Great Taste Awards

Our cheeses won a total of 4*s at the Great Taste Awards 2024 – in our very first year of submission!

Expert judge feedback included; 

“Delicious and beautifully ripe”

“We loved this cheese, it offers such a rich, extended flavour experience”

“This is a lovely sweet nutty cheese that is a joy to eat”

We are over the moon…here is why that means so much.

As a keen foodie and cheese lover, every summer I look up the Great Taste Awards to see which of my favourite foods have won stars. From beef wellingtons and lamb shanks through to cheese, chutneys and drinks it has always been a treasure trove of discovery, helping to differentiate the truly special, from the run-of-the-mill.

I have lost count of the number of new brands and independent producers I have come across thanks to The Great Taste Awards, and the expertise of the judging panel means you can really trust the results.

When we launched our Genesis range of cheeses in 2023, we spent another year refining and tweaking, with a view to entering our cheeses for judging at both The Great Taste Awards, and the World Cheese Awards in 2024 (hopefully more on that to follow in December).

It really is crunch time when you put your products out there to an independent, judging panel for feedback. Given how new the cheeses are, we approached this as a learning curve rather than submitting finished products.

So we were ecstatic with the results…here they are by cheese;

Hendrix: 2-stars (Outstanding; above and beyond delicious rating in the top 10% of all products tasted)

“This is a lovely blue cheese, in the middle ground, a good introductory blue cheese.”
“It is delicious with a distinct pepperiness”
“This is a neat little cheese with a sound rind, even maturation and good distribution of blueing…Savoury, creamy and tangy in sound balance, this is pleasing and well made.”

Washington: 1-star (Simply Delicious; a product that delivers fantastic flavour)

“Pleasing creamy notes, healthy farmyard grassy tang and a very slight fruitiness from the rind”
“We loved this cheese; it offers such a rich, extended flavour experience, from creamy and herby through to gentle farmyard and vegetal notes”

Judges also noted the cheese wasn’t quite at perfect ripeness (not always a straightforward feat when selecting a soft washed rind cheese) so had even more potential – I believe Washington could definitely be a 3* cheese so that is something to aim for next year!

Swift Reserve: 1-star (Simply Delicious; a product that delivers fantastic flavour)

“Enjoyably creamy, satisfying and rich. A good all-rounder”

“This is a lovely sweet and nutty cheese that is a joy to eat…we couldn’t stop eating it”

The only cheese that didn’t get a star this year was our Eastwood, which was particularly disappointing as it was due to not being able to get the cheese quite ripe for tasting. We are very hopeful to be able to achieve at least 1* next year as Eastwood tends to be one of our most popular cheeses, and one we are incredibly proud of!

So overall, a hugely successful first year at the Great Taste Award and meaning our Genesis Range is officially a 4* product!