FAQs

The Great British Food Awards celebrate the finest food and drink products across the UK. These awards are designed to honour producers, growers and artisans who excel in crafting exceptional products, showcasing the best of British cuisine.

Once a product is entered, it is evaluated based on criteria specific to its category, including ingredients and overall look and taste. Products that meet the required standard are then passed on to our celebrity head judges who complete the final round of scoring. High scoring products are presented with Gold, Silver, or Bronze awards. Last year, 31% of entries received a Bronze award or higher.

Some of the key features of the awards include:

• Our esteemed judging panel: products are judged by a panel of top chefs, food critics and experts, ensuring a high standard of evaluation.
• Our huge range of categories: these cover a wide range of food and drink categories, including baked goods, meats, cheeses, beverages and more.
• The unrivalled coverage winners receive:  significant exposure, boosting their reputation and helping them stand out in the competitive market. This includes print, digital and social coverage. 
• Unlimited use of award badges: winning entrants will receive an awards badge and logo which can be included on product packaging, marketing materials and social media free of charge. 
   

The Great British Food Awards are a prestigious platform for showcasing talent and quality in the UK's thriving food and drink industry, making them a benchmark for excellence and our awards logo has become a recognised seal of approval among consumers. 

Step 1: Companies enter their products and are then contacted by the Great British Food Awards team to confirm the postal address and delivery date, ensuring products arrive in time for testing. They will then be required to send two samples of each product entered.

Step 2: Products are tested by leading industry food experts at our dedicated tasting panel events. Every entry is sampled by at least three judges with some of the best taste buds in the business and scored against a specific set of criteria for its category. The highest-scoring food and drink are then assessed by our head judges.

Step 3: Our head judges then further assess the entries against product-specific criteria. The highest-scoring products across the two phases of testing receive Gold, Silver or Bronze awards in line with their results. The top-scoring products overall are then considered for the ultimate accolade: British Grand Champion.

Step 4: Gold badge winners will be asked to send samples to our studio in mid-September for photography and for judging in the final British Grand Champion category.

Last year, 31% of product entries received either a Bronze, Silver or Gold award.

Gold badges are awarded to the very best product in each category. This is food and drink that meets the highest standards of our judging criteria across the board, from taste and texture, to appearance. Typically, only around the top 10% of entries make the grade - making winning a very special achievement indeed.

Silver badges are for products which our judges feel are special, going above and beyond within their category.

Bronze badges are gained if your product has stood out amongst the crowd, and our judges feel it deserves recognition.

Regional badges are to be announced at a special ceremony in November, with all of 2026's Award entrants automatically accepted for consideration. Our team of experts will assess the quality of products, and how strongly they feel brands represent their region to select winners for: East Anglia, London & South East, Southwest, Midlands, North of England, Northern Ireland, Wales, and Scotland.

Grand Champion is a title reserved only for one VIP winner, who will be announced at our November celebration ceremony. The highest scoring food and drink are judged separately by our expert food panel, who will designate a single product as the reigning Grand Champion for 2026. To have this badge on your label is one of the most prestigious honours in the food and drink industry today.

These awards are ideal for brands seeking to gain industry recognition and showcase their dedication to the food and drink industry, and there are many benefits to be had from being involved.

Statistics show that buyers trust accolades and awards, and winning entrants will receive an awards badge and logo which can be included on product packaging, marketing materials and social media free of charge. 

High scoring entrants also have the opportunity to have their products tried and tasted by some of the biggest names in the industry (including the likes of renowned chefs such as Raymond Blanc and Michel Roux Jr) and Gold winners receive detailed feedback from the judges. 

On top of this, winners will gain national coverage in Great British Food magazine and across our social platforms, and all winners will be featured online. 

22nd May, 2026 (or when cap is reached - see below).

Yes, for 2026 entries will be capped at 3,000 total. This is to ensure there is time to properly evaluate all entries and products can be stored and transported in the best conditions. 

The Gold, Silver and Bronze winners will be announced to the public on 30th October 2026, though winners will be informed beforehand in order to arrange photography samples to be sent out.

Regional winners and our Grand Champion will be announced at our celebration event in November.

When entering your product you will have the option to receive feedback from the Great British Food team for an extra fee. Forms will include detailed and constructive comments from our judges if you are one of the Gold badge-winning companies. Previous entrants have found the comments very useful for marketing purposes. Even if you don't win, getting feedback provides invaluable knowledge that may help you grow, improve and develop your offering, or reassess certain aspects of your product's taste or packaging.

As well as our food and drink categories, brands are automatically entered into our regional awards with their products, whereby we celebrate the very best producers in all the Great British regions - East Anglia, London & South East, Midlands, North of England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, South West and Wales. 

We take judging very seriously at the Great British Food Awards - your entries are in safe (and expert) hands.

Once your products are received and carefully stored to keep them in optimum condition, they are tasted numerous times by some of the most perceptive taste buds in Britain. 

The first stage of judging happens at our tasting panel events. Every single jar, bottle, cut, slice, morsel and sample is considered and deliberated by several industry specialists, judging against criteria designed for each specific category to ensure fairness and parity across the board.

Those products scoring most highly then wing their way in August to be further assessed by our wonderful group of celebrity head judges - who really know their onions.

Each judge has been chosen for their knowledge and passion in their chosen category.

Find out more about them here.

£76 (+ VAT) per product. Feedback from our in-house judges is £80 + VAT.

On payment a receipt will be emailed to you from Artichoke Media Ltd, so do check your junk mail just in case it ends up there. 

Yes! 

No, products do not have to be produced in Great Britain to enter the Great British Food Awards.

What matters most is that the brand or product is sold in the UK market and fits within one of the awards categories. Many eligible products may use ingredients sourced internationally or be inspired by global cuisines. The awards are designed to celebrate great food and drink available in Great Britain, rather than limiting entries strictly to products made only with British ingredients.

The final closing date for entries is 22nd May, 2026, or when the total number of product entries reaches 3000 (the cap is in place to maintain the integrity of the judging process). Entries made after this time will not be counted. Payments are made securely using Stripe. No card details are stored once payment has been made. Please note, on payment a receipt will be emailed to you from Artichoke Media Ltd, so do check your junk mail just in case it ends up there. These will be generated within 30 working days of your entering date. By entering you agree to Artichoke contacting you regarding the Great British Food Awards. The decision of the judge is final and no correspondence will be entered into. Entries and those that do not abide by these terms and conditions will be disqualified. Once you have completed the form please send two samples of each entry, clearly marked with the product name and category, to an address to be confirmed by the Great British Food Awards team. Ambient goods can be sent straight after entry. Our team will be in touch to arrange a date and time for delivery if your product is fresh or frozen.