Croots Farm Shop has struck gold in this year’s Great Taste
Awards, with gold stars for a trio of products.
Croots sloe gin earned two gold stars and the label of
‘outstanding’, with judges saying: “Beautiful looking sloe gin, great colour
and lovely ‘on the nose’.”
The drink is made by Croots Farm Shop owner Steve Croot from
sloes collected around Farnah House Farm, in Wirksworth Road, Duffield, where
the farm shop is based.
Croots leg of lamb and Croots sticky maple and hickory belly
pork also each won a gold star in the awards, which are regarded as the
‘Oscars’ of the fine food world.
Steve said: “These awards are presented to the very best
food and drink products, so we are over the moon to have won gold stars for
three more of our products. I only started making the sloe gin last year, so
I’m particularly pleased that the judges regarded it as outstanding.”
In previous years Croots has scooped Great Taste Awards for a
range of home-produced items, including sausages, smoked salmon pâté, bacon,
pork pie, muesli and lemon oil.
Great Taste, organised by the Guild of Fine Food, is the
acknowledged benchmark for speciality food and drink and has been described as
the ‘epicurean equivalent of the Booker prize’. Products awarded two stars are
deemed ‘outstanding’, while those that receive one star are viewed as ‘simply
delicious’.
The judges included hundreds of top chefs, restaurateurs,
acclaimed cooks, food experts, retail buyers and food writers.
They said of Croots leg of lamb: “A good leg of lamb, great
aroma, great taste, simple and does what it’s supposed to.” Their description
of Croots sticky maple and hickory belly pork was: “Great flavour to the meat
and fat. Clean, tender and very tasty.”
“Our meat is either bred at the farm or comes from nearby
farms, and our butchers have built up a great reputation for their skills and
their products. I’m so pleased that two of the popular items from the butchers’
counter have been recognised in such a high-profile award scheme,” added Steve.
Croots Farm Shop opened in 2008 and is based at Farnah House
Farm, Wirksworth Road. It is open Monday to Saturday from 9am to 5pm (Shires
Eatery until 4.30pm) and from 10am to 4pm on Sundays. Croots runs Fresh Fish
Thursdays between 9am and 1pm on Thursdays.
For more
information about Croots visit www.croots.co.uk
Twitter @crootsfarm_shop
Press release issued by Nottingham PR company Perfect 10 PR www.perfect10pr.co.uk
