The BBC Good Food Show team has been scouring the country since June to find Britain's most outstanding artisan food and drink producers. Managed by Katy Truss, and now in its sixth year, the Producers Award serves to reward the most deserving small, independent artisan producers. To be eligible they must be less than three years old with a low annual turnover, must not have previously exhibited at a BBC Good Food Show, and be a high quality British or Irish artisan food and drink producer.
After months of reading through applications, sorting through hundreds of samples and finally tasting them all in the Good Food test kitchen, 26 deserving winners were chosen, and each won the sought after opportunity to exhibit free of charge at the 2015 shows.
Amongst the winners is Spice Kitchen, a growing Midlands based spice company run by mother and son team Sanjay & Shashi Aggarwal. Having started the business in 2013, the team have expanded year on year and won their first Great Taste Award for their Garam Masala blend, from a family recipe that has been handed down from Shashi's grandmother. Now winning the Producers Bursary has been a pivotal landmark for Sanjay which he feels will have a big impact on the company.
"Winning the bursary will allow us to showcase our products face to face with over 80,000 people. It's a massive opportunity to share our passion for creating amazing spice blends with food savvy buyers and to also gain important feedback that we can use to improve our brand longer term."
Katy Truss said that this year had seen more applications for the bursary than ever before and the quality had been incredible.
The BBC Good Food Show Winter will be held at the NEC, Birmingham, 26th - 29th November 2015. The Supertheatre will host an array of some of the nation's favourite chefs including James Martin, Michel Roux Jr, The Hairy Bikers. Plus Paul Hollywood and Mary Berry will be live on stage demonstrating some of their favourite recipes.