This year’s Deliciouslyorkshire awards, celebrating the region’s finest food and drink, attracted a record 100 plus number of entries, whittled down to just 11 eventual winners.

The awards, which were held on November 1 in York’s historic Merchant Adventurers’ Hall, were established by The Regional Food Group for Yorkshire and Humber three years ago to showcase produce and celebrate the achievements of regional food and drink suppliers.

The team of expert judges was chaired by Yorkshire Life food and drink editor Elaine Lemm, assessing categories including Most Innovative Product, Most Innovative Company, Farm Shop Retailer of the Year, Small and Large Producer, Independent Retailer, Best Use of Regional Produce on the Menu, Deliciouslyorkshire Breakfast Member and Deliciouslyorkshire Product of the Year and Skills Development.

New for 2007-08 was the Deliciouslyorkshire Champion Award, presented to Janet Oldroyd-Hulme - also dubbed ‘The High Priestess of Rhubarb’ - of Rothwell-based rhubarb producers E Oldroyd & Sons, for her unstinting and enduring commitment to the product and the region.

Other winners included English Village Salads, which scooped the Skills Development award, Stuart’s Foods, which picked up the Large Producer of the Year accolade, and Lewis & Cooper, which won Independent Retailer of the Year for the second year running.

Deliciouslyorkshire is the regional food group’s campaigning brand, which can only be used by companies producing food and drink within the region, and enables consumers to identify local goods at a glance. Recent research has shown that awareness of the Deliciouslyorkshire brand rose by a massive 81 per cent within the county and 31 per cent nationally over figures for 2006.

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