Golden Forks Awards 2023
Last week, team Shepherds Purse headed to the impressive Grand Hall in London’s Battersea Arts Centre with huge excitement for the 2023 Golden Fork Awards.
It was a massive honour to be invited to such a prestigious event, following the three-stars we received in August for our Mrs Bell’s Blue in the Great Taste Awards, but to then be nominated for both a Regional Golden Fork for the English region and to be nominated for the Supreme Champion was just brilliant.
The Golden Fork’s are the culmination of months of rigorous judging that make up the Great Taste Awards each year. Of those chosen businesses, the top scoring products are judged for a second time and whittled down into a shortlist, with an eventual winner decided for each region along with a number of other specific category awards. These products really are the best of the best, so to be named amongst them in the 2023 lineup is seriously momentous!
The Golden Fork’s are the culmination of months of rigorous judging
Caroline, Bartek and Amy headed down to the glittering event, which this year marked the 30th anniversary of the Golden Forks, making it extra special.
The event began with drinks, canapés and the opportunity for guests to tour 23 tasting stations, showcasing some of the three-star products. Bartek had prepared little Mrs Bell’s Blue based canapes which saw a cube of Mrs Bell’s Blue sitting in a beetroot pastry base, topped with a pickled radish and honey roasted walnuts - delicious! And then we had a truckle of Mrs Bell’s Blue there too that guests could dig into as well.
We were in fantastic company, with so many innovative and inspiring products and businesses on show, we were flanked by a beautiful Ice Cyder from The Newt in Somerset which went perfectly with Mrs Bell's Blue, and a Basque Cheese Cake made by La Maritxu which was just simply delicious.
Once the tasting was complete, the awards got underway and we took our seats for the ceremony itself, which this year had been split into two sessions to heighten the tension!
The nine Golden Fork categories include regional awards for England, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, along with international categories covering Spain, Italy, the Rest of Europe and the Rest of the World! The Guild are also synonymous with supporting new and start up businesses which have their own Startisan of the Year award.
It was a privilege to get the chance to be counted amongst some of the very best artisan producers from across the world
The Culmination of the evening is the unveiling of this year’s Supreme Champion, the overall winner across all categories, which this year was awarded to the fantastic Roussas Dairy for their Greek Galotyri PDO Cheese. A seriously fantastic product!
Although we weren’t able to secure one of the very top spots this year, it was a privilege to get the chance to be counted amongst some of the very best artisan producers from across the world and meet some incredibly inspiring people at such a prestigious event.
We’ll keep our fingers crossed for 2024!