The Great Taste Awards

At the Great Taste Awards 2007 Walter Smith took the ultimate Supreme Champion award for its Free Range Pork Pie (see image below).  The Great Taste Awards is organised by the Guild of Fine Foods and is the acknowledged benchmark for speciality food and drink in the UK.  It has been described as the ‘Oscars’ of the food world.  Which means that food or drink displaying the GTA logo is a sign of trust for the buyer, indicative of a quality retailer.

The pork pie continues to rise in fame extending throughout the UK and has received numerous press releases and taste challenges conducted by 3^rd parties.  For example, a recent Sunday Times article, Lucas Hollweg (food critic) lists Walter Smith as one of his favourite food suppliers and mentioned in particular the Pork Pie, stating “it is everything you want a pork pie to be.”

To highlight the significance of a Supreme Champion award, over 4,500 products are blind tasted and tested by a panel consisting of a minimum of 12 experts and products are awarded either a 1 star, 2 star or 3 star awards.  More than 25 judges have to agree on a product for a 3 star gold.  Then all the 3 star award winning products are taken to the top table and placed in to categories for a second round of judging and Champion awards are given to the best product in each category.

The Supreme Champion award is the final ultimate award for best overall product of the year out of all the 3 Star products.   A Supreme Champion award is a significant achievement for any provider in the Fine Foods industry.