Winners of the 2011 Organic Food Awards Announced
The winners of the 2011 Organic Food Awards were announced at the Start Festival, Clarence House, on Wednesday 27th July 2011, part of the national 'Start' initiative, established by The Prince's Charities Foundation to promote and celebrate sustainable living.
The festival was themed around sustainable food and farming, and attended by HRH Prince Charles, who greeted the winners.
Now in their 23rd year, the Soil Association Organic Food Awards are the most prestigious and widely respected in the organic sector, recognising and celebrating the contribution organic food producers make to the food and farming industry.
Over three days at the Duke of Cambridge organic pub in London, an expert judging panel of 35 food critics, broadcasters and chefs, including Hardeep Singh Kohli and Jo Wood, applied their foody expertise and finely attuned tastebuds to nearly 400 products across 12 categories, from baby food to store cupboard staples and vegetables. Judging in all categories was by blind tasting, with products rated according to smell, texture, appearance and taste.
Geetie Singh, judge and owner of the Duke of Cambridge commented on the awards: -
As always, I've been bowled over by the quality and variety of entrants at this year's awards. It's inspiring to think how the organic market has developed, and the variety of products we've seen this year really reflect how far the industry has come.
More and more, people are taking an interest not only in what their food tastes like, but in where it comes from and how it's made - and the producers behind the entries here deserve recognition for their role in putting sustainable food onto the map, and onto our plates.
The Organic Food Awards are open to any product registered as organic and certified by a recognised organic certification body within the EU. This year, there was also the opportunity for consumers to nominate their favourite organic products for the awards.
Winners achieve kudos and industry respect, and are able to use the recognised and trusted awards logo on their products.
Many of the winners will have stands at this year's Organic Food Festival (3-4 September) at Bristol Harbourside, part of Organic September - the annual celebration of all things organic.
Finn Cottle, Trade Consultant at the Soil Association commented that: -
It's testament to the resilience of the organic market and to the hard work, skill and innovation of organic producers that we continue to see entries of such fantastic quality across every sector of the market. The awards provide recognition of what the organic market has to offer and are a fantastic opportunity to celebrate all that has been achieved.
For more information and to see the winners for each category please visit https://www.soilassociation.org/foodawards.aspx