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Angus businesses were some of the year’s biggest winners at the Scotland Food and Drink Excellence Awards.

Carnoustie restaurant and piemaker WeeCOOK scooped the coveted Scottish Product of the Year and Fish & Seafood Product of the Year for its best-selling Fishwife Pie.

Known for its unique blend of traditional and modern Scottish cuisine, judges praised the brand’s award-winning pies and dedication to utilising seafood sourced from local waters, such as Arbroath Smokies, Shetland Mussels and North Sea Haddock.

Family-owned Arbikie Distillery near the Angus village of Lunan, famous for its eco-friendly gin, won the Sustainability Award.

Budget supermarket Aldi was named best for Scottish and Confectionary Product of the Year for its Specially Selected Scottish Sicilian Lemon Shortbread Rounds.

Other winners were Dundee’s 71 Brewing which scooped the Beer & Cider Product of the Year Award for its Haze Halo 5.0%Hazt IPA, and Highland Game, also based in the city, won Meat Product of the Year for its ‘Hill to Plate’ venison, while Stirling’s Old Leckie Farm was named Primary Producer of the Year.

More than 500 people from across the food and drink industry attended the prestigious event in Glasgow on Wednesday night, hosted by Channel 4 television chef Simon Rimmer.

The Excellence Awards, which are in their twentieth year, comprised of 14 tasted awards and seven business categories and this year’s theme was ‘Sustaining Scotland. Supplying the World’.

Iain Baxter, chief executive at Scotland Food & Drink, said: “The Excellence awards celebrate Scotland’s food and drink producers, whose drive and dedication take the industry from strength to strength each year.

“The calibre of this year’s entries is a testament to the innovation and skill that are ubiquitous within our sector, setting new benchmarks for quality and creativity.

“Scotland’s food and drink sector is made up of more than 17,000 businesses, directly employs 129,000 people, and contributes £16 billion to the economy annually.”

Ashley Connolly, local buying manager for Scotland at Asda, who sponsored the event, headed up the judging panel for the tasted product categories.

She said: “This year’s judging was one of the toughest yet, with so many exceptional products on offer – a true reflection of the outstanding quality across the ondustry.

“Congratulations once more to all the winners.”

This article appeared in The Courier on 11 October 2024.