- Wexford Home Preserves won its second consecutive 3-Star Great Taste Award for Blackcurrant Jam.
- The company was shortlisted for a Golden Fork Award for the first time.
- Only 2.0pc of 15,038 products achieved a 3-star rating.
- The company has amassed 127 national and international food awards.
- The business was founded in 1988 and employs 16 people.
Wexford Home Preserves has achieved a second consecutive 3-Star Great Taste Award for its Handmade Blackcurrant Jam and secured a first-ever place on the Great Taste Golden Fork shortlist. From 15,038 products entered into Great Taste Awards this year, only 2.0pc achieved a 3-star rating. The New Ross family business has now received five 3-Star Great Taste Awards overall and amassed 127 national and international food awards, including 67 Great Taste Awards, 27 World Marmalade Awards, 20 Blas na hÉireann Awards and 13 Irish Quality Food & Drink Awards.
The judges’ comments on the jam included “The jam delivered delicious wafts on the nose from the fruit. The consistency was perfect. The tartness from the currants sang out and left a wonderful, balanced, fruity sharpness that lingered.” The company also earned 2-Star accolades for its Handmade Seville Orange Marmalade, Handmade No Added Sugar Blackcurrant Jam and Handmade No Added Sugar Lemon & Lime Preserve, with 1-Star awards for its Clementine Marmalade, Strawberry Jam and Irish Red Onion Relish.
Founded in 1988 by Ellen O’Leary, the business began as a way of making use of surplus fruit from the family farm. Tom and Laura Sinnott took over in 2008 and have remained true to traditional recipes and production methods. Every preserve is still handmade in small batches in New Ross using the traditional open-pan boiling method and 100pc natural ingredients. The company supplies more than 350 retailers throughout Ireland and employs 16 people.
Laura Sinnott shared, “Receiving a 3-Star Great Taste Award is always an incredible honour, but to win it for the same product for a second consecutive year is something very few producers experience.”
John Farrand, managing director of the Guild of Fine Food, shared, “Great Taste is all about celebrating craftsmanship and dedication to well-sourced local ingredients and traditional, often simple production methods, which is more important now than ever.”
