9th September 2011

HONITON: Local champions at Taste of the West awards

By Laura Goldsbury Noy

This year’s Taste of the West Awards have been judged and local businesses in and around Honiton have pulled out all the stops to gain the prestigious awards.

The Taste of the West logo has now become the benchmark for independently proven, fine food and drink.

One local winner was Bartlett’s Farm Shop who entered two types of sausage into the competition for the first time this year, and won two gold awards. Bartlett’s Farm Shop traditional pork sausages and their cracked black pepper sausage came out top this year and after only running for two years, they are exceptionally pleased with the results.
Rebecca Bartlett, from Bartlett’s Farm Shop said: “We are absolutely chuffed to bits, especially with only entering two products and them both getting gold. The awards mean a lot to us as a company, as we have only been running since October 2009.

“The Taste of the West Awards really highlights our main produce concepts - locally sourced pork and meat, with all our sausages made on the premises. We supply as much local produce as is possible, working closely with the local farming community. We welcome everyone to come and visit us and see what we have on offer. We are based on the edge of Heath Park in Honiton.”

Another major winner this year was Yarty Valley Dairies, based near Yarcombe at Crawley Farm who won six awards this year. The local dairy producer won five silver awards for their Clotted Cream (200g), Non-Homogenised Milk (1l), Natural Yogurt (150g), Strawberry Yogurt (150g) and their Blueberry Yogurt. A bronze award was also obtained for their Double Cream (247ml.)

Sally Dare, Yarty Valley Dairies manager said: “ It is fantastic that we won all these awards and it has a very positive affect on our business as the logo is becoming so much more renowned for judging good local produce. We entered six products and won awards for every single one, and despite this being our third year entering the competition, we have definitely improved so we are really pleased. “

Other local winners included: Complete Meats, Devon Rose Ltd, Lyme Bay Winery and Otter Valley Dairy.

Taste of the West chief executive, John Sheaves, is absolutely delighted with this year’s results. He commented: “We have definitely seen an uplift in the product quality this year. The entries have proved, once again, that West Country producers lead the way in local sourcing and have raised the standard and sheer professionalism in getting their products to market. It’s a tough economic climate out there, so raising the bar is key to maintaining market share. My congratulations go to all the winners.”

PICTURE 1: Yarty Valley Dairies won six awards for their locally sourced dairy products

PICTURE 2: Nicola and Rebecca Bartlett from Bartlett's Farm Shop show off their gold award winning sausages