Manchester-based Sara Saffron has picked up the highest possible three-star accolade at this year’s Great Taste Awards for its ‘Grade-A Super Negin Saffron’.
The highest possible ranking handed out at the coveted food and drink awards, only 1% of the 14,195 products submitted to the 2023 Great Taste Awards achieved three stars, and Sara Saffron was the only saffron brand to achieve it this year. Three stars denotes ‘extraordinarily tasty food and drink’.
The saffron was described by the judges as ‘first class’, ‘absolutely excellent’ and ‘how the best quality saffron should taste’ as well as ‘deeply aromatic and impactful’ and ‘pure, simple and outstanding’.
Organised by the Guild of Fine Food, the Great Taste Awards are the world's largest food and drink accreditation scheme. Companies submit their entries and send samples to be blind tasted by chefs, cooks, buyers, retailers, restaurateurs, food critics and writers.
This year, judging took place over 89 days in Dorset and London, with a panel of more than 500 judges putting the products to the test. The line-up saw food and drink products submitted from 109 different countries across the world.
Sara Shimi, brand manager of Sara Saffron, said: “We are so pleased to have won a Great Taste award for our Saffron. I truly believe we are offering the freshest, finest, quality saffron in the world and I’m so proud we can now add the iconic three-star Great Taste logo to our saffron as a testament to this.
“Being recognised with a Great Taste three-star means so much to independent producers like us, as it makes all the hard work and determination worth it! In an industry where fake and poor quality saffron is rife, this three-star Great Taste Award provides our customers with the reassurance that ours has been judged to be of the highest quality available. Great Taste is the most recognised accolade for taste and quality in the food and drink industry, so it’s a huge moment for us!”
Shimi set up Sara Saffron in 2020. Disappointed at the quality of the saffron she found in supermarkets; her aim is to bring the best quality saffron to the UK.
