Butter lovingly made by hand at a Welsh centre of excellence has won a huge pat on the back from judges in a prestigious national competition.<\/p>\n
Bodnant Butter has just been awarded a coveted gold star in Great Taste 2015, which is acknowledged as one of the world\u2019s most important food and drink awards.<\/p>\n
The annual competition is organised by the Guild of Fine Food and judged by hundreds of food experts, including chefs, buyers, retailers, restaurateurs, food critics and writers who use blind tastings to make their selection.<\/p>\n
The distinctive gold and black Great Taste logo, which Bodnant Butter is now entitled to proudly display on its packaging, is a recognised stamp of excellence among retailers and consumers alike.<\/p>\n
The butter is made by traditional methods in the in-house dairy at Bodnant, using milk delivered daily from farmer Arfon Jones\u2019 herd of Friesian cattle, grazing in the Conwy Valley.<\/p>\n
Aled Rowlands, Bodnant\u2019s dairy manager for the past three years, said he was delighted for himself and his entire team of five staff to win the Great Taste accolade for their butter.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a very proud moment for us as this is the first award which our butter has won, and it\u2019s such an important one as it\u2019s recognised as a mark of excellence across the whole of the artisan food sector.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve been making the Welsh salted butter in the dairy since I came here and this is real recognition for our efforts.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen devising it, I came up with a modern take on traditional farmhouse-style butter and it\u2019s been gaining in popularity over the past couple of years.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe sell it at Bodnant, in our farm shop, tea rooms, the kitchens of the Hayloft restaurant and also use it as an ingredient in the cookery school.<\/p>\n
\u201cApart from that, we\u2019ve also started to wholesale the butter and it\u2019s now available in a growing number of farm shops across the region.\u201d<\/p>\n
Describing how Bodnant\u2019s award-winning butter is made, Aled said: \u201cWe use only the finest local ingredients and that\u2019s milk from a nearby dairy plus sea salt.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe milk comes direct from Tal y Cafn Ucha Farm just down the road from Bodnant which has a herd of 80 Friesian cows.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe take about 1,600 litres every other day and use most of the cream from it \u2013 amounting to around 250-300 litres a week \u2013 to make the butter.<\/p>\n
\u201cFifty litres of the cream at a time is churned for an average of 20 minutes to make a batch of approximately 25 kilos of butter.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe then separate the buttermilk from the butter and that is sold in our farm shop.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe remaining butter, once formed, is washed in cold water before the sea salt is added.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is then brought on to a table where it is worked by hand in the traditional way with wooden pats, formed into 250 gram packs and packaged using traditional grease-proof paper.\u201d<\/p>\n
Aled added: \u201cI think what makes Bodnant butter unique and has helped us win the Gold Star is it\u2019s amazing freshness and the fact that it\u2019s made by hand using traditional methods.<\/p>\n
\u201cOther producers have a more mechanised way of doing things but the way we do it gives it a fuller flavour, which is very much a taste from the past.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn fact, that was the comment made by lots of people who tried and bought our butter at the recent Royal Welsh Show – it did so well that we completely sold out of all our stock within the first couple of days.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople were saying that it reminded them of going to their mother\u2019s or grandmother\u2019s house to have bread and butter \u2013 and that\u2019s what makes us so proud of the product.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Great Taste judges agreed, and said in their glowing assessment of Bodnant Butter: \u201cIt is a beautifully finished butter with a lovely natural colour.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe loved the level of saltiness in it and it is really well balanced, with creaminess at the front of the palate.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is a lovely freshness to this butter that has a pleasant, salty spike.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bodnant managing director Chris Morton said: \u201cWinning a gold star in a competition as highly regarded as Great Taste is a fantastic vote of confidence in our butter, which is rapidly establishing itself as one of our best loved products.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis award is a sure sign of our continuing excellence and an independent vote of confidence in the traditional skills used in our dairy.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s brilliant when we win honours such as this which recognise all the dedication and hard work of our team.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have an awful lot of highly skilled people at Bodnant and this award, which is amongst the most respected in the industry, gives them the chance to really showcase their talents to a wider audience.\u201d<\/p>\n
He added: \u201cOur ability to keep on winning awards such as this also has a lot to do with the very close partnership we enjoy with local suppliers and the extremely high quality of fresh produce which is available to us here in the Conwy Valley.\u201d<\/p>\n
John Farrand, managing director of the Guild of Fine Food and Great Taste organiser, said: \u201cThe Great Taste logo is an established and trusted mark.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor producers it reflects their hard work and commitment to making superb tasting food and drink, and for consumers it is a recognisable, simple and clear logo that confirms they are buying the most outstanding products on the shelf.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bodnant\u2019s dairy also makes ice-creams that are sold in the centre\u2019s tearooms, Hayloft restaurant and the farm shop. Bodnant was named Welsh Retailer of the Year in the prestigious Farm Shop and Deli Awards – dubbed the industry\u2019s Oscars.<\/p>\n
Based in a lovingly restored building dating from the 18th<\/sup> century, the food centre employs more than 80 people.\u00a0 It received a fanfare opening by the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall in 2012 and\u00a0last year welcomed 250,000 visitors from around the globe.<\/p>\n More details at www.bodnant-welshfood.co.uk<\/a> or call 01492 651100<\/b><\/p>\n