Winning an Excellence Award is more than simply having a well-written award entry – it’s testament to the commitment and dedication of our producers to creating truly exceptional products and business practices.
The passion of the farmers, fishermen and food and drink producers within the industry is inspiring. The pursuit of perfection, combined with a genuine appetite for innovating, means we have some of the best businesses and products in the world and these awards give us the opportunity to celebrate that.
To shine a light on these amazing producers we asked them what winning an Excellence Award meant to them and how it has helped them as a business.
Aldomak, Glasgow
Winner of Young Talent, Jordan Russell
Aldomak is a Scottish confectionery business established in 1932 in Glasgow, supplying the ice cream trade. Today, Aldomak makes Scottish Tablet, Fudge and Macaroon for a wide array of independents, supermarkets and the tourist trade. The business has also branched out into making Handmade Meringues on a large scale, supplying farm shops, delis, hotels and cafes across Scotland.
Dario Riccomini, managing director, said:
“2019 has been a good year for us in raising the profile of the business and our abilities and as a result we are gaining new customers, sales and the opportunity to investigate new NPD. We were delighted with our Category award win at the Scotland Food & Drink Excellence Awards for Jordan Russell, Young Talent, as I am convinced this played a role in that”
Aldomak is proud of its handmade artisanal credentials and over the years the company has spent time reimaging traditional recipes and scaling these recipes into large batches, whereby the confectioners pour and cut these by hand, to retain rustic products customers love. Aldomak was recently awarded two 1 stars in the Great Taste Awards for their Bonnie Glen Vanilla Fudge and Butter Tablet which hopefully validates our quality too.
Why do we exist? To make life sweeter for everyone!
Find out more https://aldomak.co.uk/
East Coast Cured
Winner of Artisanal Product – Porcini & Truffle Salami
Winner of Meat category – Whisky Oak Smoked Nduja
Susie Anderson of East Coast Cured said;
“To win three Scotland Food & Drink Excellence Awards in our first two years of business has given our small team a significant confidence boost, and a chance to reflect and celebrate all of our hard work – something that can be difficult as a small start-up! Winning two awards in 2019 has led to more exposure, helping to increase sales, assuring customers that they’re buying a quality product”
http://www.eastcoastcured.com/
Brewing Product of the Year
Harviestoun Brewery
“ We were delighted to win the Brewing Product of the Year award at the Scotland Food & Drink Excellence Awards, and we have taken the opportunity to include the award within all our customer propositions for Ola Dubh and Harviestoun Brewery, endorsing our dedication to craft beer. The award brought particular attention from Asia and London where awards and heritage are major endorsement to Harviestoun Breweries consistency and quality. We’ve been making craft beer for over 36 years and winning this award is great recognition to our consistency and dedication to quality”
Peter Sandstrom, Chief Executive, Harviestoun Brewery
Export Business of the Year
Scottish Sea Farms
“Scottish produce is revered the world over, as is the work of Scotland Food & Drink. So to win the 2019 Excellence Award for Export Business of the Year was more than simply great news for our own team – it was also cause for celebration throughout our customer base, further underlining our ongoing commitment to, and investment in, the quality of our product and the personal service that supports it”
Celine Kimpflin, Export Sales Manager, Scottish Sea Farms
https://www.scottishseafarms.com/
Confectionery, Drinks & Snacking Product of the Year
The Drinks Bakery
Successes over the past year
- 5 Great Taste stars – announced August 2019
- 2 Great Taste Stars (top 10% of all products) – Lancashire Cheese & Spring Onion Drinks Biscuits (Winner of SF&D Excellence Award 2019)
- 1 Great Taste Star – Pecorino, Rosemary & Scottish Seaweed Drinks Biscuits
- 1 Great Taste Star – Parmesan, Toasted Pinenut & Basil Drinks Biscuits
- 1 Great Taste Star – Mature Cheddar, Chilli & Almond Drinks Biscuits
- Launched new ‘Luxury Sharing packs’ into Selfridges July 2019 and these larger format packs have been warmly welcomed into the premium independent retail sector by outlets such as IJ Mellis Cheesemongers, Isle of Harris Gin Distillery, Glengoyne Distillery, The Conran Shop and many more
- Launched Drinks Biscuits into 3 amazing 5-star hotels: The Fife Arms Scotland; The Standard Hotel London; LifeHouse Spa & Hotel England. Transforming the bar mini-bar offer. More exciting news to be announced very soon.
- Despite the current European economic climate, sent first large export to a premium online food platform in Germany – July 2019
- Secured listing with Ocado online supermarket – September 2019
- Secured listing with Fenwicks – September 2019
- Selected to be a 2019 Seedfund Academy business as one of the top 15 Food & Drink start-ups in the UK
- Launched online in July 2019
- Won Best Product at the ‘Made in Scotland’ Awards 2019
