News 
Two Scottish Companies Named In Top Five Winners of “Made in Britain” Awards
25 August 2009
Two Scottish producers have won awards in Country Living Magazine and Waitrose Made in Britain Awards 2009.
Gigha Halibut from Argyll and Cairngorm Smokehouse from the Highlands are among the five winners picked from a shortlist of 12, following a nationwide search for the best British food and drink producers.
The other winners are Alex Gooch's Organics - Powys, Durham Cow Cheese Co, and Trealy Farm Charcuterie - Monmouthshire. Winners were selected on strict criteria including the quality of their products, innovation and their use of traditional skills.
Each of the five Made in Britain Food Producers of the Year will receive a prize of £5,000 from Waitrose to develop their business and the opportunity to sell their product in local Waitrose stores.
The overall Made in Britain Food Champion of the Year, to be announced on September 19, will receive a further £5,000.
The winners and finalists will appear in a special Country Living Magazine supplement published with the October 2009 issue, on sale September 14.
Now in its second year. the Made in Britain Awards promote and celebrate British producers, farmers and growers making the heritage foods of tomorrow.
Last year’s Food Champion of the Year was 11-year-old Elsa Amiss and her parents Rona and Nevil of Higher Fingle Farm in Devon, who rear organic free-range ducks and also market the eggs. The duck eggs are now stocked in two West Country branches of Waitrose and some of their prize money was spent on a new website with duck egg recipe ideas.
Susy Smith, Editor of Country Living Magazine says, “Food producers, like small businesses everywhere, need our help and custom right now. But it isn’t difficult to put your money where your mouth is when the array of produce on offer is so tempting and tasty. Among our very worthy winners are new takes on traditional foods, the rediscovery of lost recipes and cooking methods, the saving of rare breeds and old varieties and the sustainable farming of meat and fish – buy these foods and you can eat wonderfully well while supporting artisan producers and the rural economy. Buying from small producers also helps British farmers – the milk, fish, meat, fruit and cereals that make up the winning products in the Made in Britain Awards 2009 were all grown and raised here in the UK. “
Richard Hodgson, Waitrose Commercial Director says “The innovation and dedication shown by this year’s finalists prove that small producers are major players in the British food arena. Against the backdrop of challenging economic conditions, each of the finalists has had to look beyond the ordinary to create a food or drink product that is extra-ordinary, which Waitrose applauds. As one of the judges I was able to taste the products and am delighted with the final selection.”
For more information go to www.waitrose.com/madeinbritain or see the latest issue of Country Living Magazine, on sale now.
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For more information, contact:
Shaheena Abbas on 0131 556 0770 or Shaheena.abbas@pagodapr.com
Shaheena Abbas on 0131 556 0770 or Shaheena.abbas@pagodapr.com
Notes to Editors:
About the Five winners
Gigha Halibut, Argyll – Farmed Halibut
Argyll fish company, Gigha Halibut has been farming the endangered species of Atlantic Halibut for the last four years on Gigha, one of the most southerly Hebrides and a community-owned island. The company now accounts for 80% of all halibut produced in Scotland. The innovative, land-based fish farm is powered by the community-owned wind farm.
Cairngorm Smokehouse, Highland – Roast-smoked Organic Brown Trout and Crowdie Pate
Husband and wife team, Craig and Heather Ireland, have been farming fish for the last seven years. Specialising in breeding brown trout and salmon, they achieved organic certification two years ago. They decided to diversify from their hatchery and restocking business and began selling hot-smoked trout fillets. This led to the creation of their pate that caught the judges attention.
Alex Gooch’s Organics, Powys – Apple & Pumpkin Seed Rye Sourdough Bread
Alex Gooch, a 28-year old organic baker, confesses he is obsessed with bread-making. His particular speciality is producing handcrafted breads with a long, slow fermentation, using his own wild yeast cultures.
Trealy Farm Charcuterie, Monmouthshire – Trealy Salami
Hobby rare-breed pig farmers James Swift and Graham Waddington realised that air-dried products were the perfect way to use their meat. So they travelled Europe, researching this age-old technique, bringing it back to the Welsh Hills where they were joined by butcher John Standerwick. Now they sell more than 50 cured, air-dried, smoked and fresh products.
The Durham Cow Cheese Company, Co. Durham – Durham Blue Cheese
Julia Cammiss of The Durham Cow Cheese Co. learned traditional cheese-making skills on a short course as a hobby to provide relief from a stressful office job. She sought advice from more established craft cheese makers about technique, starter cultures and moulds and went on to create the shortlisted blue cheese, an entirely new cheese from her own recipe, which is ripened in a temperature-controlled cheese room, built by her husband Barry in their garage.
About the awards:
§ The Made in Britain Awards are now closed, but the criteria comprised entry to any producer, provided they employed no more than 10 permanent full or part-time employees and had an annual turnover of less than £2 million.
§ The five Made in Britain Food Producers of the Year each win £5,000 from Waitrose. Subject to technical approval, winners will have the opportunity to have products stocked at Waitrose.
§ The overall Made in Britain Food Champion of the Year will be chosen from these five and will receive an additional £5,000.
§ An additional category for the Farmers Guardian Best Farm Entrepreneur will be awarded to the farmer who can demonstrate flair, innovation and good business practice, who will also receive £5,000.
§ All finalists will be featured in a special booklet, free with the October 2009 issue of Country Living Magazine. Awards announcements take place on 19 September 2009.
About Country Living Magazine:
Country Living Magazine, published by the National Magazine Company, has a circulation of 192,475 and is edited by Susy Smith.
About Waitrose:
Waitrose has 213 branches across Britain, dedicated to offering quality, value and customer service. The retailer and its sister company, John Lewis, have taken the two top slots in the Which? Magazine Consumer Satisfaction Survey for the last four years and Waitrose has scooped more major wine awards than any other supermarket.
Co-owned entirely by the 69,000 'Partners' who work for the John Partnership, Waitrose combines the convenience of a supermarket with the expertise and service of a specialist shop. Waitrose is dedicated to offering quality food that has been responsibly sourced, combined with high standards of customer service. (www.waitrose.com)
