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Great Taste, the world’s most trusted food and drink awards, has announced its stars of 2020. Out of 12,777 products sent in from 106 different countries, Shed 1 Distillery, Ulverston, Cumbria was awarded two, 1-star Great Taste awards, which means judges dubbed them foods that delivers fantastic flavour, for its Blackcurrant & Liquorice Gin Elixir-a traditional strength (40%abv) liqueur made with liquorice root and locally grown blackcurrants and Shed Loads of Love Gin Jelly Marmalade-made with the fruit not used in our gin creations, mixed with botanicals and a splosh of Shed Loads of Love Gin.
Judged by 144 of the most discerning palates, belonging to food critics, chefs, cooks, restaurateurs, buyers, retailers and producers, as well as food writers and journalists, Great Taste is the most coveted of all food and drink awards. As well as a badge of honour, the unmistakeable black and gold Great Taste label is a signpost to an outstanding product, which has been discovered through hours and hours of blind tasting.
This year’s winners have been found through a combination of remote judging and socially distanced judging sessions, after the lockdown began just one week into the schedule. This necessitated a swift and comprehensive reinvention of the Great Taste process to ensure that robust judging standards were maintained and the quality of feedback was not compromised.
Zoe Arnold-Bennett, co-owner of Shed 1 Distillery explains: We are very pleased that we’ve now achieved 9 Great Taste Awards! The addition of the logo, and being a Great Taste Producer, shows our customers how passionate we are to create the finest quality products. These awards have also given us a much-needed boost, during a particularly trying year for us all.
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 cake, coffee, kippers or kombucha 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 12,777 entries into Great Taste this year and of those products, 205 have been awarded a 3-star, 1,294 received a 2-star and 3,818 were awarded a 1-star accolade. The panel of judges this year included; cook, writer and champion of sustainable food, Melissa Hemsley, cook, writer, stylist and voice of modern vegetarian cooking, Anna Jones, celebrated Spanish chef, José Pizarro, Kavi Thakrar from Dishoom, food writer and cook, Xanthe Clay, and baker and author, Martha Collison, as well as food buyers from Selfridges, Fortnum & Mason and Waitrose.
