A WIRRAL microbakery has been named among the top food and drink producers globally this year.
Little Eye Sourdough picked up two highly prized one-star Great Taste awards for its Fruit & Fennel and Wholewheat & Oatmeal sourdough breads.
Expert judges rated West Kirby-based bakery products as "food that delivers fantastic flavour".
Recognised as a stamp of excellence and actively sought out by food lovers and retailers alike, Great Taste, organised by the Guild of Fine Food, values taste above all else.
All products in the line-up for judging are blind-tasted: every product is removed from its packaging so it cannot be identified, before entering a robust, layered judging process.
More than 14,000 products were put through the competition's rigorous blind judging process at the world’s most coveted food and drink awards – with only 5,500 winners.
Little Eye fruit loaf was judged to be "a very attractive domed loaf with deep malty colouring and generous soaked fruit .. with a rich nutty flavour" – whilst the wheat & oatmeal loaf was dubbed "a great rise, shape and flavour .. with artisanal style and panache".
Fruitloaves produced at the microbakery
Little Eye microbakery was started in 2011, by Malcolm Williams, in his own kitchen, where he has produced over 20,000 loaves by hand in the last 10 years.
The bakery makes a range of 16 sourdoughs, a variety of which are sold weekly to a regular customer group, and monthly to the wider public at West Kirby Farmers Market.
Monthly sourdough classes are held in West Kirby.
Wholewheat bread produced at the microbakery
Malcolm said: "We are a tiny producer of one and a half people and are delighted to have impressed a great panel of judges, winning two highly sought-after Great Taste awards at the first try.
"I have developed these recipes and many others over the last 10 years, and we have also run classes teaching them to hundreds of local people.
"We are proud to have shown the quality that can be produced in a small, local business. Little Eye Sourdough was a home-kitchen start-up in 2011, and has since sold to shops and customers across the Wirral, and taken part in many food shows and farmers markets."
This year, the judging took place over 90 days across two judging locations - Dorset and London - with a panel of more than 500 judges.
This year’s line-up saw food and drink products submitted from a staggering 110 different countries from across the world.
The winning loaves are made over a 18-24 hour fermentation, using traditional sourdough baking methods and organic ingredients, to finely balance flavour, nutritional value and appearance. With judges praising a “Cracking looking loaf, beautifully risen and with an attractive crust”
The Fruit & Fennel and Wholewheat & Oatmeal loaves are available, with many others, at West Kirby Farmers Market on the fourth Saturday of each month, and by order from Claremont Farm Shop
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