We are always on the look out for the best British food and drink. Our Local and Regional Sourcing Initiative now includes over 1700 fantastic products, including fruit, vegetables, bacon, sausages, ice cream, wines, cheeses and honey.
For the second year running, we have teamed up with Country Living magazine for the Made in Britain Awards. This celebration of Britain's best small producers helps us reward truly great products that stand out from the rest, building innovative twists on traditional techniques and creating the heritage foods of tomorrow.
The awards are now closed and we will shortly be announcing the winners, so keep a look out for the results here.
Five Made in Britain Food Producers of the Year will be selected from our finalists and each one will win £5,000 from Waitrose. Subject to technical approval, each business will have the opportunity to have products stocked at Waitrose. The overall Made in Britain Food Champion of the Year will be chosen from these five and will receive an additional £5,000.
Farmers Guardian will be awarding a further £5,000 to the Best Farm Entrepreneur. This category can be entered via the Farmers Guardian website and will be won by a producer who can demonstrate they have taken steps to drive their food production business forward.
All the finalists will also be featured in a special booklet, free with the November 2009 issue of Country Living Magazine.
The winners will be announced at the Royal County of Berkshire Show on 19th September 2009.
The winners of the Made in Britain Awards 2008:
Among the finalists last year were producers that helped to grow the rural economy, employed local people and sourced regional produce. One winner used hand-picked fruit from her own smallholding and traditional cooking techniques to make delicious seasonal puddings. Another winner recaptured the flavour of a long-lost Stilton style cheese, made with raw unpasteurised milk.
Made in Britain Food Champion of the Year
Made in Britain Food Producers of the Year
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Higher Fingle Farm and Elsa's Organic Duck Eggs (Crockernwell, Exeter)
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Stichelton Dairy (Mansfield, Nottinghamshire)
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S C Price and Sons (Ludlow, Shropshire)
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Sweet Stuff Slow (Ludlow, Shropshire)
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Yew Tree Farm, Heritage Meats (Coniston, Cumbria)
Made in Britain Finalists
- Isle of Skye Seafoods (Broadford, Isle of Skye)
- Brockleby's Farm Shop (Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire)
- Original Smokies from Arbroath (Carmyllie by Arbroath)
- Lizzie's Homemade (Penrith, Cumbria)
- Lyburn Farmhouse Cheesemakers (Salisbury, Wiltshire)
- Tickety-Moo (Enniskillen, Northern Ireland)
- Sandisons Ltd (Baltasound, Shetland)
- Stratta (Eastbourne, Sussex)
- Lick the Spoon (Chippenham, Wiltshire)
- Davenport Vineyards (Rotherfield, East Sussex)
- The Westerham Brewery (Crockham Hill, Kent)
- Jo Hilditch British Cassis (Kington, Herefordshire)
- Somerset Orchards (Wells, Somerset)
The Farmers Guardian Award for the Best Farm Entrepreneur:
Continuing our Fair Trade for British Farmers partnership with Farmers Guardian, the weekly agricultural newspaper, a special award will be given to the Best Farm Entrepreneur.
This year also saw the launch of the Farmers Guardian Award for Best Farm Entrepreneur. Farmers Guardian were looking to reward a business with real entrepreneurial spirit, who could demonstrate they have taken real and positive steps to drive their food production business forward.
The 2008 Farmers Guardian Best Farm Entrepreneur is: