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The Little Red Berry Co were delighted to bring home an award win at the local Deliciously Yorkshire awards last week. Their Damson Gin Liqueur fought off tough competition to be crowned ‘Best Yorkshire Spirit’ at the black-tie dinner held at The Pavillions, Harrogate on 1^st November 2017.

Founded by Rachel Jamieson in 2011 the award win came at a wonderful mile stone in the company’s 6 year history. With new owner Claire Norton at the helm who took over the business just two weeks earlier.

Founder Rachel says ‘it’s been a fabulous 6 years, but with growing commitments to other family businesses, we made the decision to hand over the baton of The Little Red Berry Co. I was delighted we won this year’s Best Yorkshire Spirit, not only for me to go out on a high, but for Claire to know there is such great support for the products going forward.’

Claire, who now owns the business with partner Peter, their family and the aptly named Wellington the dog, says ‘When we saw The Little Red Berry Co we fell in love with it. It’s just what we’ve been looking for and last week’s award win has given us a great starting block. We are really looking forward to being a part of the Yorkshire food industry and think it has so much to offer’.

The Little Red Berry Co will continue to operate at its rural Ripon base and will be attending a number of Christmas fairs and markets including York St Nicholas festive market in the centre of York starting 16^th November, Wynyard Hall 16^th – 18^th November and many more. 

The Little Red Berry Co has scooped a 2-Star award at this year’s 2017 Great Taste Awards.

Great Taste, the world’s most coveted food awards, which celebrates the very best in food and drink, has announced the Great Taste stars of 2017. Out of over 12,300 products to be judged, The Little Red Berry Co was awarded a 2-star Great Taste award, which means judges dubbed it outstanding for the Elderflower and Cucumber flavoured Gin.

Some of the judges’ comments included “once tonic was added, magic occurred”, “Very clever”

Judged by over 500 of the most demanding palates, belonging to food critics, chefs, cooks, restaurateurs and producers, as well as a whole host of food writers and journalists, Great Taste is widely acknowledged as the most respected food accreditation scheme for artisan and speciality food producers. As well as a badge of honour, the unmistakable black and gold Great Taste label is a signpost to a wonderful tasting product, which has been discovered through hours and hours of blind-tasting by hundreds of judges.       

“We were delighted with our win”. Says Rachel Jamieson, owner of The Little Red Berry Co.

 “We’ve known that the Elderflower and Cucumber flavoured Gin was something special the minute we did our first trial, at its launch we sold out within 8 hours. It’s a favourite among our customers and we had to invest in a 300L tank to maintain production. The award is the icing on the cake for us.” 

The Little Red Berry Co have recently been shortlisted for a White Rose award in the Makers and Producers category. ‘We were delighted to be shortlisted, there are some fabulous producers out there, but to know we made the grade for the shortlist is so encouraging’ says Rachel.

Producers and Makers Award Short List

DeliVita Limited,

Masons Yorkshire Gin, Bedale

The Little Red Berry Co. Ripon

Tipple Tails, Sheffield

Yorkshire Dama Cheese, Sowerby Bridhe

Yorkshire Heart Vineyard & Brewery, York

Sir Gary Verity, Chief Executive of Welcome to Yorkshire, said:

“The quality of this year’s entries has been exceptional and makes me feel hugely proud of all the brilliant work going on in tourism in the county. It’s an honour to be part of these awards that recognise the many businesses and organisations that make Yorkshire such an amazing destination. 

I extend my thanks to everyone who took the time to enter and huge congratulations to those who have made the shortlist.”