Great Taste awards for Aberdeenshire food producers
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Aberdeenshire food producers are celebrating after being named Great Taste 2021 award winners.
Following 86 socially-distanced judging days in London and Dorset, Great Taste has unearthed the very finest food and drink from every nook and corner of the UK and beyond.
Regardless of branding or packaging, each product is judged on a level playing field, according to its texture, appearance, composition and of course taste.
Food critics, chefs, restaurateurs, retail buyers, cooks, producers and a host of food writers, journalists and social media influencers are among the 355 palates to have blind tasted and judged the 14,113 entries from 108 countries, while providing detailed written feedback for the producer.
Products receive either a three-star award for extraordinarily tasty foods with less than two per cent awarded this; two stars for above and beyond delicious with less than 10 per cent of entries achieving this rating; and one star for food that delivers fantastic flavour with approximately 30 per cent of entries achieving this rating each year.
In Aberdeenshire, The Kindness Bakery in New Deer received two stars for its Scottish mealie oatcakes and one star for its mini cracked pepper oatcakes.
Turriff-based McKenzie Biscuits received two stars for its oatcake.
The Piggery Smokery in Alford received three stars for its Dark Dubhloch smoked streaky bacon; and two stars for its Beecon No3 sweet, smoked streaky bacon and for its PepperBackFinn smoked streaky bacon.
Barra Bronzes Turkeys based at Lochend of Barra got a two-star award for its whole bronze turkey.
Wark Farm Pies at Cushnie, Alford, was awarded two stars for its beef and cheese pie and lamb and prune pie.
The Amity Fish Company in Peterhead received one star for its panko breaded single wholetail scampi.
Sutherlands of Portsoy was awarded one star for its traditional kippers.
Middleton of Rora Dairy Produce received a three-star award for its Greek-style yoghurt and one star for its natural yoghurt.
Mackies of Scotland at Westertown Farm, Rothienorman, was awarded one star for its traditional, organic, Scottish tablet and salted caramel ice creams.
Every Great Taste award-winning product will now be able to display the black and gold logo, a stamp of excellence that is recognised by retailers and consumers alike.
A wide range of these winning products are already available to buy in delis, farm shops and independent retail outlets across the country.
All Great Taste three-star award-winning products will be re-judged to find this year’s regional Golden Fork Trophy winners and the Great Taste Supreme Champion 2021.
These final results will be announced at the Great Taste Golden Fork Reception on Sunday, October 17, set to be held at the Yorkshire Event Centre in Harrogate following the first day of Fine Food Show North, a trade-only exhibition organised by the Guild of Fine Food.
Established in 1994, Great Taste is organised by the Guild of Fine Food and is the world’s largest, longest standing and most respected food accreditation scheme for artisan and speciality food producers.
