Bucks businesses win international food and drink awards

Following 14 weeks of judging, the results of the world’s most trusted food and drink awards, Great Taste, have been announced with winners from the town. 

Blind tasted by 144 judges, the iconic black and gold label is not only a badge of honour but a signpost to an outstanding product. 

Recognised as a stamp of excellence among consumers and retailers alike, Great Taste values delicious taste above all else, with no regard for branding and packaging. 

There were 12,777 entries into Great Taste this year from 106 countries.  Of those products, 205 have been awarded a 3-star, 1,294 received a 2-star and 3,818 were awarded a 1-star accolade. 

Bucks proudly produced 57 winners, including 15 producers being awarded  the coveted two-stars or higher.

Multi-award winning company Ozi Lala have taken home three Great Taste awards this year.

Both the 'Amba Sauce' and 'Tahini & Olive Oil Granola' have won two-stars this year whilst the 'Scotch Amba' was awarded one-star. 

Chef and owner, Ozi Lala, said: "I’m humbled by the feedback and review I've got from the judges and very thankful for the awards!"

Having moved to Bucks in 2015 from Prague, where he lived for 15 years, Mr Lala has turned to his kitchen to remind him of home or to meet new neighbours or friends - cooking up a storm of Levantine and Middle Eastern dishes. 

Mr Lala said: "I'm hoping that with the received awards my products will be able to inspire home cooks to create delicious and exciting meals from their kitchen."

Another winner is the artisan energy balls company,  Claire's Amazeballs, who have won two stars in the Great Taste. 

Claire and her daughter from Claire's Amazeballs. 

The two Great Taste Awards were for: Ginger Cashew and Apricot & Hazelnut Cacao energy balls. 

Founder, Claire Hindley, said: "I'm absolutely thrilled to have received 2 Great Taste Awards for my homemade artisan energy balls.

"As a working mum of 3, it feels so rewarding to be accredited for my hard work from the Guild of Fine Food, knowing how stringent the process is and they were delivered in the week that lockdown began."

Also recognised by the Guild of Fine Food in the Great Taste Awards was Haynes Gourmet who won three awards including three-stars for their red candied jalapenos. 

Owner, Charity Haynes, said: "We were really excited by the award because our products are quite unusual for the UK so it was really exciting when we got awarded the three-stars because we know that they're really delicious and it's nice for other people to get the concept. 

"It's a really cool and unique product so we're chuffed we got the flavour just right and won these awards."

This year’s winners have been found through a combination of remote judging and socially distanced judging sessions, after the lockdown began just one week into the schedule.

As a result, the Great Taste judging process was reinvented to maintain a robust judging standard that did not compromise the quality of feedback to participants. 

Released in September the awards have come as a much needed boost to the food and drinks industry pre-Christmas. 

Search through all of the Bucks winners in the table below:

Which of these products will you be trying? Let us know in the comments.