Nine Thanet finalists for the Taste of Kent Awards 2023

Food and drink awards

Nine Thanet businesses have made the finals of the 2023 Taste of Kent Awards.

Following a successful judging day held at Jestic Foodservice Solution’s test kitchen in Paddock Wood, The Taste of Kent Awards (TOKA) shortlisted 51 outstanding food and drink products from across Kent as finalists for the 2023 awards.

Nigel Barden, national food and drink broadcaster and this year’s lead judge, headed up a panel of more than 20 judges, which included renowned chefs and food writers.

Nigel said: “Kent’s a remarkable county, 1500 square miles chock full of great products, producers and farmers. We assembled a fantastic judging panel of food and drink journalists, chefs, buyers, and producers. I always like to taste blind; I don’t want to be too skewed by the packaging, good to see that of course, but afterwards. Really it’s all about taste and we weren’t disappointed!”

Floortje Hoette from Produced in Kent which runs the awards added: “Judging the food and drink product categories has never been harder. The standards were higher than ever before, and it was fantastic to watch so many food and drink professionals get excited about produce from our great county.”

All finalists will be listed in the Taste of Kent Buyers Guide and invited to attend an evening awards ceremony taking place this year at the University of Kent on the 15th of June between 2pm-6pm. For the first time, the awards ceremony is being paired with a brand new Taste of Kent Food and Drink Festival. The festival will be open to the public and trade, and attendees will have the opportunity to sample and buy the food and drink products which have been shortlisted.

Tickets are £6 in advance and £8 on the door, entry for under 12s in free. You can book tickets to the festival here.

The Taste of Kent Awards (TOKA) is now in its 18th year and shines a spotlight on the regions excellence in producing fine quality British produce.

Thanet finalists are:

Food & Drink Market

Cliftonville Farmers’ Market, Cliftonville

Casual Dining

Marc-Pierre’s Kitchen, Ramsgate

Street Food

Pork & Co, Whitstable, Folkestone & Margate

Non-alcoholic hot drink

THAT ONE. We Are Here, Margate.

Beer

GADDS’ No.5 Kentish Best Bitter. Ramsgate Brewery Ltd, Broadstairs.

Sweet Pantry

Raspberry, Vanilla & Rose Geranium Jam. Karly’s Kitchen, Ramsgate

Confectionary

Collection box. The Chocolate Pig, Birchington.

Fudge with Biscoff. Chloe’s Fudgey Fancies, Margate

Savoury Pantry

The Red One – Vegan Friendly Kimchi. Bottlebrush Ferments, Ramsgate.

Find the full finalists list here

Help us to continue bringing you Thanet news with a donation towards our running costs https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=YF7BH2EF4UG2N

2 Comments

  1. Thank you for the mention.
    We are thrilled to be in the ‘top 3′ in the Food & Drink Market category.
    We are up against two excellent Farmers’ Markets, Lenham & Penshurst.
    We have 4 of our regular stallholders who are also finalists. Karly’s Kitchen, Chloe’s Fudgey Fancies, The Cheesemakers of Canterbury & Zak”s Kombucha.
    Congratulations to all the finalists.
    June Chadband

Comments are closed.