{"id":610180,"date":"2026-07-29T15:48:17","date_gmt":"2026-07-29T15:48:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/610180\/"},"modified":"2026-07-29T15:48:17","modified_gmt":"2026-07-29T15:48:17","slug":"irelands-top-cheeses-meats-butters-and-desserts-named-at-great-taste-awards-2026-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/610180\/","title":{"rendered":"Ireland\u2019s top cheeses, meats, butters and desserts named at Great Taste Awards 2026 \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">Irish <a href=\"https:\/\/www.irishtimes.com\/tags\/food-production\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.irishtimes.com\/tags\/food-production\/\">food producers<\/a> have taken 46 three-star awards at the prestigious Great Taste Awards 2026.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">The three-star accolades are the highest honours at the awards, which are organised by the Dorset-based Guild of Fine Foods (GFF) in Britain. The GFF describes them as the largest global accreditation scheme for food and drink. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">Of all 5,000 product entries to the competition this year, just 306 secured the three-star certification, meaning Irish food produce accounted for 15 per cent of products taking the highest award. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">Overall, 745 food products from Ireland received a one-, two-, or three-star award, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.irishtimes.com\/food\/2025\/07\/29\/irelands-top-hams-yoghurts-and-cheeses-winners-of-the-great-taste-awards-2025-revealed\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.irishtimes.com\/food\/2025\/07\/29\/irelands-top-hams-yoghurts-and-cheeses-winners-of-the-great-taste-awards-2025-revealed\/\">up from the 728 recognised in 2025<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">Entries are judged first and foremost based on their taste, followed by their appearance, aroma, texture, and \u201cmouthfeel\u201d. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">Among the Irish three-star recipients, several producers won an award for more than one of their products. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">Aldi Ireland took home three three-star awards for its Wild Sage and Sauteed Onion Sourdough Stuffing, its Irish Black Angus Fillet Steak, and its Clonbawn Irish Sour Cream Full Fat. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">Boyne Valley Cheese was recognised for Boyne Valley Blue and Rathkenny cheeses, while Dunnes Stores also picked up two awards for its own-brand Creamy and Nutty Gubbeen Cheese and its Simply Better Handmade Sticky Toffee Pudding Crown. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">Lidl collected a trio of three-star awards for its lamb, turkey and beef products, while Musgrave Retail Partners Ireland also garnered recognition for its ham and steak products. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">Meanwhile, Hannan Meats from Co Armagh took home no fewer than six three-star awards for its pork products.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">Lisdergan Butchery in Co Tyrone collected two three-star awards for its Wild Sika Venison French Rack and its Salt Aged Buttermilk Bone in Rind on Pork Belly. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">Antrim-based Our Brewery also won two three-star awards, recognised for its Low Land \u2013 Oud Bruin \u2013 Flemish Brown Ale and S\u00e9as\u00far \u2013 Mixed Ferm Saison. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">The full list of Irish one-, two-, and three-star recipients can be found <a href=\"https:\/\/gff.co.uk\/directory\/?type=product&amp;keyword=&amp;category=all&amp;country=all&amp;awards-scheme=all&amp;by-year=all&amp;by-rating=all&amp;per-page=50&amp;sort=asc&amp;judge-id=&amp;pg=1\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">here<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">While the Great Taste awards are run by the GFF in England, companies from anywhere in the world can enter. This year, entries came from 116 countries, with Armenia, Bermuda, Bolivia, Burundi, Ethiopia, Grenada, Libya, Mozambique and Sierra Leone entering for the first time. <\/p>\n<p>Irish three-star Great Taste Award winners<b> <\/b><\/p>\n<ul class=\"c-unordered-list paywall\">\n<li class=\"c-list-item paywall\">Aldi Ireland: Specially Selected Wild Sage and Sauteed Onion Sourdough Stuffing, Specially Selected Irish Black Angus Fillet Steak, Clonbawn Irish Sour Cream Full Fat<\/li>\n<li class=\"c-list-item paywall\">Aurivo Co-operative Society Limited: Connacht Gold Pure Irish Butter<\/li>\n<li class=\"c-list-item paywall\">Baronscourt Estate: Wild Sika Venison Loin<\/li>\n<li class=\"c-list-item paywall\">Boyne Valley Cheese: Boyne Valley Blue, Rathkenny<\/li>\n<li class=\"c-list-item paywall\">Carlingford Oyster Company Ltd: Carlingford No 3<\/li>\n<li class=\"c-list-item paywall\">Cashel Farmhouse Cheesemakers: Organic Cashel Blue<\/li>\n<li class=\"c-list-item paywall\">Coco Milis: 63% Dark Chocolate Croithl\u00ed Whiskey Infused<\/li>\n<li class=\"c-list-item paywall\">Coolattin Cheddar Ltd: Coolattin Mature Cheddar<\/li>\n<li class=\"c-list-item paywall\">Do Me A Flavour: Do Me a Flavour Truffle and Pink Peppercorn Butter<\/li>\n<li class=\"c-list-item paywall\">Dunnes Stores: Dunnes Stores Creamy and Nutty Gubbeen Cheese, Dunnes Stores Simply Better Handmade Sticky Toffee Pudding Crown<\/li>\n<li class=\"c-list-item paywall\">Green Pastures (Donegal): 25% Sour Cream<\/li>\n<li class=\"c-list-item paywall\">Hannan Meats Ltd: Guanciale, Buttermilk dry Cure Bacon Rack, Sugar Pit Buttermilk Bacon Rack, Sugar Pit Buttermilk Bacon Chop, Buttermilk Bone in Pork Chop, Buttermilk Boneless Pork Loin Joint<\/li>\n<li class=\"c-list-item paywall\">Honey Harvest: Ivy Blossom Honey<\/li>\n<li class=\"c-list-item paywall\">Irish Country Meats: Aldi Specially Selected Wicklow Butterfly Lamb Leg Fillet with Salt and Pepper<\/li>\n<li class=\"c-list-item paywall\">James Whelan Butchers: Heritage Cure Ham<\/li>\n<li class=\"c-list-item paywall\">Kepak Watergrasshill: Bright Meat Company Quality Beef with a lower carbon footprint 30 Days Matured Thick Cut Irish Beef Fillet Steak<\/li>\n<li class=\"c-list-item paywall\">Kettyle Irish Foods: Kettyle Salt Moss Dry Aged Pork Belly<\/li>\n<li class=\"c-list-item paywall\">Killadoon Milk: Killadoon Milk \u2013 Whole Milk<\/li>\n<li class=\"c-list-item paywall\">Lidl Ireland: Lidl Deluxe Irish Angus 3 Rib Roast on the Bone 40 Days Matured in Giftbox 2.5\u20133.5kg, Lidl Deluxe Lamb Rump Roast with Sea Salt, Garlic and Rosemary 400g, Lidl Deluxe Bronze Turkey Crown Dressed with Bacon Lattice and Butter 1.8kg<\/li>\n<li class=\"c-list-item paywall\">Lisdergan Butchery: Salt Aged Buttermilk Bone in Rind on Pork Belly, Wild Sika Venison French Rack<\/li>\n<li class=\"c-list-item paywall\">Molloy Honey: Molly Honey<\/li>\n<li class=\"c-list-item paywall\">Musgrave Retail Partners Ireland: Signature Tastes Unsmoked Irish Hampshire Ham Fillet, Signature Taste Slow Cooked Irish Hampshire Ham on the Bone with Light Muscovado Sugar and an Orange Blossom Honey Glaze, Signature Tastes Irish Hereford Cote de Boeuf Steak<\/li>\n<li class=\"c-list-item paywall\">Our Brewery: Low Land \u2013 Oud Bruin \u2013 Flemish Brown Ale, S\u00e9as\u00far \u2013 Mixed Ferm Saison<\/li>\n<li class=\"c-list-item paywall\">Silver Hill Duck: Silver Hill Duck Fillets<\/li>\n<li class=\"c-list-item paywall\">The Curious Farmer: Braised Beef with Blue Cheese Crumble Pie<\/li>\n<li class=\"c-list-item paywall\">The Curly Pigs: Coppa<\/li>\n<li class=\"c-list-item paywall\">The Farmhouse Bees and Trees Ltd: The Farmhouse Raw Ivy\/Heather Fusion Honey<\/li>\n<li class=\"c-list-item paywall\">Tom Hixson of Smithfield: Rosendale Wagyu Short Ribs<\/li>\n<li class=\"c-list-item paywall\">Wexford Home Preserves: Wexford Home Preserves Blackcurrant Jam<\/li>\n<li class=\"c-list-item paywall\">Wildwood Vinegars: Wild Blackberry with Winter Spices Balsamic<\/li>\n<li class=\"c-list-item paywall\">Woodcock Smokery: Woodcock Smokery<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Irish food producers have taken 46 three-star awards at the prestigious Great Taste Awards 2026. The three-star accolades&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":610181,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[73],"tags":[2189,79,19264,18,3276,19,17,19267,106869],"class_list":["post-610180","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-aldi","tag-business","tag-dunnes-stores","tag-eire","tag-food-production","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-lidl","tag-musgrave"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/117004056100519802","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/610180","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=610180"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/610180\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/610181"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=610180"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=610180"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=610180"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}