Food producers from Ireland have claimed 24 of the 153 three-star golds presented in the Great Taste food awards run by the Guild of Fine Foods in the UK. There were 18 three-star awards earned by producers from Northern Ireland, including seven for Hannan meats in Moira, Co Down. Peter Hannan won the 2012 Great Taste supreme championship for a Northern Ireland-made guanciale. Six of the seven three-star gold awards won by Hannon this year are for his Himalayan salt-aged beef.
Food producers in Tipperary, Kerry, Westmeath, Dublin, Cork and Donegal also attained the highest level of success in the competition. These awards were for beef dripping made by James Whelan Butchers in Clonmel; sea salt caramel made by Cloudberry bakery in Castlemaine; coffee from DragonFly Espresso in Mullingar; dairy free ice-cream made by Nobó in Dublin; Irish Atlantic Sea Salt with dill pollen from Beara; and rapeseed oil made by the Donegal Rapeseed Company Ltd in Raphoe, Co Donegal.
More than 10,000 food products were entered for the competition and in addition to the 153 three-star golds, there were 697 two-star and 2,531 one-star awards made. The supreme champion will be announced at a presentation and dinner in London next month. The ful list of winners is published online at finefoodworld.co.uk
