Spending several days continually tasting numerous foodstuffs for The Guild of Fine Food’s Great Taste Awards does not sound like a taxing job, but let me tell you it took stamina and brainpower. Anyone who has found themselves surreally discussing the merits of marmalade, or some such random product, at length, or had to enthuse after their tenth oatcake that really wasn’t any different to the last, will understand.

As the lengthy process went on of deciding whether each item deserved a one, two or three gold award, or should be sent back to the drawing board (I did encounter an interesting salad dressing that took my lipstick clean off and would have made a marvellous makeup remover), it did start to become noticeable that there were hardly any added-value fresh produce award entries.

And it’s not because the organisers don’t welcome it. When questioning the Guild’s Mike Cook at lunch, he said that there simply wasn’t that much interest from growers that have diversified. The South Devon Chilli Farm has done well from the affiliation with the awards and Mash Direct were keen, but essentially other than the countless chilli jams and various juices, fruit and veg stays out of the limelight.

Obviously, he said, they didn’t want someone just sending in a wholehead cauliflower for them to try; the awards are there for new and interesting products. But there are plenty of companies that could be taking advantage of this opportunity to showcase their products - G’s, QV Foods and Florette are just a few that spring to mind. It got a bit depressing, I must admit, after eating little else but pies, buffalo steaks and cupcakes on one day. So great was my disappointment that when I saw a bowl of Little Gem lettuce approach our table, I found myself letting out a little yelp of joy. Unfortunately the excitement was extremely short-lived, as the leaves were only destined as an aid to taste the unusually powerful salad dressing.

That’s not to say that veggies didn’t get through in one way or another. I managed to fall in love with a cauliflower and courgette-packed piccalilli, which after a little campaigning on my part managed to gain its gold sticker, and discovered a really inventive lavender cordial that sadly never made the grade even when I insisted that all judges in the room had a sip. Despite my enthusiasm, not one person in the room could say something nice about it. Thankfully I got to take it home and share the joy, or inflict further pain, some would say.

The fresh produce industry is prone to hiding its light under a bushel and I know that there are plenty of other things to do than fill in various forms to prove your product’s worth, but these little gold, round stickers are becoming so well known and the publicity, if you are successful, will follow you around for years.

So, the next time I judge for the Guild, if my waistline can take it, please give me more to yelp about than a few leaves of lettuce.