After receiving a state prize for my stone fruit and pears I (Ant from Tellurian Fruit Gardens) progressed to the national round of judging for the Delicious Produce Awards, where I then received a gold medal! It’s quite challenging choosing pieces of fruit that will be at ideal ripeness at the time of judging, plus the judging season does not alight with some of what I would say are my better varieties. So, honestly I didn’t have high hopes but I was pleasantly surprised to get notification of the award a few weeks ago. A significant portion of the credit should go to my predecessors, lessors and mentors Grow Great Fruit.
Here’s the full media release:
‘Delicious’ today revealed the full list of the 2020 delicious. Harvey Norman Produce Awards Gold Medallists, with 67 producers receiving medals across Dairy, Paddock, Sea and Earth categories and three National Finalists in the Outstanding Farmers’ Market category.
Given the Covid-19 crisis, the State Winners’ produce from the Earth, Dairy, Paddock and Sea categories were tasted in isolation over a three-week period by the national judging panel to decide the 2020 Gold Medal Winners. ‘Delicious’ Editorial Director Kerrie McCallum said:
“Judging our delicious. Harvey Norman Produce Awards Gold Medallists may have looked a little different this year,
but it definitely didn’t affect the spirits of the National Judges who were as excited as ever about the outstanding produce. Normally our National Judges would all be sitting around a table to taste the country’s best produce but the Coronavirus pandemic challenged us to come up with a new plan.
“I thank our State Winners who did everything they could to get their award-winning produce to our Sydney-based judges: Neil Perry, Matt Moran, Peter Gilmore, Danielle Alvarez, Colin Fassnidge and Guillaume Brahimi to judge solo in isolation. Every judge said they missed being able to sit around the table and share opinions, but postponing the process was never an option. For many producers, this year has been tougher than ever, following drought, bushfires and flood, then scaling back production due to Covid-19, so we were determined to find a way to continue because there’s never been a more important time to support our producers. Congratulations to this year’s Gold Medallists. The produce they delivered during a time of unprecedented change showed just how hard Australian farmers, fishermen and artisans work at their craft.”
“Honestly, this year I think I tasted the best pear I’ve ever eaten“
MaTT Moran
National Judge Matt Moran said:
“I absolutely adore every part of judging the awards. This year, I definitely missed being around the table with all of the National Judges, especially Alla Wolf-Tasker – we have a lot of heated moments and a lot of laughs! Honestly, this year I think I tasted the best pear I’ve ever eaten and the most amazing potatoes. And I loved the dried figs; they were a standout for me. It all just makes me so excited.”
The 2020 National Trophy Winners will be revealed in October, including: Producer of the Year; Best New Product; In the Bottle; Outstanding Viticulturist; Outstanding Region; Outstanding Farmers’ Market; Outstanding Innovation; Outstanding Design; the Maggie Beer Award for Outstanding Contribution to Australian Food; the Unearthed Next-Gen Chef Award; Outstanding Native Producer; Outstanding Artisan; and new award, Unearthed Next-Gen Producer.
The full list of the 2020 delicious. Harvey Norman Produce Awards Gold Medallists and Outstanding Farmers’ Market National Finalists are listed on delicious.com.au