Welsh produce wins big at Great Taste’s Golden Forks 2024

The winners of the Great Taste Golden Forks 2024 have been announced, with two Welsh products winning big on the night.

At a glittering awards ceremony that took place in London’s Battersea Arts Centre last night, Tuesday 10 September, the very best of the food and drink world celebrated in the grand finale of the Guild of Fine Food’s Great Taste awards scheme.

The Golden Fork from Wales was hotly contested with Smoked Duck Breast from Black Mountains Smokery, Dà Mhìle Absinthe from Dà Mhìle Distillery and Chorizo from Moch Coch all making it through to the final round, with the trophy awarded to Black Mountains Smokery for their lightly cured, smoked Gressingham duck breast.

The judges thought that this duck breast was “Absolutely incredible, such a good example of smoking, neither too acidic nor overpowering which meant you could really taste the meat. The cure was exceptional and created a really lovely, velvet melt-in-the-mouth texture. All in all it was incredibly well judged and an incredibly well made product”.

The Nigel Barden Heritage Award also went to Wales, with Dà Mhìle Distillery celebrated for their Absinthe.

Holistic approach

There were 16 Great Taste Golden Forks presented at this year’s awards, with two new trophies for Sustainability and Better Business joining the line up. The additional awards were added this year to recognise the substantial efforts of many companies, and importance we should all place, on businesses not only making delicious products, but also conducting themselves in ways that ensure they also look after their communities, teams, environment and supply chain.

The 16 Golden Fork winners were the standout products from nearly 14,000 to enter this year’s Great Taste awards.

John Farrand, managing director of the Guild of Fine Food commented: “It is important to understand that Great Taste is merely the process that identifies 1-, 2- and 3-star winners and, in doing so, encourages makers to improve. Now at its climax, in announcing the Golden Forks we are celebrating the very best producers; those who take care to ensure their products hit the markers of trusted raw ingredients, simple production methods, and food & drink that has personality, but ultimately, that tastes great.

“We’re particularly chuffed to be doing our thing for international trade and relations by welcoming entries from 115 countries this year and, in addition, bestowing two new awards, one to a company that demonstrates inspiring business acumen, and the other to an organisation showing genuine commitment to sustainability.  These winners must at the same time, be making outstanding food & drink.”

Great Taste

Great Taste is recognised across the globe as a stamp of excellence. Sought out by both food lovers and retailers, it is the world’s most trusted food & drink accreditation scheme and values taste above all else.

Each year a panel of 500 industry experts meticulously judge a maximum of 14,000 products over 90 days to unveil the tastiest food from across the globe. All products are anonymised before entering a robust, layered blind-judging process. 2024 saw 13,672 products entered from 115 countries. A total of 3,938 (28.8%) of entrants won 1-star, 1,386 (10.1%) won 2-star and 266 (1.9%) won 3-star awards.

Great Taste is organised by the Guild of Fine Food and, now in its 31st year, is the world’s largest, longest standing and most respected food accreditation scheme for artisan and speciality food and drink producers.

Welsh winners

Golden Fork from Wales: Smoked Duck Breast from Black Mountains Smokery (www.smoked-foods.co.uk)

Nigel Barden Heritage Award: Dà Mhìle Absinthe from Dá Mhìle Distillery (www.damhile.co.uk)

The full list of this year’s winners and where to buy them can be found at www.gff.co.uk/directory and a wide range of the award-winning products are available to buy in delis, farm shops and independent retail outlets across the world.

For an insight into Great Taste 2024, including exclusive interviews, behind the scenes action and stories straight from the producers, download the Great Taste Podcast.