Changes for 2007
This year sees a major change to the awards themselves. Bronze and silver have been discontinued. Instead, we’ll be presenting one-, two- and three-star gold awards. Like their Michelin equivalents, these will give retailers and producers a real point of difference from the multiples – and give consumers an accessible and authoritative standard to help guide their purchasing decisions. As a rough guide, one-star awards will go to products that fully meet the judges’ rigorous standards. Two-star products are the ones that set those standards. But to earn a three-star grade, an entry needs that indefinable ‘something extra’ - the little bit of magic that sets it apart not just from products of the same type, but in the world of fine food as a whole.In response to feedback from producers and retailers, 2007 also sees new classes for dairy products (cheese, milk, cream, butter and yoghurt), bake-off bread, bottled beer and a special category for any product that falls outside the listed classes. This is designed to enable the widest possible range of producers to enter and strengthen the awards’ position as the benchmark for ALL fine food.

Entry and Judging Process
The initial judging takes place in London over one week in May. No awards are decided at this stage: the judges simply decide which products go through to the next round. If your entry is one of them, we’ll contact you again for more information about the product, such as the provenance of key ingredients, distribution and so on. Your product will then be judged a second time at Guild House, our new headquarters in Wincanton. Entries considered to be of two- or three-star standard will face a final round of judging in London during July. For those that don’t progress beyond the initial judging phase, there’s the considerable consolation of a report from the judges, offering expert, impartial advice and opinions to help you develop your product further and make an even stronger entry in 2008.

The PR campaign
Last year’s media campaign brought the Great Taste Awards to an audience of 23 million. In 2007, we’re going further and wider than ever before, with a huge range of print, broadcast and new media promotions designed to reach 27 million or more.We’ll again be running our Taste British Gold supplement in 120,000 copies of Delicious magazine but in 2007, we will also circulate copies through delis, farm shops, pubs and restaurants. We’re also planning to hold workshops featuring gold-winning foods at the regional Speciality & Fine Food Fairs and other events – there’s even the possibility of a TV series. Plus, we’ll provide you with a complete marketing support package to help you promote your gold-winning products to your local and regional media, and in-store.