What is Great Taste?

Great Taste, organised by the Guild of Fine Food, is the acknowledged benchmark for fine food and drink. It has been described as the ‘Oscars’ of the food world and the ‘epicurean equivalent of the Booker prize’. Quite simply the Great Taste logo is the sign you can trust when buying food and drink in your local, quality retailer.

How does it all work?

In 2019 over 500 judges, including specially trained food writers inputting judges’ comments, came together at 75 judging days from March through to early July. Judging took place at Guild HQ in Dorset and at our permanent office, event and judging venue close to Borough Market, London. As ever we have judged at specialist test centres for tea, filter coffee and espresso. The judges, from all corners of the food world, blind-taste in teams of 3 or 4 ensuring we get a balance of expertise, age and gender. Read more about Great Taste and what the stars mean.

Why enter the awards?

Winning is important to the producers as it differentiates their products from the norm and means you, as the customer, have a guarantee that the products you buy have a reliable seal of approval based upon great taste and not marketing.

Who are the 2019 winners?

Our winners are all genuine food people who care about the quality of food and drink they produce. Those producers entered 12,772 products with only 208 foods achieving the highest and most coveted rating, three stars. We had 1,326 foods grabbing 2 stars and 3,409 were awarded a 1 star. That means only just over 38% of entries were accredited – it’s tough. Didn’t they do well?

Great Taste 2019 Golden Fork Awards

The Great Taste 2019 Golden Forks (our big winners) were announced at a celebration dinner at the InterContinental Hotel, Park Lane, London on 1 September 2019.  Find out who grabbed those gongs here .