Excitement is mounting ahead of this year’s Food Drink Devon Awards, taking place in October, as the organisation has proudly unveiled the shortlist of outstanding finalists.
Since entries closed in April, a panel of respected judges and industry experts has carefully judged an impressive number of submissions, sampling more than 350 products, visiting 115 hospitality venues, exploring 15 retail outlets and experiencing nine training schools, in the search for the very best that Devon has to offer.
The winners will be revealed at Food Drink Devon’s glittering black-tie awards ceremony on Monday 6th October at Sandy Park, home of Premiership rugby team the Exeter Chiefs.
Now in its 14th year, these highly regarded awards continue to shine a spotlight on the county’s exceptional food and drink sector. Categories are open to both members and non-members of Food Drink Devon and include the ‘Producer Awards’, ‘Retail Awards’, ‘Hospitality Awards’ and ‘Sustainability Pioneer Award’.
Commenting on the awards, Food Drink Devon board director, Jack Pickering, says: “We’re delighted to showcase the incredible talent and variety of this year’s award entries. From pioneering products to remarkable venues, Devon’s food and drink community has once again demonstrated its passion and excellence throughout the 2025 judging. It’s a true reflection of the dedication and creativity driving the industry. We’re immensely proud of the achievements of Devon’s food and drink producers, hospitality, retail and training venues and look forward to celebrating with them at Sandy Park on 6th October.”
Shortlisted businesses in the ‘Product Awards’ cover a huge variety of delights including sweet and savoury, meat, preserves, jams and chutneys, ales, ciders, wines and confectionery, as well as many others. Finalists are also automatically in the running for ‘Food Product’, ‘Drink Product’, ‘New Product of the Year’ and ‘Devon Wine of the Year’.
Some of this year’s product finalists include Alder Vineyard (Okehampton), Blakewell Smokehouse (Barnstaple), Chunk of Devon (Ottery St Mary), Figgy’s (Woodbury Salterton), Good Game Charcuterie (Topsham), Lily Farm Vineyard (Budleigh Salterton), Melting Whisk (Dawlish), Moonhoney Meadery (Kingsbridge), Sandridge Barton Wines (Stoke Gabriel), The Daily Knead (Totnes) and Voyager Coffee (Buckfastleigh) as well as others.
Food Drink Devon board director, wine writer and presenter, Susy Atkins comments on the drink entries; “We saw a record number of drinks entered into this year’s awards, and our panel of expert judges, myself included, were hugely impressed by the quality across the board. Devon’s drinks sector continues to be vibrant and inspiring and the standard of wines in particular this year was outstanding.”
In the ‘Retail Awards’, entries have been whittled down for the ‘Best Retailer’ and ‘Best Online Retailer’ ranging from top-end delicatessens to village stores. Some of this year’s finalists include Aune Valley Meat (Loddiswell and Modbury), J Andrew Shop (Woolsery), Devon Hampers (Lifton) and The Cheese Shed (Bovey Tracey).
The hospitality section of the awards sees establishments fighting it out in seven fiercely contested categories including ‘Best Fine Dining Restaurant’, ‘Best Restaurant’, ‘Best Hotel Restaurant’, ‘Best Pub’, ‘Best Café’, ‘Best Takeaway’ and new for 2025 ‘Best Bar’ which is judged on the drinks alone. Shortlisted in the restaurant and pub categories include Gidleigh Park (Chagford), The Dartmoor Inn at Lydford, The Journeys End Inn (Ringmore), Offshore Restaurant & Bar (Torquay) and voco Zeal Exeter as well as others.
Finalists in the café and takeaway categories include ember pizza (Exeter), Rafikis (Ashburton),The Kitchen at The Donkey Sanctuary (Sidmouth) and The Shed at Tors Inn (Okehampton), as well as others. Shortlisted for the ‘Best Bar’ category include, The Old Warehouse (Kingsbridge), Arcadia by Utopian (Exeter), Ivybridge Brewing Company, The Turf Hotel (Exeter) and Castle Inn (Lydford).
Finalists for the best ‘Training School’ award include CannDo Workshops at Ilfracombe Chocolate Emporium, Ground
Up Cookery School (Chudleigh), High Grange Devon (Axminster), Owens Organic Coffee (Ivybridge), River Cottage
(Axminster) and Salcombe Gin School.
Food Drink Devon’s ‘Sustainability Pioneer Award’ shines a light on businesses going that extra mile in their endeavours to be environmentally friendly. This year’s finalists include a broad spectrum of producers, hospitality establishments, retailers and training schools including Cottage Beer Project (Tiverton), Dartmoor Estate Tea (Ashburton), How Now Dairy (Totnes), Frobishers (Exeter) and Outside Devon (Bantham).
Covering food production, preparation, retailing, cooking and service, the Food Drink Devon Awards honour businesses demonstrating a consistent commitment to quality, sustainability, provenance, excellent customer service and support for their local communities and other local businesses. Each year judging for the awards is carried out by a panel of independent and unbiased experts including a number of celebrated names from the region. All results and winners are verified by an independent adjudicator, with entrants receiving the opportunity to benefit from invaluable product feedback provided by the panel.
Food Drink Devon Chair, Greg Parsons, comments: “Earlier in the year we were excited to announce a brand new award, the People’s Choice Award for the Best Hospitality Venue. For the very first time, we handed our judging of an award over to the people who matter most – our community of food and drink lovers to vote for their favourite venue whether it be a standout restaurant, a cosy pub, a charming café or an innovative street food business. The inaugural award received over 1,500 votes for over 100 different businesses. In these difficult times it is more important than ever that we support our local hospitality, retail and food and drink business.”
During the celebratory evening of Devon’s finest food and drink, along with the presentation of the awards, attendees will enjoy a drinks reception and three-course meal created using produce from Food Drink Devon members with all the fruit and vegetables provided by awards sponsor West Country Fruit Sales. At the awards’ ceremony, the dinner will be served by the current cohort of students at the Michael Caines Academy at Exeter College. To celebrate 30 years of Food Drink Devon and its continued growth and success there will be an ‘after show party’ with live music until 1am.
A special thank you goes to the Platinum sponsors Empire Services and Beacon Compliance and Gold and Silver sponsors DCW Polymers, West Country Fruit Sales, BDF Fresh Produce, Bays Brewery, Stephens Scown, Caterfood, inkREADible Labels, Hedgerow Print and PL1 Events.
Food Drink Devon is committed to increasing the county’s profile, both nationally and internationally and represents a membership of Devon’s leading food and drink producers, speciality retailers, hospitality and catering businesses.
Through working with like-minded businesses, together they showcase Devon as a county where the use of fantastic quality, seasonal and local produce is standard. The organisation and its members share a commitment to enjoy, inspire and discover more about food and drink. Look out for their green heart logo which is carried by over 380 producers and businesses across Devon.
For a full list of shortlisted producers please see below or visit www.fooddrinkdevon.co.uk/awards. For more information on Food Drink Devon please visit www.fooddrinkdevon.co.uk and follow @FoodDrinkDevon on Facebook and Instagram.
