Great Taste Awards 2024 sees four Colchester businesses win

The Guild of Fine Food officially released the results for the Great Taste 2024, dubbed the ‘Oscars of the food and drink world’.

Nearly 3,500 companies entered Great Taste this year, between them offering 13,672 products for review.

Each entry was blind tasted by the Guild’s expert judging panel of over 500 critics, chefs, recipe creators, buyers, retailers, and other specialists in the field.

Entries were analysed across 92 judging days, with these four Colchester businesses coming out on top.

Smiles- Leah Riley and Pele Heydon of Thursday Cottage.

Thursday Cottage

Since 1961, Thursday Cottage has offered a variety of handmade jams, marmalades, and curds, 12 of which have now won the Great Taste award.

In 2024 the brand's cherry curd and passionfruit curd products picked up awards. 

Based in Trewlands Farm in Tiptree, the company aims to fill the jars by hand, which they say results in more whole fruit in the product and gives a more hearty and fruity taste.

Pele Heydon, a sales team member at Thursday Cottage, said: “We were so delighted when we saw we had won awards from the Great Taste for yet another year.

“We’ve been entering a handful of products into the awards every year for over ten years now, and as yet, we have never failed to win an award.

“This shows that as the years go on the quality of our products does not drop.”

Thursday Cottage products can be found at The Jam Shop in Tiptree and Hall Farm Shop in Colchester.

Crisps- Fairfields Farm has a golden reputation for its handcooked crisps. (Image: Fairfields Farm)

Fairfields Farm

Fairfields Farm crisps have seen their Sea Salt & Aspall Cyder Vinegar Crisps and Sweet Chilli Crisps get awards for 2024. 

Based in Wormingford, the Strathern family transform potatoes to hand cooked crisps, continuing their family legacy.  

The family have said the “beating heart” of their business is the team they’ve built, who bring “so much care and dedication” to what they do.

Award- Jane Hadley of Hadley's Dairy when she was awarded the Great Taste Golden Fork award for her Hadley's Burnt Honey Ice Cream. (Image: Hadley's Dairy). 

Hadley’s Dairy

Colne Engaine's Hadley’s Dairy has been making Great Taste award winning ice creams and sorbets for 21 years, with 27 products winning the stamp of approval.

At The Parlour in Lavenham, visitors can find their selection of homemade ice creams, sorbets, chocolate truffles, chocolate cookies, and amaretti.

In 2024 it got awards for its Belize Chocolate ice cream, Brazil Coffee ice cream, Belize Chocolate Truffle, Hot Chocolate Blend, Milk Chocolate Truffle and Orange, Almond and Cranberry Biscotti. 

Wilkin and Son's

The world famous brand scooped a Great Taste award for its Tiptree Salted Caramel Vodka Liqueur. 

The product takes small-batch craft English Vodka and mixes it with Tiptree Salted Caramel Spread "to create this rather delicious liqueur."