Five food and drink producers in East Devon have had their products rated among the best in the world.

The Great Taste awards are run by the Guild of Fine Food which describes them as ‘the highest taste recognition of its kind’.

The awards attract entries from all over the world, which are judged ‘blind’ on taste alone by a panel of food experts, with the very best earning one, two or three stars. This year only 1.8 per cent of the entries received the top three-star accreditation, and none were in East Devon.

But three East Devon producers gained two stars: Ottery’s Chunk of Devon for its Mushroom Stroganott Pie, Sidmouth’s Ebb Tides for its Seaweed Caviar Pearls, and Honiton’s Otter Brewery for its Otter Head beer. Chunk of Devon also got one star for its Steak Pasty - for the 14th consecutive year. 

Sidmouth Gin, which co-owns Ebb Tides, got one star for its Smokey ‘D’ Gin, and Denhay Farms in Honiton got five one-star awards for different bacon products.

Suzi Bryon-Edmond, co-founder of Chunk of Devon, said: "Since 2010 our Steak Pasty has won a Great Taste Award every year. We don’t know of any other product to enter these awards that has achieved this.

"The Steak Pasty really is a hero product for us. A pasty like no other! Forget the Cornish, Devon has the Steak Pasty recipe nailed!

"Winning a 2 Star gold for our Mushroom Stroganott Pie was a also a real high for us, we understand that peoples choice of diet is changing are we are right there making sure we cater for all."

Sidmouth Herald: Ebb Tides has won two stars for its Seaweed Caviar Pearls

The Seaweed Caviar Pearls are a relatively new product from Ebb Tides, and won a Gold in the Food Drink Devon awards last year.

They also impressed the Great Taste judges. One said: "They really surprised us. They are so much fun in the mouth, with great bursts of flavour. We loved them. They do their job really well and are totally addictive."

Another said: "What a wonderful idea – an alternative to caviar and sustainable. Very attractive pearls that melt in the mouth to give an intense, salty seaweed flavour-explosion that would add such character to lots of different fish dishes."