County Down deli Indie Fude named finalist in Shop of the Year 2019

Comber based deli Indie Füde is in the running to win the Delicatessen & Grocer category at the Guild of Fine Food's annual Shop of the Year awards for the second consecutive year.

The Guild of Fine Food's annual Shop of the Year awards, an accreditation scheme which recognises and promotes excellence in independent retail, has just announced that Indie Food is amongst the 45 independent retail outlets competing for the title in the 2019 awards.

Having had a written entry reviewed by a panel of respected industry experts, Indie Füde, which only sells small batch artisan products made in Ireland, will now undergo two further rounds of judging; an announced visit from one of the judges and a mystery shop carried out by Insight6.

Shop of the Year 2019 will reach its exciting finale on Monday 11 March when the world of fine food gather at Fodder Farm Shop and Café in Harrogate to find out the winners of each category, following Fine Food Show North, the Guild of Fine Food's trade-only event.

From overall shopping experience and financial performance to staff training opportunities and environmental initiatives in place, the panel of judges, which includes Edward Berry of The Flying Fork, Stuart Gates, former managing director at Fortnum & Mason and senior buyer at Harrods, award-winning retailer Tracey Colley and food writer, Patrick McGuigan, will rate, score and provide feedback on every aspect of the shops before agreeing on an overall category winner.