The Snowdonia Honey Co., producers of premium honey from hives dotted around the Snowdonia National Park (Parc Cenedlaethol Eryri), has been named among the top food and drink producers globally this year, picking up two highly prized 2-star Great Taste awards for its Welsh Wildflower Honey and their Soft Set Welsh Wildflower Honey.
Over the past month, we’ve featured the Snowdonia Honey Co. on a couple of occasions as we love what they are doing, producing a fantastic natural product from a somewhat unexpected part of the country.
We’ve been fortunate to have tasted some of the company’s jars of honey and loved them. However, we don’t consider ourselves experts in the honey-tasting stakes. The good news is that the ‘true’ experts put the company’s Welsh Wildflower Honey to the taste test and came to the same conclusion we did.
At the taste test competition, 14,195 products underwent a rigorous blind judging process. Of those entered, 4,088 products were awarded a Great Taste 1-star – ‘food and drink that delivers fantastic flavour’, 1,568 received a Great Taste 2-star – ‘above and beyond delicious’, and 248 were awarded a Great Taste 3-star – ‘extraordinarily tasty food and drink’.
Regarding the Snowdonia Honey Co. Welsh Wildflower Honeys, the judges said, “A wonderful aroma hit us as we opened the jar. The appearance is of a beautiful golden colour with good viscosity. The flavour is complex and light, and mouth-filling. The floral notes on the nose were simply beautiful and followed through to the flavour. Delicious. True nectar.”
“Layers of old-fashioned floral perfume flavour this wonderful pale gold honey. There is intense sweetness, but the rich headiness of the floral notes means the whole thing is brilliantly balanced—a deliciously transporting experience. A perfect example of Welsh honey at its finest.”
The Snowdonia Honey Co. was founded in 2018 when Alun Allcock bought a small farm in Snowdonia. As a former MasterChef contestant who loves sourcing quality ingredients with provenance, Alun realised that there was an opportunity to produce unique, high-quality honey from Snowdonia’s rugged, ever-changing landscape.
The area’s diverse flora and fauna, coupled with the fact that the bees have to be tough to cope with the often-wild conditions, has resulted in honey with a sought-after and distinctive flavour, aroma, and colour. This is attracting a growing following of discerning British food lovers.
Alun says, “We are so proud to have been recognised in the Great Taste 2023 Awards for two of our honeys. When I tried the first batch of honey from our original bees five years ago, I knew we had found something special. The spectacular but quite challenging environment of the Snowdonia National Park, coupled with the wonderful diversity of flora and fauna that we have here, has resulted in a unique tasting, premium quality honey that reflects the region’s unspoiled wilderness.
“The comments from the judges are incredibly encouraging, warmly welcomed and appreciated, and a sign that we are on the right path with the honey we produce. We look forward to entering our Welsh Ling Heather Honey next year.”
What is Great Taste?
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.
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 an extraordinary 109 different countries worldwide.
The winning Snowdonia Honey Co. honeys can be purchased online from the Snowdonia Honey Co. website at www.snowdoniahoney.com for free delivery anywhere in the UK. They can also be found on Amazon, in Delis and other selected retailers throughout Wales. RRP: £8.99 for a 227g jar.
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