Mackintosh of Glendaveny Wins 7 Golds at Great Taste Awards

A northeast entrepreneur who produces rapeseed oil is celebrating after his company picked up seven gold stars in this year’s prestigious Great Taste Awards.

Gregor Mackintosh of Mackintosh of Glendaveny – who has been producing Extra Virgin cold pressed rapeseed oil on his family farm in Glendaveny since 2009 – saw four of his products sharing seven gold stars in the UK-wide awards when the Gold Star ratings were announced last week.

The 23-year-old, who also received a highly commended in the Grampian Business Awards Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year category last week, saw his pure cold pressed rapeseed oil, the lemon-infused rapeseed oil variety and his oatcakes made using his rapeseed oil all achieve 2 Gold stars while the garlic-infused rapeseed oil received 1 Gold star.

Gregor's jalapeno-infused rapeseed oil, although not awarded a star, was highly commended.

The latest accolade highlights the quality of product produced by the company whose oils are stocked in a wide range of independent stores and all 50 of Asda’s Scottish supermarkets.

Gregor said: "This is the first year we have entered the awards and to come away with seven Gold stars is a great achievement and one I am very proud of.

"The rapeseed oil market is becoming a very competitive place so to be able to display such a highly regarded award on our products will undoubtedly help us stand out from the crowd."

The Great Taste Awards, organised by the Guild of Fine Food, are now in their 18th year and going from strength to strength.

Some 7481 products were entered from 1600 companies for the 2011 Great Taste Awards. It took 350 experts 34 days to blind taste all the entries and decide which entries would achieve the coveted one, two and three-star Gold Awards.

The Great Taste Awards judging standards, devised by The Guild of Fine Food, are the most rigorous in the UK. To achieve the 3-star rating a minimum of 20 – more often 30 – judges need to be in complete agreement that the food delivered that indefinable "wow" factor.

All the judges’ comments are made available to producers. If no gold is awarded, they need to know why.

Bob Farrand, chairman of The Great Taste Awards, said: "Winning Gold in the country’s largest and most respected independent food accreditation scheme is a massive pat on the back for any producer – independent proof their products are of the highest quality.

"We provide constructive feedback from our expert judging teams and for many, winning 1, 2 or 3-star Gold is exactly what’s needed to help grow their businesses, even during a recession. Every winner should feel very proud that their hard work has been rewarded."

The four regional nominated foods for each of the Great Taste trophy winners have been announced by the Guild of Fine Food and the identity of the regional and national winners, and the 2011 Supreme Champion, remains a closely-guarded secret until the night of 5th September when all will be revealed at the invitation-only awards presentation dinner at London’s Royal Garden Hotel.

Gregor Mackintosh was also a UK finalist in the Shell LiveWIRE Young Entrepreneur of the Year in 2009 and runner–up in the PSYBT Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award in 2010.

The full list of award-winning products in the Great Taste Awards 2011 is available at the Great Taste Awards website and can be searched by region, award or product category.

Find out more about Mackintosh of Glendaveny.

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