The Guild of Fine Food have launched a competition to find the Great Taste Shop of the Year – a chance for garden centres to win extra recognition for their food halls and farm shops.

As part of this year’s  Great Taste Awards, food and drink producers are to be invited to nominate the shop that in their opinion deserves to be Great Taste Shop of the Year – butcher, baker, delicatessen, farm shop, village or community shop, or food hall.

John Farrand, managing director of the organisers of Great Taste says every winning food producer will be eligible to vote for a retailer , “not necessarily one that sells the most, but one who operates their shop with knowledge, flair and with great retail skill”.

A shortlist of 10 shops will be visited and mystery shopped by a panel of experts – they will have consistent judging criteria and feedback will be made available to the final 10 shops in the same way that it is through Great Taste.

The winning shop will be announced at the Great Taste Awards dinner in London on Monday, 9 September at the Royal Garden Hotel, Kensington.

The Greatest Awards, organised by GTN, already reward team excellence in garden centre food halls and farm shops but this is a chance for suppliers to make their choice.