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About

Buying fresh local food supports our micro producers, the environment and the local economy. The Taste Local Awards recognise those outlets that buy and sell local food. The Awards also celebrate those outlets that actively promote and support the local food network.

Outlets are nominated by you, the public. Those shortlisted will be judged by a panel of local food producers and the winners announced at a special ceremony in February.

The Taste Local Awards will return in 2023. Check back here for more information.

 

Awards Committee

  • John Corfield

    Sponsorship Manager

    Owner Skye Smokehouse
    Director Skye & Lochalsh Food Link

    Originally from Matlock Derbyshire, John settled on Isle of Skye in 2011. He has 10 years professional cheffing experience, including the Ritz Hotel and Gordon Ramsay - 3 Michelin Star, Hospital Road. Additionally, John has 10 years experience in recruitment, including running his own businesses in the hospitality and IT industries. He currently runs Scalpay View B&B and Isle of Skye Smokehouse.

  • John Coghill

    Event Manager

    Director Sligachan Hotel and Skye Connect

    John Coghill was brought up in and around Sligachan Hotel and has a passion for wild places and nature. John is also passionate about good hospitality. He is continually striving to improve his knowledge of the industry, and project that on to his place of work. John is a Director of Sligachan Hotel, having managed it for 5 years. He is also a Director of Skye Connect, the destination management organisation for the Isle of Skye. In both roles, John aims to improve the experience of both local residents and visitors to the Isle of Skye.

  • Luke Slater

    Communications Manager

    Director and owner Pelican Design

    Luke began at Pelican as an apprentice designer in 2003 and has since had a hand in every aspect of the company, becoming a director in 2011.

  • TBC

    Events Assistant

    Student

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Judges

  • Roger Whiddon

    Isle of Skye Fresh Produce Company

    Roger Whiddon is a professional horticulturist with an HND in commercial horticulture and 40 years’ experience in the sector. After many years working abroad for a very large multinational salad producer, he and his wife Fiona moved to Skye and established Isle of Skye Fresh Produce. They grow high quality culinary herbs and salad leaves and supply the majority of the top hotels and restaurants in Skye and Lochalsh.

  • Anthony Hovey

    Isle of Skye Vegetables

    Anthony Hovey set up Skye Vegetables in 2004 supplying daily fresh produce for the restaurants of Skye. He is also a stallholder at the Glendale Highland Market. Anthony also has many years of experience working with local communities throughout Africa and in North Korea for the UN, World Bank, and the UK’s Department for International Development. Anthony is also a Trustee of CIFA an African charity supporting nomadic pastoralists in Kenya. Anthony’s charitable work on Skye has included moving the local the Skye & Lochalsh Food Link van beyond its dependence on subsidies to a self-funding enterprise.

  • Glenys Maclean

    Isle of Skye Free Range

    Glenys Maclean and her husband Alastair set up Isle of Skye Free Range in 2012. Their family croft near Dunvegan, north west Skye, produces quality free range chicken, duck and beef. Glenys is well known to local businesses having worked for Isle of Skye Fudge and is currently in part-time employment at Skyeskyns and The Three Chimneys. During the summer Glenys supports the community as a stallholder and businesswoman at the Glendale Highland Market. In her spare time, Glenys is training towards a business degree specialising in accountancy.

  • Alistair Wilson

    Managing Director of Isle of Skye Distillers Ltd

    Alistair Wilson is Managing Director of Isle of Skye Distillers Ltd, creators of the First Gin Distillery on the Isle of Skye. Alistair has a background in the hospitality industry which he started as a KP in a local hotel in Portree, progressing through to management before leaving for Glasgow in 2007. He had been a General Manager in various hotels and restaurants from Glasgow to Aberdeen. So, he is very used to customer and taste expectations.

  • Rachael Jackson

    Vice Chairperson Skye & Lochalsh Micro Abattoir Project

    Rachael Jackson has lived and worked on Skye for the last 20 years, being an active participant in the drive for sustainable local food production, including the slow food and local provenance movements. A partner in Orbost Farm, Rachael has experience in the local meat production sector, as well as marketing, local partnerships and collaborative production. Rachael is the vice chairperson of the Skye and Lochalsh Micro Abattoir Project and has worked as the project officer for this project, bringing it to a shovel-ready stage. She also speaks at events and conferences about agriculture, local food production, infrastructure on a local scale and sustainability.

  • Nanette Muir

    Isle of Skye Sea Salt Company  

    Nanette trained as a Textile Conservator and established the Textile Conservation studio at the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich in 1982. She moved to Skye with her family over 26 years ago, working part time at the Archive Centre in Portree and has also been involved in community organisations such as SkyeDance and Portree Local History Society. Nanette and business partner Chris Watts established the Isle of Skye Sea Salt Company in 2011, with the ambition of producing a gourmet sea salt using an environmentally friendly process. As the only UK producer of solar evaporated sea salt, with no power used at the evaporation site, provenance and authenticity are at the heart of the business which has been recognised with a number of National awards.

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