracha:
‘A lively zingy heat with citrus notes - very long lasting and quite multi-faceted. The fermentation lingers and keeps delivering on the back of the palate.’
And Really Hot Sauce:
‘A very bright, juicy, light and lively sauce - the heat grows and grows and the flavour stays with it to the end. Very fruity and a great finish.’
The judging process is very rigorous and winning these awards is far from guaranteed when entering. In 2017 over 500 judges, including specially trained food writers inputting judges’ comments, came together at 62 judging days from March through to early July. The judges, from all corners of the food world, blind-taste in teams of 3 or 4 ensuring we get a balance of expertise, age and gender.
In total 12,366 products were entered with only 165 foods achieving the highest and most coveted rating, three stars. Only 1,011 foods grabbing 2 stars and 3,171 were awarded a 1 star. That means only 35% of entries were accredited – it’s tough.
We’ve put together a special award winners collection here so you can get them all in one purchase.
