Helen Browning’s Organic Hot Dog is among the Great Taste winners of 2018

Great Taste, the world’s most coveted food awards, which celebrates the very best in food and drink, has announced the Great Taste stars of 2018. Out of over 12,600 products to be judged, Wiltshire's Helen Browning’s Organic was awarded a 3-star Great Taste award, which means the product was described by judges as extraordinarily tasty for its Hot Dog.

“Wonderful on the palate, beautifully balanced textures, flavours and seasoning.  Sweetly smokey, gently savoury, just the perfect resilience of skin and meat.  Wonderfully satisfying.  We're joining the queue wherever this is sold”

“Bring this on with a dollop of mustard. Dude food done well”

“Juicy sweet pork meat with subtle smoke.  A really big burst of flavour in the mouth when you bite into the sausage.  Satisfying, warm lingering smoky flavours. Quite delicious!

Judged by over 500 of the most demanding palates, belonging to food critics, chefs, cooks, restaurateurs and producers, as well as a whole host of food writers and journalists, Great Taste is widely acknowledged as the most respected food accreditation scheme for artisan and speciality food producers. As well as a badge of honour, the unmistakeable black and gold Great Taste label is a signpost to a wonderful tasting product, which has been discovered through hours and hours of blind-tasting by hundreds of judges.       

Claire Bailey, Helen Browning’s Organic, explains: We are determined to give our pigs the good life they deserve, and convinced that their organic, free range credentials makes our pork truly delicious. So we’re over the moon to have received such fantastic comments from the Great Taste judges for our Hot Dog.   We’re delighted to be members of the Guild of Fine Food and hope that this award encourages many more people to indulge with confidence, opens doors to new retailers, and increasing sales.  We’ll be celebrating at the Go Organic Festival on the 8/9th September with sampling & special offers on our Hot Dogs and other fresh products. www.goorganicfestival.co.uk

Recognised as a stamp of excellence among consumers and retailers alike, Great Taste values taste above all else, with no regard for branding and packaging. Whether it is vinegar, granola, bacon or cheese being judged, all products are removed from their wrapper, jar, box or bottle before being tasted. The judges then savour, confer and re-taste to decide which products are worthy of a 1-, 2- or 3-star award.

There were 12,634 entries into Great Taste this year and of those products, 192 have been awarded a 3-star, 1,207 received a 2-star and 3,254 were awarded a 1-star accolade. The panel of judges this year included; MasterChef 2018 champion, Kenny Tutt, chef and food writer, Elly Curshen, eco chef and food writer, Tom Hunt, author and chef, Zoe Adjonyoh, baker Tom Herbert, author and blogger, Izy Hossack, and baker and recipe writer, Martha Collison, as well as food buyers from Harrods, Selfridges and Sourced Market. These esteemed palates have together tasted and re-judged the 3-star winners to finally agree on the Golden Fork Trophy winners and the Great Taste 2018 Supreme Champion. 

Great Taste 2018 will reach its exciting finale on Sunday 2 September, when the world of fine food gathers at the InterContinental Park Lane Hotel, London to find out the Great Taste Golden Fork trophy winners for each region, with the final applause reserved for the Great Taste Supreme Champion 2018. 

Helen has a very mixed organic farm in Wiltshire, with dairy, beef, pigs, cereals and is now also experimenting with agro-forestry. Her products are sold through the Helen Browning’s Organic brand in retailers, big and small, as well as through her mini hotel and restaurant/pub on the farm, and through her restaurant in Swindon. She is Chief Executive of the Soil Association, a member of the Food Ethics Council, trustee of the RSPB and was recently appointed to the Food Farming and Countryside Commission hosted by the RSA (Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce). Prior to rejoining the Soil Association, Helen was Director of External Affairs for the National Trust. She has had a number of roles in agri-politics over the years, including the Government’s Policy Commission on the Future of Farming and Food (‘the Curry Commission’) and chaired the England Animal Health and Welfare Implementation Group. Helen was awarded an OBE in 1998 for her services to organic farming.