Judging Process

The Quality Food Awards are renowned throughout the industry for their rigorous and stringent judging process. The 50-strong panel is comprised of respected food experts, a long-standing and highly regarded tradition which sets the Quality Food Awards apart.

We believe there’s only one way to judge a food product – ask an expert. Each product is carefully judged by the panel, who debate and discuss its merits across the following criteria: taste, flavour, texture, aroma, ingredients list, innovation, packaging, presentation and price point. This year we return to the Ealing, Hammersmith & West London College for the judging sessions.

At the end of judging, the panel decides on the finalists for each category. From the shortlist, the panel deliberates further over which is the winning product. In a new development for this year, the inaugural packaging award will be selected from among the Silver Q winners.

The Gold Q is then selected from all the individual category winners. It symbolises the product which the panel agreed is truly outstanding and worthy of this ultimate accolade.

A message from the Chairman

Judging The Quality Food Awards – How We Do It

Last year was a vintage year for the Quality Food Awards, but we have worked hard to do even better this year. Some of the categories have been subtly tweaked to reflect contemporary tastes in food and retailing. After the huge success of Christmas Q last year we have now added Seasonal Q and we are looking forward to tasting the entries in this category.
 
What hasn’t changed is the expertise and enthusiasm that our highly-trained judging panel bring to their task.  Also unchanged is what our judges will be looking for – delicious products at fair prices, appropriately packaged with a clean ingredients list and a sense of innovation and provenance. If the products entered can tick further boxes such as Fairtrade, organic, Free From or meat-free then so much the better.

But the key word here is delicious. I know it is tempting to send us your newest products – these are the ones that you most want to benefit from the publicity generated by winning a Q. But if you have a fabulous product in your range that is not brand new we still want to try it. Doing something new is important, but doing something fantastic is even more important.
 
Our hard work doesn’t stop at the awards dinner. This year we will be able to give all entrants detailed feedback on precisely what the judges thought of each product entered, and this feedback will be delivered earlier than ever. We can’t guarantee that “Everyone’s A Winner (Baby)”, but we can ensure you get accurate and unbiased feedback on how well you did.
 

Good luck – and may the best product win!

Simon Wright
Chair – Quality Food Awards Judging Panel