The Organic Market is Booming

The Best of Organic Market (BOOM) Awards, which recognise pioneering organic products, remarkable retailers and restaurants and bloggers who promote organic food and living, were held earlier this month. The winners were chosen by an independent judging panel of well-known chefs, restauranteurs, food writers and specialists, celebrity foodies and consumer judges. Former chef and food stylist for Jamie Oliver, Anna Jones, was is year’s BOOM Ambassador.

Winners of the prestigious BOOM (Best of Organic Market) Awards were announced on 11 May at a glittering ceremony held at Borough Market Hall in London. This year’s winning products were as varied as they were delicious – ranging from organic wine to indulgent ice-creams, gourmet cheese, quality veg and ethical meat and poultry.

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. The winner is particularly exciting for those with a sweet tooth.

This year’s winners were:

Alcoholic Drinks – Davenport Vineyards Diamond Field Pinot Noir (East Sussex)

Pantry – Hodmedad’s British Carlin Peas (Suffolk)

Bakery – Doves Farm Organic Plain English Wholemeal Flour (Berkshire)

Confectionery – Original Beans Femmes De Virunga 55% Organic Milk Chocolate (Amsterdam)

Dairy, Yoghurt and Milk – Brown Cow Organics Strawberry & Vanilla Panna Cotta (Somerset)

Non-alcoholic Drink – Plenish Level 1 Cleanse (London)

Baby Food – Aldi Mamia Apple and Banana Breakfast (Nationwide)

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 – Daylesford Kerry Hill Shoulder of Lamb (Gloucestershire)

Soft and Speciality Cheese – Caws Cenarth Golden Cenarth (Cardigan, Wales)

Hard Cheese – Arla Foods Taw Valley Creamery – Waitrose Duchy Mature Organic English Cheddard (Nationwide)

Innovation – OMSCo Milk Suppliers Cooperative (Weston-Super-Mare, Somerset)

Food Blog – Rebel Recipes, Nikki Webster (www.rebelrecipes.com)

Rising Star – Barra Organics (Sheffield)

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)

Consumer Choice – Nation’s Favourite Organic Award – Booja-Booja (Norfolk)

Anna Jones 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 really tough – with almost 500 entries across all categories, the winning products highlight the innovation currently happening in organic food. According to the Soil Association 2016 Organic Market Report, the UK organic market is in its third year of steady growth and is set to break the £2 billion threshold very shortly.

This year’s BOOM category sponsors were Fyffes, OTB and Yeo Valley and sponsors of the award ceremony were Thomas Ridley Foodservice, Ocado and London & Scottish.