Shortlist announced for Shop of the Year 2018
The Guild of Fine Food’s annual Shop of the Year awards has announced its shortlist for 2018.
Out of 150 entries, 42 independent retail outlets around the UK are now in the running for awards such as Best Delicatessen, Best Farm Shop or Garden Centre with Food Hall, Best Grocer, Village or Community Shop and Best Specialist Cheese Shop.
Having had a written entry reviewed by a panel of respected industry experts, these shortlisted independent retailers, which include London-based Bayley & Sage, Farndon Fields in Market Harborough and Suffolk-based Slate will now undergo two further rounds of judging this summer; an announced visit from one of the judges; and a mystery shop by Shopper’s Anonymous.
Previously forming part of the Great Taste accreditation scheme, Shop of the Year offers independent retailers a chance to achieve a stamp of approval with real integrity.
The panel of judges – including Edward Berry of The Flying Fork, Stuart Gates and Tracey Colley – will rate, score and feedback on every aspect of the shops before agreeing on an overall category winner.
Shop of the Year Shortlist 2018:
Delicatessen
Aubrey Allen, Leamington Spa
Bayley & Sage, Battersea, London
Bloomfields Fine Food, Highworth, Wiltshire
Broad Bean, Ludlow
Delifonseca Dockside, Liverpool
Fillet & Bone, Chipping Campden, Gloucestershire
Hunters of Helmsley, North Yorkshire
Indie Füde, Co Down, Northern Ireland
Mmm…glug…, Newcastle upon Thyne
No2 Pound Street, Aylesbury
The Goring Grocer, Reading
The House of Bruar, Perthshire
Thomas of Helmsley, North Yorkshire
Farm Shop or Garden Centre with Food Hall
Bowland Food Hall, Citheroe, Lancashire
Cranstons Cumbrian Food Hall, Penrith, Cumbria
Eggs to Apples Farm Shop, Etchingham, East Sussex
Farmer Copleys Ltd, Pontefract, West Yorkshire
Farndon Fields, Market Harborough, Leicestershire
Hockey’s Farm Shop, Fordingbridge, Hampshire
Keelham Farm Shop, Bradford, West Yorkshire
Macknade Fine Foods, Faversham, Kent
Newton Farm Foods, Bath
Roots Farm Shop, Northallerton, North Yorkshire
Taylors Farm Shop Ltd, Lancashire
The Lambing Shed Farm Shop, Cheshire
Tortworth Estate Shop, Wotton-Under-Edge, Gloucestershire
Grocer, Village or Community Shop
Andreas of Chelsea Green, London
Godfrey C. Williams & Son, Cheshire
Heath Stores, Horsmonden, Kent
Lotts & Co, Dublin
The Hungry Guest, West Sussex
The Seasons, East Sussex
Turnips of Borough Market, London
Specialist Cheese Shop
Androuet, Lamb Street, London
Cheeses of Muswell, London
Fauvette, Penarth, Wales
George & Joseph Specialist Cheese Shops, Leeds
Paxton & Whitfield, Chelsea Green, London
Slate, Suffolk
The Cheese Lady, Haddington, East Lothian
The Cheese Society, Lincoln The Pangbourne Cheese Shop, Reading
gff.co.uk/awards/shop-of-the-year/