The new Great British Cheese Awards have been launched with the specific aim to recognise, promote and reward excellence in the artisan cheese industry and are organised by Great British Chefs (the UK’s fastest growing food website) and Peter’s Yard, whose crispbread was recently named as “the best biscuit for cheese out there”. The awards will celebrate the best of British cheese produced and distributed by independent cheese makers and retailers and will stand apart from other events as the general public will have a large influence on recognising and rewarding outstanding British cheese.
The Great British Cheese Awards will cover 10 categories from best speciality cheese retailer, best independent cheese producer, best hard cheese, right through to best fresh cheese. The awards will not just rely on tastings alone; they will bring together hundreds of thousands of online food lovers with industry experts, food writers and celebrity cheese fans to give the artisan cheese industry unparalleled prominence. Ultimately, the people who eat cheese and buy cheese will be the ones who decide who deserves to win a prestigious award.
Co-founder of Peter’s Yard, Wendy Wilson-Bett said “At Peter’s Yard, our award-winning traditional sourdough crispbread complement a wide variety of cheese so we want to further strengthen our association with passionate producers, retailers and ‘great cheese’. We are so pleased to be lead sponsor for The Great British Cheese Awards as they will provide the perfect vehicle for individual producers and retailers who make or sell cheese to gain recognition from the public and industry experts. Our overall objective is to help raise the profile of these producers and retailers and in turn encourage the general public to seek out and buy exceptional British cheese. Given the high level of consumer involvement in the nomination and judging process we would like to encourage artisan producers and dedicated, specialist retailers to enter the awards.”
Peter’s Yard will be exhibiting at the Farm Shop & Deli Show 2016 and will have information on the awards and entry details available from their stand (E184).
Ollie Lloyd, CEO and founder of Great British Chefs said “Both Great British Chefs and Peter’s Yard rely on fantastic tasting ingredients and the people who produce them. By launching The Great British Cheese Awards, we hope to produce a catalogue of great artisan cheese and discover up-and-coming cheesemakers. We are giving consumers the opportunity to shape the future of British cheese and encourage them to expand their horizons and taste-buds when cheese buying. Together Great British Chefs and Peter’s Yard have a social media reach of over 1.3 million and we want to utilise this platform to help promote British cheese talent.”
The awards are free to enter. Artisan cheese producers and retailers can enter directly and will have until midnight 31st May 2016 to complete their entries. During this time the general public will also be encouraged to nominate their favourites. The voting process will commence in June before a final Awards Ceremony held in London at the end of October. Information and entry forms are available from www.greatbritishcheeseawards.com. Throughout the nomination and voting process, entries that catch the organiser’s eye will be featured on the Great British Cheese Awards’ website and benefit from promotion across Great British Chefs and Peter’s Yard extensive social media community.
Further information can be found here