Two Yorkshire Farms go through to national final
Picture: Judy Bell
Two leading Yorkshire farm businesses have made it through to the national final of the NFU Farming Excellence Awards 2004.
Judy Bell of Shepherd's Purse Cheeses in Thirsk and Guy Poskitt who grows, packs and sells carrots at his farm near Goole have both been selected to represent the region in the final and will face stiff competition from around the country.
Judy Bell was named winner of the regional Great British Food Award earlier this month, winning through on the sheer quality of her cheeses that include sheep's milk, cow's milk and even buffalo milk varieties.
From modest beginnings, Judy's rise to national prominence has been meteoric with several of her cheeses, including Yorkshire Blue, Mrs Bell's Blue and Yorkshire Feta, now award winning brands in their own right.
Thanks to her total commitment to quality, Judy's cheeses now grace many supermarket deli counters and have appeared on the menu of both the House of Commons and Concorde.
Guy Poskitt has developed his multi-million pound carrot business employing just about every growing and processing innovation possible. For this reason he took the regional award for the Best Innovation in the Food Chain.
As well as regularly trying out new varieties and investing in state-of-the-art processing and packing equipment, Guy has also developed a range of niche market products including organic carrots.
Last year he achieved a UK first when thanks to links with numerous growers in Scotland he was able to supply carrots for 52 weeks a year. As a result of this and other innovations, Guy is now the largest carrot grower supplying Asda and employs 70 full-time and 40 part-time staff.
Commenting on the news that a North Yorkshire farmer will represent the region in the national final, NFU county chairman for the North Riding and Durham Edward Dennison said: "I am truly delighted that Judy Bell has been chosen to go through to the next round.
"Her products have taken the cheese world by storm ever since her first sheep's milk cheese won an award just months after its launch. Since then she has gone from strength to strength, regularly beating longstanding British and European brands in taste tests.
"As a dairy farmer myself, I really appreciate how much hard work has gone into building up such a successful business and I hope she will go all the way in the competition and bring home a national award for the region."
The national winners and runners up will be announced at the NFU annual lunch in London on 11 March.
