The stars from the inaugural Scottish Retail Food & Drink Awards 2021 have been announced and a host of delicious Scottish food and drink products have been given a new stamp of approval.
The Scottish Retail Food & Drink Awards celebrate the vast array of quality food and drink products locally produced in Scotland. Entries came from hundreds of food and drink producers who were keen to get listings in Scottish retail outlets.
This year’s winners, announced on Thursday 29 April, were dominated by the incredible products widely produced around Scotland, proving that food and drink from the length and breadth of Scotland has a deserved reputation for quality and taste.
An exceptional 53 Scottish products ranging from small independent producers to large scale producers have been deemed worthy of a Scottish Retail Food & Drink Award, with six products achieving the sought-after Platinum award.
After almost three weeks of intensive judging involving hundreds of products and more than 60 expert judges from across the food and drink sector, the results include a selection of outstanding Scottish products targeting retail listings in Scotland.
Six Scottish products have been recognised with a Platinum award:
• Small Producer – Thule Ventus, Salt Cod Pate from Shetland Islands
• Small Producer – Lunun Gin, Lunun Gin from Fife
• Large Producer – Mackie’s of Scotland, Traditional Dairy Ice Cream from Aberdeenshire
• Large Producer – GM Spirits, Edinburgh Rum
• Own Label – Aldi, Specially Selected Steak & Ale Pie
• Own Label – Aldi, 12 Year Old Speyside Scotch Whisky
The Platinum awards were chosen from the overall category finalists. These products have been deemed by the judges as having ‘absolutely outstanding quality’.
Scottish Retail Food and Drink Awards director, Antony Begley, said: “We were delighted to see so many fantastic Scottish food and drink producers take part in the awards which have one very simple goal: to get more of Scotland’s fantastic food and drink products onto more Scottish retail shelves.
“The Scottish Retail Food and Drink Awards were created not only to help producers secure listings but to help retailers unearth fantastic Scottish products to stock in their stores.
“With interest in locally, regionally and nationally sourced products arguably higher than ever among Scottish retailers and consumers, this is a fantastic time to win a Scottish Retail Food and Drink Award. I would like to congratulate all of the winners on their brilliant achievement.”
Helen Lyons, Scottish Retail Food and Drink Awards co-founder, added: “Congratulations to all of our winners and in particular to the Platinum award winners. Looking at the range and diversity of the winning products and the companies and top brands that have entered, the quality, standard and innovation has not disappointed.
“Our goal has always been to get more Scottish food and drink products onto more Scottish shelves and it has been great to see the high standard of entries this year. Receiving a Scottish Retail Food and Drink Award is a stamp of excellence. We look forward to seeing many of the winning products gaining new listings in Scottish retail stores over the coming months.”
Judges’ comments on the Platinum award winners:
Small Producer – Thule Ventus, Salt Cod Pate from Shetland Islands
o A beautiful product innovative, delicious and delicately creamy’ with a lovely fishy aroma with buttery, creamy under tones.
Small Producer – Lunun Gin, Lunun Gin from Fife
o A work of art in every sense. Enchanting on the nose with a deep, complex flavour, Lunun Gin is also presented in packaging that is a work of art on its own and delivers fantastic shelf standout.
Large Producer – Mackie’s of Scotland, Traditional Dairy Ice Cream from Aberdeenshire
o A beautiful light creamy coloured ice cream, with a clean fresh vanilla flavour and nose. The resealable tub has great shelf appeal and presence, and great to see that they celebrate the company’s heritage on pack.
Large Producer – GM Spirits, Edinburgh Rum
o Gloriously rich, sweet and full bodied and extremely easy to drink. Really well made and utterly delicious sweet sipping rum that’s beautifully presented.
Own Label – Aldi, Specially Selected Steak & Ale Pie
o A delicious, flavoursome well balanced pie. The beef was beautifully tender and the gravy well-seasoned and the pastry was perfectly buttery and crisp. Exceptional value for money too!
Own Label – Aldi, 12 Year Old Speyside Scotch Whisky
o Fantastically well balanced, elegant single malt, very typical of the easy-to-drink Speyside style – and absolutely outstanding value for money.
The Scottish Retail Food & Drink Awards took place at 11am on 29 April 2021. The awards also included a number of categories for UK producers. These were judged separately and were for producers targeting listings in Scotland.
A full list of this year’s winners can be viewed at www.scottishretailfoodanddrinkawards.com
