The 2023 Scottish Retail Food & Drink Award winners unveiled

Glasgow: The winners of the 2023 Scottish Retail Food & Drink Awards (SRFDA) were revealed at a celebratory lunch held at Radisson blu in Glasgow on 25 May 2023.

The special event saw food and drink products from all over Scotland recognised, with the absolute best seven earning a coveted Platinum Award.

Created to help get more of Scotland’s fantastic food and drink products onto more Scottish retail shelves, the Scottish Retail Food and Drink Awards are now in their third year.

More than forty expert judges from all disciplines judged hundreds of products over an intense month-long period.

Every product which received a Gold Award was then eligible to be considered for Platinum status. This final phase of the judging was carried out in two days of face-to-face sessions at The Corinthian in Glasgow where its executive chef prepared the products in line with on-pack instructions for the Platinum judging panel.

Platinum winners are:

- Hebridean Food Company, Stewart’s Kitchen Cullen Skink Soup in Bothwell, Lanarkshire (small producer - food category)

- Mackie’s White Chocolate & Raspberry ice cream from Rothienorman, Aberdeenshire (large producer – food category)

- Aldi Specially selected Scottish Flavoured sausages Arran Mustard & Honey (supermarket/own brand – food category)

- Chorizo original picante from Corndale Farm in Northern Ireland (UK producer category)

- AATTA gin, Orkney Gin Company from Orkney, Northern Isles (small producer – drink category)

- Old Pulteney 12 Year Old single malt Scotch whisky from International Beverage of Airdrie,

- Lanarkshire (large producer – drink category)

- Aldi Glen Marnoch 12 Year Old Speyside Single Malt (supermarket/own brand – drink category)

Bruce Langlands, the former head of food and drink at both Harrods and Selfridges, was chair of the Platinum judging panel and said: “I was thrilled to once again be involved with the Scottish Retail Food & Drink Awards and it has been so encouraging to see that the high standards, we have come to expect from the entries has been more than maintained. I have to say that we have tasted some absolutely outstanding products.

“I really believe that many of this year’s winners will go on to secure new listings in Scottish retail outlets and, when that happens, we can take pride in the small part we played in helping that happen.”

Ninety outstanding food and drink products made it onto the shortlist for the awards ceremony representing a broad selection of food and drink categories.

Antony Begley, SRFDA Director added: “Congratulations to all our winners! It has been another fantastic year for the SRFDAs with outstanding entries across every food and drink category. The passion and vibrancy in the Scottish retail food and drink sector is inspirational and we look forward to seeing many more of these products on store shelves over the next 12 months.”

Platinum, Gold and Silver award winner Chris Law, National Account Manager of Mackie’s of Scotland said: “It was fantastic for Mackie’s to be recognised with awards in the Silver, Gold and Platinum categories at the Scottish Retail Food & Drink Awards 2023. As awards that take the whole process of the product into account, winning them takes a real team effort across the whole business and it was a privilege to be able to report back to everyone at the farm that we had not just won a number of awards, but that White Chocolate & Raspberry had taken the top Platinum award. It’s a delicious product, and having it recognised like this is really rewarding for all of us involved in making and selling it.”

Graham Nicolson, Group Buying Director for Aldi Scotland, added: “We are delighted to have won two Platinum awards at the recent Scottish Retail Food & Drink Awards. We are committed to offering our customers top quality Scottish products at affordable prices and our 12 Year Old Speyside Scotch Whisky and Specially Selected Arran Mustard and Honey Scottish Pork Sausages are the perfect example of not having to compromise on quality.”

Erin Watt from Platinum Award winning Orkney Gin Company said: “Our family run business is delighted to win Platinum for the second year at the Scottish Retail Food & Drink Awards with our Aatta gin. We are particularly proud as this craft gin has been our longest standing project. We’ve been working and perfecting bright and fresh Aatta in the background for several years. We’d like to thank all involved in the awards and congratulate all other winners for their hard work and lovely products!”

Sponsors of the SRFDAs were SPAR Scotland (Small Producer Partner), Invest NI (UK Producer Partner), Scottish Wholesale Association, Business Gateway and The UPAC Group.