Anticipation is beginning to build ahead of the Butchers Q Guild’s Smithfield Awards, which will be presented on Wednesday 1st February.
The annual awards ceremony will be staged in Ironmongers Hall in London.
This year the event has attracted a record entry of almost 600 individual products, an increase on the previous year, from 61 member businesses.
A total of 267 gold award winners emerged across the Q Guild’s eight regions, which in itself was also a record high.
Products were judged blind by independent panels of international food and meat industry experts, and have now been shortlisted for the national final in each of the ten product categories.
Winners, which will include a best in category diamond award and an overall supreme champion, will be announced at the annual gathering in London which will bring together some of Britain’s leading butchers.
The 2017 Smithfield Awards will be presented by the acclaimed British food writer and food critic Tom Parker-Bowles.
Q Guild’s national chairman, Alnwick butcher Mark Turnbull, commented: “The response this year has been absolutely amazing and reinforces the Guild’s decision to change the Smithfield Awards format and make the presentations early in the year.
“This will allow all winners to promote their products – and their businesses – for a full 11 months within the current year of the awards, which we feel will prove a truly potent and effective marketing tool.”
For more information visit www.qguild.co.uk.
This story was originally published on a previous version of the Meat Management website and so there may be some missing images and formatting issues.
