Winners of the prestigious BOOM (Best of Organic Market) Awards were announced last night (11 May 2016) at a ceremony held at Borough Market Hall in London.
The awards recognise outstanding organic products, retailers, and restaurants and bloggers who promote organic food and living. Judged by an independent panel of well-known experts, including chefs, restaurateurs, food writers and specialists, celebrity foodies and consumer judges, the winners represent the very best of the UK’s organic food and drink industry.
This year, the BOOMs went interactive, using social media to stir up interest and the addition of a new ‘Nation’s Favourite’ category gave people a chance to choose their favourite product – with dairy-free chocolate brand Booja Booja carrying of the Award on the night.
Anna Jones, former chef and food stylist for Jamie Oliver, is this year’s BOOM Ambassador. Speaking about the awards she said: “I believe that food and eating should be joyful, and good organic produce is at the centre of this joy. There has been a real shift towards people wanting to know the origins of what they’re eating – from where it was grown to who planted the seeds -and organic produce has these values at its core. I am excited to celebrate the individuals and businesses that are giving us some brilliant choices about what we buy and eat.”
Competition for the 2016 BOOMs was tough – with almost 500 entries across all categories, the winning products highlight the innovation currently happening in organic food.
BOOM AWARDS 2016 OVERALL CATEGORY WINNERS
Cheese
Soft and speciality cheese winner
Caws Cenarth Golden Cenarth (Cardigan, Wales)
Hard cheese winner
Arla Foods Taw Valley Creamery – Waitrose Duchy Mature Organic English Cheddard (Nationwide)
Pantry
Hodmedod’s British Carlin Peas (Suffolk)
Alcoholic drinks
Davenport Vineyards Diamond Field Pinot Noir (East Sussex)
Bakery
Doves Farm Organic Plain English Wholemeal Flour (Berkshire)
Confectionery
Original Beans Femmes De Virunga 55% Organic Milk Chocolate (Amsterdam)
Dairy, yogurt and milk
Brown Cow Organics Strawberry & Vanilla Panna Cotta (Somerset)
Non-alcoholic drinks
Plenish Level 1 Cleanse (London)
Baby food
Aldi Mamia Apple and Banana Breakfast
Toddler food
Quinola Mothergrain Tex Mex Quinoa (France)
Children’s food
Mendia’s Banana Biscuits
Fresh produce
Aldi Organic Onions (supplied by G’s Fresh and Moulton Bulb Company) (Nationwide)
Chilled and frozen convenience
The Nude Spoon Creamy Coffee Kiss (ice cream) (Surrey)
Meat and poultry
Overall Category Winner – Daylesford Kerry Hill Shoulder of Lamb (Gloucestershire)
Consumer Choice – Nation’s Favourite Organic Award
Booja-Booja (Norfolk)
Innovation
OMSCo milk suppliers cooperative (Weston Super Mare, Somerset)
Food Blog
Rebel Recipes, Niki Webster www.rebelrecipes.com
Rising Star
Barra Organics (Sheffield)
EAT DRINK SHOP SLEEP CATEGORIES
Cafes and Restaurants
The Edinburgh Larder at Whitmuir Farm (Edinburgh)
Farm Shops
Pillars of Hercules (Fife)
Online Retailer
Ocado (Nationwide)
Supermarkets
Waitrose (Nationwide)
Catering
Oldham Education Catering (Manchester)
Indie Retailer
Unicorn Grocery (Manchester)
Places to Stay
Bangors Organic (Cornwall)
