THE world’s most coveted blind-tasted food awards, Great Taste, has just released the Great Taste stars of 2015 and Red Ruby Devon Beef of Clannaborough, near Copplestone, is amongst the producers celebrating as its Dry Aged Sirloin Steak is now able to proudly carry the little gold and black Great Taste logo.

Judged by more than 400 of the most demanding palates belonging to food critics, chefs, cooks, restaurateurs, producers and a host of food writers and journalists, Great Taste is widely acknowledged as the most respected food accreditation scheme for artisan and speciality food producers.

When a product wears a Great Taste label it carries a badge of honour but more importantly, the Great Taste logo is a signpost to a wonderful tasting product – hundreds of judges have worked tirelessly to discover the very best, through hours and hours of blind-tasting a total of 10,000 different foods and drinks.

Sarah May, who runs the Red Ruby farm shop, said: “We are absolutely delighted to have won another award from Great Taste! This award means a great deal to us; it’s a national award and we are up against stiff competition.”

Recognised as a stamp of excellence among consumers and retailers alike, Great Taste values taste above all else, with branding and packaging ignored.

Whether it is cheese, ale, steak or chutney being judged, all products are removed from their wrapper, jar or bottle before being tasted. The judges then savour, confer and re-taste to decide which products are worthy of a one, two or three-star award.

There were 10,000 Great Taste entries this year and of those products, 130 have been awarded a three-star, 597 received a two-star and 2,382 were awarded a one-star accolade.

The panel of judges included “Masterchef” judge and restaurant critic Charles Campion, TV presenter and cook, Aggie Mackenzie, “Great British Bake Off” winner, Frances Quinn, “Masterchef” the Professionals finalist, Adam Handling, food buyers from Harrods, Selfridges, Waitrose and Marks and Spencer, and chefs including James Golding, Chef Director of The Pig hotel group, who have together tasted and re-judged the three-star winners to finally agree on the 2015 Top 50 Foods, the Golden Fork Trophy winners and the new 2015 Supreme Champion.

At an Awards’ Dinner at the Royal Garden Hotel, London, on Monday, September 7, the great and the good from the world of fine food will gather to hear who has won the Golden Fork Awards and the final applause will be reserved for the Great Taste Supreme Champion 2015.