The massive potential of the UK’s speciality food sector was highlighted in spectacular fashion last week when a team of experts led by top TV chef Rick Stein taste-tested hundreds of products set to be exhibited at next month’s Food and Drink Expo 2004,at Birmingham’s NEC.
Stein’s Seafood School at Padstow, Cornwall, was the setting for the judging session in the show’s Ideas to Dine For! competition.
The fair, organised by William Reed Exhibitions and sponsored by The Grocer, will be the largest gathering, under one roof, of UK speciality food and drink products.
The Ideas to Dine For! Competition, which is sponsored by Food from Britain, attracted a wide range of products ranging from traditional Scottish beef to prepacked salads and even chilli ice cream.
Afterwards, Stein told The
Grocer: “The judging was a fascinating experience, even though I have been given a good insight into UK produce during my Food Heroes television series.
“However, I have now had an opportunity to try foods that I would not normally have used. And I have found many products that I would stock in my own delicatessen.” Stein added that it was significant that the eight-strong panel was in agreement on so many issues.
The winners, who will be presented with their trophies by Stein at a ceremony in London later this month, were: Chegworth Valley Juices, apple and rhubarb juice; The Organic Spirit Company, Juniper Green organic gin; Burts Potato Chips, hand fried potato chips with no salt; Inverawe Smokehouses, smoked eel; Loch Fyne Oysters, dry aged highland beef; G’s Marketing, salad snack pots and mild beetroot range; The Dairy House, organic damson yogurt; Union Coffee Roasters, Guatemala Estate Santa Ana la Huerta; Odysea, aged Corinthian vinegar; Purbeck Ice Cream, chilli red ice cream; Pinks Farm, Muscat syrup; First Quality Foods, couscous sauce; Walkerswood, jerk seasoning; Special Edition Chocolate, The Chocolate Source; Suzettes Pancakes, hand cooked pancakes.
The judging panel comprised: Rick Stein, Food & Drink Expo director Andrew Reed, Tessa Crago(NFU), Tony Turnbull(The Times Magazine), Chris Maillard(Restaurant magazine), Callton Young (DEFRA), Jane Wakeling(Food from Britain, Graham Cassie (Waitrose) and Clive Beddall, (William Reed).
To register for the show visit www.foodanddrinkexpo.co.uk.
Clive Beddall
Stein’s Seafood School at Padstow, Cornwall, was the setting for the judging session in the show’s Ideas to Dine For! competition.
The fair, organised by William Reed Exhibitions and sponsored by The Grocer, will be the largest gathering, under one roof, of UK speciality food and drink products.
The Ideas to Dine For! Competition, which is sponsored by Food from Britain, attracted a wide range of products ranging from traditional Scottish beef to prepacked salads and even chilli ice cream.
Afterwards, Stein told The
Grocer: “The judging was a fascinating experience, even though I have been given a good insight into UK produce during my Food Heroes television series.
“However, I have now had an opportunity to try foods that I would not normally have used. And I have found many products that I would stock in my own delicatessen.” Stein added that it was significant that the eight-strong panel was in agreement on so many issues.
The winners, who will be presented with their trophies by Stein at a ceremony in London later this month, were: Chegworth Valley Juices, apple and rhubarb juice; The Organic Spirit Company, Juniper Green organic gin; Burts Potato Chips, hand fried potato chips with no salt; Inverawe Smokehouses, smoked eel; Loch Fyne Oysters, dry aged highland beef; G’s Marketing, salad snack pots and mild beetroot range; The Dairy House, organic damson yogurt; Union Coffee Roasters, Guatemala Estate Santa Ana la Huerta; Odysea, aged Corinthian vinegar; Purbeck Ice Cream, chilli red ice cream; Pinks Farm, Muscat syrup; First Quality Foods, couscous sauce; Walkerswood, jerk seasoning; Special Edition Chocolate, The Chocolate Source; Suzettes Pancakes, hand cooked pancakes.
The judging panel comprised: Rick Stein, Food & Drink Expo director Andrew Reed, Tessa Crago(NFU), Tony Turnbull(The Times Magazine), Chris Maillard(Restaurant magazine), Callton Young (DEFRA), Jane Wakeling(Food from Britain, Graham Cassie (Waitrose) and Clive Beddall, (William Reed).
To register for the show visit www.foodanddrinkexpo.co.uk.
Clive Beddall
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