NORTH EAST WINS SUPREME FOOD AWARD AGAIN (September 2008)

For the second time in three years a North East food producer has won one of the most prestigious awards in the international food industry – the Fortnum & Mason Trophy for the Supreme Champion at the Great Taste Awards held in London in early September.

Father and son, Ian and Peter Craig, who run Beckleberry’s of Blaydon on Tyne, makers of quality ice cream and patisserie, beat off competition from over 2,000 small food producers in the UK and overseas, to land the top prize for their blackcurrant and kirsch sorbet.

“We are still in a state of shock,” said Ian. “We have won 46 Great Taste awards in the past seven years, but we never expected to win the supreme championship. I never slept a wink on Monday night after the awards ceremony. I couldn’t take it in.”

The Tyneside company, formerly known as Artisan Foods, was set up by Ian and Peter in 1996. Its success at the 2008 Great Taste Awards follows that of Burtree Puddings of Darlington, which won the supreme title in 2005 with their sticky toffee pudding.

The Craigs started Artisan Foods in 1996. Ian was a retired NCB mechanical engineer from Gateshead and Peter had just completed his A levels and did not want to go on to university. He had always fancied a career in manufacturing. He also loved ice cream. So after discussion father and son agreed there was a gap in the local market for top quality ice cream and handmade patisseries. So we went for it,” said Peter.

Now in its 15th year the Great Taste Awards from the Guild of Fine Food are the acknowledged benchmark for speciality food and drink. A three-star gold is the highest level of award any producer can aspire to and is recognised as the definite independent accreditation of quality. Beckleberry’s entry won a three-star gold and also the best regional speciality category sponsored by the North East England Food and Drink Group. It was the third time in succession they won the regional award.

Sandy Duncan, general manager of Northumbria Larder who is also the lead programme manager for NEEFDG, said: “This represents a major triumph, not only for Beckleberry’s but for the whole of the North East food and drink sector. It proves that this region can supply the highest quality produce. We can do it consistently and we can do it better than anyone else. The North East England Food and Drink Group is proud of Beckleberry’s, not only because we know their magnificent achievement – the second supreme winner from the North East in three years – will provide a spur to all other premium quality producers in the region, it will also send a strong message to buyers throughout the UK that the North East produces the very best.”

Artisan changed its trading name to Beckleberry’s last year. It employs around 30 people, making an impressive range of products, supplying mainly to leading hotels, restaurants and delicatessens. Last year they moved to a 10,000 sq.ft, purpose-built food factory in Blaydon. They make a main core of some 50 flavours of ice cream rising to 150 if required, 30 types of sorbet, over 60 varieties of cheesecake, 70 types of chocolate and mousse, and 20 kinds of iced parfaits.

All the company’s products are handmade by teams of five or six working in groups around tables. “It’s all done, small scale, just like an ordinary kitchen,” said Peter Craig.