Food Drink Devon Announces This Year’s Exceptional Finalists

As anticipation starts to build for this year's annual Food Drink Devon Awards in October, Food Drink Devon has unveiled the shortlist of finalists for its prestigious awards.  Since entries closed in April, a distinguished panel of judges and industry experts has evaluated an extraordinary number of entries sampling over 340 products, visiting 107 hospitality venues, exploring 17 retail outlets and experiencing nine training schools to identify the best that Devon has to offer.

Winners will be announced during the organisation’s glittering black tie award ceremony on Monday 7th October at Sandy Park, home of Premiership rugby team Exeter Chiefs.  Now in its 13th year, the esteemed industry accolades celebrate the best food and drink the region has to offer, with categories open to both members and non-members of Food Drink Devon including the 'Producer Awards', 'Retail Awards', ‘Hospitality Awards’ and ‘Sustainability Pioneer Award’.

Commenting on the awards, Food Drink Devon board director, Jack Pickering, says: “We are thrilled to celebrate the exceptional quality and diversity of this year's entrants into our awards.  From innovative products to outstanding venues, Devon's food and drink community spirit shone brightly during our 2024 judging. It's a testament to the hard work and creativity of everyone in the industry. We have so much to be proud of and we can't wait to honour these achievements at Sandy Park on the 7th of October."

Shortlisted businesses in the ‘Product Awards’ cover a huge variety of delights including sweet and savoury, meat, preserves, jams and chutneys, ales, ciders, wines and confectionery, as well as many others.  Finalists are also automatically in the running for ‘Food Product’, ‘Drink Product’, ‘New Product of the Year’ and new for 2024, ‘Devon Wine of the Year’.  Some of this year’s product finalists include; Anton’s Butchers (Colyton), Creamo's Craft Ice Cream (Ashburton), Ebb Tides (Sidmouth), Shepherd Shack (Dawlish), Stone’s Honey (Ivybridge) and TORS Vodka (Okehampton).

In the running for the new ‘Devon Wine of the Year’ award, where the grapes are grown in Devon and the wine produced and bottled in Devon, are Pebblebed Vineyards (Topsham), Huxbear Vineyard (Chudleigh), Sandridge Barton Wines (Stoke Gabriel), Swanaford Vineyard (Exeter) and Venn Valley Vineyard (Barnstaple).  

Food Drink Devon board director and wine writer and presenter, Susy Atkins comments on the drink entries; “The number of entries in the drinks section of this year’s awards was much higher than ever before and our expert judges, including myself, were really impressed by the overall standard. Devon's drinks scene is diverse and inspiring. The standard of the Devon wines was excellent and we are delighted with the first winner of our new ‘Devon Wine of the Year’ award.”

In the ‘Retail Awards’ entries have been whittled down for the ‘Best Retailer’ and ‘Best Online Retailer’ ranging from top-end delicatessens to village stores.  Finalists include Aune Valley Meat (Loddiswell), SALT @ The Salutation Inn (Topsham), Ilfracombe Chocolate Emporium (Ilfracombe), Copplestone Farm Shop (Crediton) and Devon Hampers (Lifton) as well as others.

The hospitality section of the awards sees establishments fighting it out in six fiercely contested categories including ‘Best Fine Dining Restaurant’, ‘Best Restaurant’, ‘Best Hotel Restaurant’, ‘Best Pub’, ‘Best Café’ and ‘Best Takeaway’.  Shortlisted establishments in the fine dining restaurant, restaurant and pub categories include The Fig Tree @36 (Plymouth), Two Bridges Hotel (Dartmoor), The Duck at Yeoford (Crediton), Journey’s End Inn (Kingsbridge), La Mar (Exmouth), The Tors (Belstone) and Greyhound Country Inn (Honiton) and others.  Finalists in the café and takeaway categories include Alder Vineyard (Okehampton), The Bakehouse Cullompton, Coldharbour Field Kitchen (Ottery Saint Mary) and Fika Coffee House (Kingsbridge) and others.  

Finalists for the best ‘Training School’ award include Ashburton Cookery School & Chefs Academy (Ashburton), Devon Cookery School (Cullompton), Devon Gin & Rum School (Dartington), High Grange Devon (Axminster), One Mile Bakery Exeter and Owens Organic Coffee (Ivybridge).

Food Drink Devon’s ‘Sustainability Pioneer Award’ shines a light on businesses going that extra mile in their endeavours to be environmentally friendly.  This year’s finalists include a broad spectrum of producers, hospitality establishments, retailers and training schools including Devon Farm Kitchen (Torquay), Cottage Beer Project (Tiverton), Frobishers (Exeter), Hattiers Rum (Mothecombe) and The Black River Inn (Beaworthy) and more. 

Covering food production, preparation, retailing, cooking and service, the Food Drink Devon Awards honour businesses demonstrating a consistent commitment to quality, sustainability, provenance, excellent customer service and support for their local communities and other local businesses.  Judging for the awards is carried out by a panel of independent and unbiased experts which this year included Rebecca Mitchell,  Marc Millon, Fiona Beckett, Andy Clarke, Orlando Murrin, Steve Ashworth and Sue Stoneman.  All results and winners are verified by an independent adjudicator, with entrants receiving the opportunity to benefit from invaluable product feedback provided by the panel. 

During the celebratory evening of Devon’s finest food and drink, along with the presentation of the awards, attendees will enjoy a drinks reception and three-course meal created using produce from Food Drink Devon members with all the fruit and vegetables provided by awards sponsor West Country Fruit Sales.  At the awards’ ceremony the dinner will be served by the current cohort of students at the Michael Caines Academy at Exeter College.  

A special thank you goes to sponsors of the awards DCW Polymers, West Country Fruit Sales, Empire Services, Caterfood, Bays Brewery, Ocean City Media, Vigo, Impact Design & Marketing, Vale Labels, inkREADible Labels, Stephens Scown, PL1 Events and Hedgerow Print.

Food Drink Devon is committed to increasing the county’s profile, both nationally and internationally and represents a membership of Devon's leading food and drink producers, speciality retailers, hospitality and catering businesses.  Through working with like-minded businesses, together they showcase Devon as a county where the use of fantastic quality, seasonal and local produce is standard.  The organisation and its members share a commitment to enjoy, inspire and discover more about food and drink.  Look out for their green heart logo which is carried by over 380 producers and businesses across Devon.  

For a full list of shortlisted producers please see below or visit www.fooddrinkdevon.co.uk/awards.  For more information on Food Drink Devon please visit www.fooddrinkdevon.co.uk and follow @FoodDrinkDevon on X, Facebook and Instagram.