Surf Seeds wins Great Taste Award
Surf Seeds from Drumshanbo are celebrating after winning a prestigious Great Taste Award. Surf Seeds has been presented with a much-desired one star Gold Great Taste Award for its Sunflower Seed Mix.
The Great Taste Awards, which is organised by the Guild of Fine Food and often referred to as the Oscars of the food industry, is this year celebrating its 15th anniversary. A Great Taste Award is the authoritative, independent standard for Britain’s fine food sector: more and more consumers recognise the gold & black logo as the benchmark for independently proven fine food. However, winning a coveted Great Taste Award is much more than recognition for excellence; it is one of the most powerful tools to help grow business in the speciality food sector.
The awards generate huge business for those who achieve the gold standard. In just three weeks last September, the excitement created by the 2007 results increased sales to the tune of £640,000 in 524 Guild members’ stores. Over the past five years, they have generated over £2.6 million additional sales and 19,900 new listings. Last year’s Supreme Champion winner was a free-range pork pie from Walter Smith’s butchers in Birmingham. Before Walter Smith’s won the Supreme Champion award, pork pies made up less than 1% of their sales but they now represent over 10% and their pies are now sold through Selfridges.
The Great Taste Awards judging standards, devised by the Guild of Fine Food, are the most rigorous in the UK. Every entry is blind tasted by teams of experts. By the time it earns gold, it will have been assessed by at least three different teams. All the judges’ comments are made available to producers. If no gold is awarded, they need to know how and why. This year’s judges include Alex James, farmer, journalist and bass player with Blur, Mark Hix, the chef’s chef, Charles Campion from Evening Standard & The Independent, Tom Parker-Bowles of UKTV Food’s Market Kitchen and national food journalist Fiona Sims.
Bob Farrand of the Guild of Fine Food, said: “These awards have been running for 15 years now and are a recognised mark of excellence that consumers can trust and rely on.
“The winning products have been through a thorough judging process and we are able to assure consumers that the Great Taste Award logo, which all award winners can use, signifies genuine, proven fine food. It’s not just a supermarket premium marketing slogan that bears almost no relation to the quality of the food in the packet.
“The Great Taste Awards reflect what is happening in the fine food halls, delicatessens and farm shops throughout the UK and during judging we tasted some fantastic gourmet delicacies from all over the world.”
The concept of the surf seed project is to create iconic packaging, and sell healthy whole food products with no additives. The name and branding is to associate itself with surfing, youth, outdoor, fun, health and fitness.
The initial goal of the project is to create iconic packaging and start trading in the Irish market and prove we have a viable product. At present both Independent Irish Health Foods and BR Marketing are the Official Distributors in Ireland. Superquinn and Dunnes Stores have indicated that will stock Surf Seed Products.
So Far there are a range of 3 products in the Surf Seed Range
Sunflower Seed Mix Gold Medal Winner
Sunflower and Pumpkin Seed Mix
Sunflower and Blueberry
The second stage would be to bring product to the far bigger market in the UK.
And finally to find international trade partners to market and sell our product worldwide.
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Tim Rooney, managing director of Surf Seeds, said: “We are delighted with this award. Winning a Great Taste Award recognizes the craft and dedication that goes into making superb food. Plus this award is an independent verification of the great taste and wonderful quality of the new Surf Seed Product Range.”
Food critic Charles Campion comments “This competition has really come of age, and year by year the standard of entries gets higher and higher. To win a gold at the Great Taste Awards is a terrific achievement.”
April 9th, 2009 at 10:21 pm
Just seen your presentation on dragons den! As a mum of two I cannot wait to see surf
Seeds in my local store!!!
Best of luck
April 10th, 2009 at 1:26 am
Hey great job on the show tim!!!!! love the website
April 10th, 2009 at 8:41 am
As a small business my self love to see this. Well done on your product and your energy. Fab good news story and can’t wait to purchase. well done.
April 10th, 2009 at 8:54 am
Tim & team,
saw you on dragons den last night, I love your product (and have had it on my shelf in “just Health”, Ennis road, limerick!)since i saw it at Rude Health in september. Congrats with the award.Pity you lost the surf dude on the site, now he was “way past cool”
yvonne
April 10th, 2009 at 10:26 am
Fantastic … product looks great. Website is so cool.
April 10th, 2009 at 8:04 pm
Hi All
Thank you for all the support tim…
April 10th, 2009 at 8:04 pm
it works
April 10th, 2009 at 8:08 pm
I am not the best at this website thing but I have 2 supporters who are Barra & Dillon, They have been working hard on the site all week and they got the night off.We will get everything sorted over the weekend pay pal / realex etc. just go to the beach and chill for the weekend and get back and buy next week thank you Tim..
April 10th, 2009 at 9:42 pm
Tim
Great success story! Are the products on sale in the Galway/Athlone area?
Best Wishes Martin
April 13th, 2009 at 3:24 pm
Hi Tim,
Well done on your (usual) fantastic performance on the Den. As soon as I heard that voice it was like I was transported back to the time we spent developing those breads and changing the bakeries in Superquinn. Maybe our meetings were of some benefit to you!
Anyway I’ld like to wish you all the best with your seeds and to say why don’t we meet for a coffee sometime to catch up.
Take care,
Damien.
April 13th, 2009 at 7:12 pm
The family were very taken with your presentation on Dragons’s Den and wish you all the best in the future.
We thought you made the right decision as to whose offers of investment you took. This was confirmed to us when then very next day we walked into our local Insomnia (Greystones).
Your product was a great talking point and seemed to be walking off the shelf. We bought some that day; enjoyed them and have bought some more since.
Well done.
April 16th, 2009 at 3:40 pm
Tim,
Good luck with a really nice product!
I just bought one today and on the back of the container it says “Nutritional information available on our website”. I can’t find it!
April 17th, 2009 at 9:40 am
hey, have your pumpkin&sunflower seed mix…..Just wondering, after eating the packet, i then made my own mix of raisin, carnberries, hazlenuts and almonds……i think this could be another area to expand into in time, as the addittion of dried fruit to the mix would be really nice.
Thanks
well done, i really like the product.
April 21st, 2009 at 12:46 pm
Hey Tim,
Love the product, are they in shops in Kerry anywhere? I got mine whilst travelling and love them.
Keep up the good work!
Best Wishes
April 22nd, 2009 at 2:08 pm
Tim & team,since your appearance on D.D., sales have really increased and people are really taking notice of the seeds. I have them sitting on the counter and 80% of people now see them and usually the kids!! Mums are buying 3/4 packs at a go.!
Keep up the great work, maybe you should put together a poster.we made our own little one with surf seeds on them!
yvonne (Just Health, Limerick)
April 23rd, 2009 at 1:43 pm
Hi there
can you post a list of stockists around Ireland? I got them in Wilde & Greene, Milltown, Dublin 6 but I’m not there often.
congrats on the product!
M
May 1st, 2009 at 10:25 pm
Saw your product today in Insonmia in Drogheda and wanted to buy a pack to try but didn’t because there was no calorie/fat information on the pack. It said to visit website for info but I can’t see it, so let me in on the nutrition secret and I may go back to buy!
May 7th, 2009 at 8:33 am
Tim – the seeds are fantastic!! Bought my first pack today – however was disappointed that the nutrional value is not on the pack ( I thought this was a must!) and when I “surfed” the website , to see how many calories I can consume of these , I can’t find it either – would really appreciate if you could direct me , as I’d like to be a fan , however without the calorific value , I’d have to say “I’m out” !
May 17th, 2009 at 3:20 pm
hey all,
just tried your sunflower seed mix, i have to say i was a bit reluctant as they
look strange but they taste delicious would highly recommend them.
Patricia…
May 27th, 2009 at 2:58 pm
Hi Tim, Great product – just had my first pack today! But agree with Cindy on the lack of nutitional information on pack??
May 30th, 2009 at 9:34 pm
Hi,
I bought some seeds at womans show and although they are really yum I need to know calorie and saturated fat content before I would buy them again or recommend them to anyone else. I thought this info was required by law anyway? And yes, the site has lots of nutritional info but it doesn’t tell me the important stuff!
Best of luck with it.
Jackie
June 3rd, 2009 at 10:30 pm
Got some of your seeds at the womans world show. I have had a bag of seeds in my press for the past year, but I’ve devoured my surf seeds already! The odd chocolate coated seed really helps! I’d love to buy more, but the fact that there’s no nutritional info on the packs is a a bit suspicious. The info on the website is a bit long-winded and too general, I’d prefer the standard table that comes on every other food packet. Looking forward to seeing them in shops with nutritional info, and -since I’m being demanding, a more environmentally friendly packaging. I’d be open to buying “top up” bags for my funky surfboard shaker thing, cos they are a bit dear. I presume most of the cost is for the packaging? Best of luck anyway!
June 5th, 2009 at 10:54 am
Hi Lisa, thanks for the comments. A standardised nutrition info panel is on its way to the nutrition section of the site asap. The panel isnt required on the packaging as yet but will be on the future editions when we re-do our labels. Also the plastic is a PET plastic which is recycleable but we would much prefer you to re-use them. More info on refill packs towards the end of the summer =)
Really glad you like the Surf Seeds!
June 5th, 2009 at 7:01 pm
Hi Tim, i love the surf seeds, they are in my packed lunch every day and now the whole office are buying them. They are quite hard to find in the shops in south tipperary.
Tim there is no calorie count on the box – it would be nice if you could or is it possible to do so ?
Best of luck with them – i’l keep buying on line it suits me.
regards Deirdre
June 10th, 2009 at 1:24 pm
hey dudes love the new nutritional section it totally rocks!!!!
June 25th, 2009 at 4:55 pm
Just like to say I tried your surf seeds today thet were really rwally tasty, I’M not gonna go on about nutritional values like everyone else but i’d like to say that the three stores that have the seeds in my town (they only have the sunflower seed mix and I would love to try the others but can’t find them anywhere.
June 25th, 2009 at 5:37 pm
Thank you so much…they are lovely!!!
June 28th, 2009 at 7:46 pm
Hey Man,
You need to sort out your ‘Contact us’ section of the website.
July 29th, 2009 at 5:39 pm
Hi,
I really love your product but I think it is way too expensive. It’s retailing at 2.75 in our local Centra. I think a retail price of 1.25 is a reasonable price for this product. It would be a shame to price yourself out of business, especially at the moment. Go for volume!
Is there any way you could reduce the cost by maybe trying some cheaper alternative packaging?
Regards,
Ear
July 30th, 2009 at 4:41 pm
Am I the only one to find opening the box a real pain need to sort out the flip top cap. Nice seeds tho
August 2nd, 2009 at 8:59 am
Thanks for the comments guys, much appreciated. We’re still a work in progress but you’ll be happy to hear we have been taking all your suggestions on board. A few such are included on our new batch of containers that have easier opening and nutritional values on them. Also our little lunch box version should be on its way soon.
Also we will be doing a little updating of the website soon which we hope you like. Its gonna be fun
Keep your suggestions and comments coming!
-Tim
August 5th, 2009 at 10:33 am
Great product, truly delicious! I had a little trouble opening them though, the lid was so tight – I ended up with a seed explosion! Looking forward to the refill packs – the container is so sturdy it’s a shame not to reuse it.
August 22nd, 2009 at 10:55 pm
How do you responed to clamis that surf seeds are awesome?
Please response soon
The Duck-Destroyer
August 26th, 2009 at 10:28 pm
i realy love surf seeds (sunflower & pumpkin) mix so much that i have travelled far and wide to get them in the last two months ive had over 29packs i am a surf seed addict althrough when i see them i have to buy 3 or more packets at a time because the shops where i live dont sell them keep up the good work and the best of luck for the future
August 27th, 2009 at 8:27 am
Thank you so much Caitriona, its great to hear to hear people saying that!!! =)
August 29th, 2009 at 6:38 pm
This is a great product. Of course there are rivals out there but yours is just novel enough to make it. The aperture on the container is far too small however and has turned many of my nail-less friends off the product. Also, the blueberry range should be withdrawn as it tastes repulsive. The sunflower mix is more than enough although relatively high in calories. I think you’re onto a winner with this. No need to exaggerate the coolness and the surfing. You yourselves are not cool and not eveybody surfs, including me. In fact surfers would probably not buy this product. I have to order online as its availability is just too erratic. Sometimes the local shop has them, sometimes they don’t, but they rarely know the product by name when I ask for it. If you market this properly, it could be a big success.
September 23rd, 2009 at 9:09 am
Max Johnson and Andrew Crowe are the best surf seeds sellers!
) Cois Farraige kilkee 09! Therese,Sarah and Kate xx
September 24th, 2009 at 7:38 pm
i luv the surf seeds but der really hard to find , der not in alot of shops and i would def buy them if they were !!!! i think they’re really handy to just pop in your handbag for a tasty snack when your hungry !!!! i really luv surf seeds !!!!!!
September 25th, 2009 at 9:10 am
Hey Erin we are endeavouring to make them as widely available as we can =)
If you can make it to Insomnia they always have them on the counter, also places like Londis or Centra or Topaz usually have them too.
December 1st, 2009 at 11:55 am
My kids (4,4,10) absolutely love these! Thanks for helping get healthy, nutritious food into them – wish they were around 30 years ago and we might have a better attitude to nutrition in Ireland with lower diabetes, obesity levels today!
December 9th, 2009 at 11:30 am
Thanks for the lovely comment Sarah, glad we could do our little part for your nutritional needs!
April 27th, 2010 at 11:30 am
I have just bought my first pack of sunflower seed mix, these are an insperation for snacks and so tasty, I love them.