First Belfast judging for record Great Taste entries

A record 14 per cent rise in entries from Northern Ireland food and drink companies for this year's Great Taste Awards has been announced by organisers UK Guild of Fine Food.

Judges in the event, being held in Belfast for the first time next month, will sample 716 products from 125 Northern Ireland companies, mostly artisan enterprises.

Senior food buyers from stores including Harrods and Paxton and Whitfield will be taking part in the judging from 3 to 5 June in the Stormont Hotel. Influential food writers such as Xanthe Clay, Charles Campion and Rebecca Williams will also be taking part in the judging which is being sponsored by Invest Northern Ireland.

Northern Ireland has seen a mini-boom in artisan food production in recent years and has won the Supreme Champion title in 2011 and 2012, the winners being two Moira companies, McCartney's Butchers and Hannan Meats.

John Farrand, managing director of the Guild of Fine Food, says: "We are delighted to recognise the growth in artisan food and drink in Northern Ireland by bringing the judging to Belfast for the first time."

Northern Ireland also secured three category awards last year. The Deli and Farmshop Signature Dish was won by Yellow Door Deli in Portadown, the Best Ambient product by En Place Foods (NI) in Cookstown and the Regional Golden Fork by Hannan Meats.

In January, the guild announced a 10,000 cap on entries to the Great Taste scheme, after numbers rose 25 per cent to 9,700 last year.

"We hit this year's 10,000 limit at 9.30pm on March 21 - two and a half hours before the midnight deadline.

Judging will finish in the first week of July and the first results will be announced shortly afterwards. The main awards will be presented at a gala dinner in London in early September.