Great Taste, the world's most coveted food awards, which celebrates the very best in food and drink, has announced the Great Taste stars of 2017. Out of over 12,300 products to be judged, the Meatsnacks Group was awarded two 1-star Great Taste awards, which means judges dubbed it simply delicious for its Wild West Honey BBQ Beef Jerky and Cruga Biltong Original. About the jerky the judges commented, 'Great appearance. Sweet on the palate, but not too chewy'. On the biltong they said 'A nicely even cut which has a very good chew and a delicate spicing. The balance works well with meat. Simple but effective.'
Judged by over 500 of the most demanding palates, belonging to food critics, chefs, cooks, restaurateurs and producers, as well as a whole host of food writers and journalists, Great Taste is widely acknowledged as the most respected food accreditation scheme for artisan and speciality food producers. As well as a badge of honour, the unmistakeable black and gold Great Taste label is a signpost to a wonderful tasting product, which has been discovered through hours and hours of blind-tasting by hundreds of judges.
'Having won our first Great Taste Award last year this spurred us on to gain recognition for other brands in our range. I am immensely proud of the team with gaining two awards this year for both Wild West jerky and Cruga biltong. It's a testament to their commitment to producing the best jerky and biltong,' explains James Newitt, Managing Director.
The Meatsnacks Group makes its jerky from beef silverside. From their facility in the Highlands of Scotland, the meat is prepared by hand, which is then marinated for 24 hours, slowly cooked and smoked.
The biltong is made using select cuts of beef silverside, to a traditional South African blend, which is sliced and air dried in their custom designed drying room. The biltong is then hand-picked using a traditional skill brought from South Africa.
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 gin, biscuits, sausages or coffee 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 12,366 Great Taste entries this year and of those products, 165 have been awarded a 3-star, 1,011 received a 2-star and 3,171 were awarded a 1-star accolade. The panel of judges included; chef, food writer and author, Gill Meller, MasterChef judge and restaurant critic, Charles Campion, author and chef, Zoe Adjonyoh, baker, Tom Herbert, and food writer and baking columnist Martha Collison as well as food buyers from Fortnum & Mason, Selfridges, and Harvey Nichols. These esteemed palates have together tasted and re-judged the 3-star winners to finally agree on the 2017 Top 50 Foods, the Golden Fork Trophy winners and the 2017 Supreme Champion.
Great Taste 2017 will reach its exciting finale on Monday 4 September, when the world of fine food gathers at the Intercontinental Park Lane Hotel, London to find out the Golden Fork winners for each region at an Awards Dinner, with the final applause reserved for the Great Taste Supreme Champion 2017.
