Entries now open for the 2014 Taste of the West Awards
After the unprecedented success of this year’s awards, Taste of the West is delighted to announce that entries for the prestigious Product Awards and Hospitality and Retail Awards are now open for 2014.
The 2014 awards are taking place earlier than ever before, with the Product Awards judging set for early April, allowing winners a longer period of time to maximise the benefits of receiving these widely recognised accolades.
These highly sought after awards demonstrate the South West’s commitment to producing food and drink products of an outstanding quality.
The Hospitality and Retail Awards also create a benchmark within the industry, giving customers the reassurance they require.
Commenting on behalf of Taste of the West, which is dedicated to promoting food and drink across the South West, chief executive John Sheaves says: “We were thrilled with the triumph of the 2013 awards and highly impressed by the exceptionally high standard of entries from the six counties.” John continues: “We saw a large number of categories receiving their greatest number of entries in the history of the awards and anticipate that this will continue to grow.”
This year the renowned Product Awards saw nearly 1,100 products entered, an astonishing level of entries, of which 173 were awarded the Gold accolade, 227 awarded a Silver award and 225 products a Bronze.
Consisting of 25 classes, Taste of the West’s Product Awards assess each product individually taking into consideration its appearance, aroma, texture, packaging and most importantly, its taste.
Gold, Silver and Bronze awards are given entirely on merit, with no limit to the number of awards presented.
Entries for the 2014 Product Awards must be received by Friday 28 February 2014 and cost £37.50 + VAT per product to enter.
Entries received before Monday 20 January 2014 will be entitled to an ‘early bird’ rate of £30+ VAT per product. Dependent on the level of membership, members of Taste of the West may be eligible for a number of free entries. Gold, Silver and Bronze award winners will be announced before the end of April 2014 and the Best Of category winners and Champion Product will be announced at the Awards’ Ceremony in the early autumn.
In last year’s awards Capreolus Fine Foods from Dorset was victorious, taking home the coveted Champion Product Award for their Guanciale.
Capreolus Fine Foods wowed judges last August during the Product Awards winning an unprecedented ten Gold awards from ten entries in the Cured Meat and Bacon categories, a first in the history of the Product Awards. Their success continued at the awards’ ceremony where they won the Best Of award in the Bacon category for their Black Strap Streaky Bacon and the Best Of award in the Cured Meat category with their Guanciale, also the Champion Product. Another outstanding success last year was that both Pork Heaven from Devon and Sharpham Partnership Ltd won Best Of for their sausages and cheese, respectively, for the second year in a row.
Taste of the West’s 2013 Hospitality and Retail Awards saw nearly 300 establishments entered into the awards including restaurants, cafés, B&Bs, farm shops, local food to go and butchers, the highest number of entries ever received. Last year, Devon’s Moorland Garden Hotel won the much desired title of Best South West Restaurant of the Year Award.
Foodservice and Retail members of Taste of the West are entitled to one free entry into a Hospitality and Retail Award class, entry for non-members is £100 + VAT per class.
Establishments wishing to enter the awards can register by emailing awards@tasteofthewest.co.uk, with judging due to take place between January and July 2014. Entries received after 1 July 2014 will still be judged in 2014 but qualifying gold winners will be carried over until the 2015 Awards in each Best Of category.
Establishments entering the Hospitality and Retail Awards are evaluated by independent judges on their level of local sourcing, quality and speed of service, quality of meal, atmosphere and ambience and value for money. Results will be given to each entrant as soon as they are received from the judges. The winners of each Best Of category will be announced at the Awards’ Ceremony in the early autumn.
The 2014 Awards will see the return of the Farmers’ Market category to the Hospitality and Retail Awards; in which producers are able to nominate their favourite Farmers’ Market for free.
For further information on all the awards visit Taste of the West’s website: www.tasteofthewest.co.uk or call Taste of the West on 01404 822012. Also follow @Tasteofthewest on Twitter or ‘like’ Taste of the West on Facebook.
