Highland Game Artisan Food Winner!
Highland Game, the Dundee based specialist venison processor won the Artisan Food Award at the Scottish Rural Awards gala dinner held on Thursday the 26th of March at Dynamic Earth, Edinburgh.
The judges verdict: “From a start-up 18 years ago, to supplying 1500 stores as well as butchers and restaurants throughout the nation, this winner has almost single-handedly brought their products into the mainstream, and in doing so has increased the demand from his suppliers - the farms, forests and estates of Scotland - as well as employing upwards of 100 people. The positive effect of this enterprise can be truly felt throughout rural Scotland.”
The new awards and their culminating celebration is the first major event of a five-year partnership between Scottish Field magazine and the Scottish Countryside Alliance.
Over 200 unique nominations had been received since the awards opened to the public last October, with many businesses receiving large volumes of community support - spanning the Outer Hebrides to the Borders, and Orkney to Fife - and for every conceivable reason. Judging took place at the end of January to select a winner, runner-up and highly commended in each of the ten award categories, encompassing every aspect of rural life from aquaculture to artisan food producers.
Richard Bath, Scottish Field's editor, said: "Showing our readers the joys of the Scottish countryside is one of the main aims of Scottish Field, so our sponsorship of the Rural Tourism award is a perfect fit. I was amazed by the quality and attention to detail showed by the nominees across each hard-fought category."
Charlie Shentall, Development Manager at the Scottish Countryside Alliance, said: "Routes to Rural Employment promotes employment for young people across the Scottish countryside, creating and nurturing vital links from primary education through to employment."
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“A definition……Artisan producers should understand and respect the raw materials with which they work, they should know where these materials come from and what is particularly good about them. They should have mastered the craft of their particular production and have a historical, experiential, intuitive and scientific understanding of what makes the process that they are engaged in successful. They should know what tastes good and be sensitive to the impact of their production on people and the environment.
Artisan food producers get better over time and probably never stop improving or tweaking their practise, learning from other people and their own mistakes.”
For further Information about Highland Game; Ingela Kassander Nissen 01382-827088. 07801078034, ikn@highlandgame.com
For more information and high-resolution photographs please contact Charlie Shentall on 07879 772488 or email charlie-shentall@scottishcountrysidealliance.org
Mikaela MacKinnon Direct line: 0131 551 7919 mmackinnon@specialpublications.co.uk