Calling all exceptional food and drink producers
18 DECEMBER 2023: Great Taste 2024, organised by the Guild of Fine Food and recognised as a badge of excellence by retailers and shoppers worldwide, opens for entries in January.
The world’s largest and most trusted food and drink accreditation scheme provides a unique opportunity for food and drink producers to put their products to the test with a discerning panel of over 500 experts. It offers a swift and cost-effective way for participants to receive honest and straightforward feedback from an expert panel of chefs, buyers, food retailers, restaurateurs, and food writers and be considered for a coveted 1-, 2-, or 3-star award.
Every year, more than 14,000 products from over 100 countries worldwide are judged entirely on taste, with approximately 40%, on average, receiving a star rating each year. The Great Taste logo, synonymous with exceptional quality, is increasingly recognised by UK adults, with 55% saying it would influence their purchasing decisions.[1]
Entries for Great Taste 2024 open from 8 January 2024 for Guild of Fine Food members. General entry opens on 22 January and producers can submit their entries until 6 February 2024, or until capacity is met.
John Farrand, managing director of the Guild of Fine Food, shares his excitement for the year ahead: “As we embark on another exciting year of Great Taste, we’re looking forward to our annual journey to discover great tasting and inspirational food and drink.
“Take the opportunity to put your food or drink to our panel; each entry guarantees invaluable feedback from world-class industry experts, which can support product development as well as the chance to be awarded a Great Taste star, a badge of quality that we know consumers trust. Act promptly, as the entries close on 6 February.”
Key dates:
- 8 January 2024: Membership entries open.
- 22 January 2024: General entries open.
Members can still enter, but will be charged the general entry price.
- 6 February 2024: Entries close.
May close earlier if entry cap is reached.
- March – June 2024: Judging.
- 30 July 2024, 10am BST: Entrants’ results and feedback.
- 30 July 2024, 2pm BST: Public results.
- 10 September 2024: Great Taste Golden Forks award ceremony and tasting.
Entry costs start from just £45+VAT per product. For further information on entry costs and information on categories, visit www.gff.co.uk/greattaste. To learn more about the winners from previous years and discover where to purchase their products, explore the Guild of Fine Food’s website and directory at www.gff.co.uk/directory.
Great Taste strives to establish an equitable platform where small independent food and drink producers can obtain valuable feedback. Award recipients not only benefit from heightened exposure on a local, national, and international scale, but have also conveyed notable boosts in brand awareness and sales. Great Taste has paved the way for meaningful connections with essential retailers and distributors, opening doors for successful partnerships.
Following a successful inaugural year, the Great Taste Bursary will return in 2024, offering 50 micro producers the opportunity to enter one new product for free. Designed especially for emerging producers who might normally find the entry fees and process prohibitive, the bursary is open to businesses that are; less than two years old, have a turnover of less than £100,000, their product must be commercially available and not been entered in Great Taste before, or been awarded a Great Taste Bursary previously.
Applications open on 18 December and must be received by 14 January. Those receiving bursary places in 2024, will be announced on 2 February, and products will enter Great Taste 2024, just like all other entries, and be blind-tasted with in March to June 2024. For full details and to apply for the bursary scheme visit, www.gff.co.uk/great-taste-
For press enquiries, images, or interviews, contact Abbie McCarthy at abbie@sharprelations.com
Stay up to date on social media: @guildoffinefood
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Editor’s notes:
Established in 1994, Great Taste is organised by the Guild of Fine Food and is the world’s largest, longest standing and most respected food accreditation scheme for artisan and speciality food and drink producers.
The Guild of Fine Food is a community of business owners sharing the same passion for good food & drink: formed for mutual support and protection to maintain standards through training and raising awareness of good food and drink. The Guild of Fine Food exists to support, protect, represent, and raise awareness of all good independent food and drink businesses, at a local, national, international, and governmental level: Building a supportive and informative community of producers, retailers and food lovers who protect standards and champion well-made food & drink.
Every Great Taste award has a validity of three years, i.e. a Great Taste 2023 award will be valid, and may be displayed on a product, until the results are released for Great Taste 2026. All awards must always be displayed against the exact product for which they have been won.
[1] YouGov fieldwork undertaken December 2022. Total sample size: 2,021 adults. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all UK adults (aged 18+).
High-res images are available upon request from the Sharp Relations team.
For press enquiries, images, or interviews, contact Abbie McCarthy at abbie@sharprelations.com
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