Open to all businesses in the South West
Our annual Hospitality & Retail Awards scheme is open to all businesses in the South West. If you're passionate about the local food & drink you serve or sell, this is your opportunity to gain accreditation for your commitment to local sourcing.
Our Hospitality Awards are open to all cafes, dining pubs, bars, restaurants, fine dining establishments, casual dining establishments, takeaways, street food and drink vendors, bed & breakfasts and hotels.
Our Retail Awards are open to all farm shops, specialist retailers/delicatessens, butcher's shops and online retailers.
Members receive one free entry
If you are a Hospitality or Retail member of Taste of the West, you can enter one of the categories above FREE OF CHARGE.
Our Hospitality & Retail Awards are also open to non-members of Taste of the West. The entry fee is £160 (plus VAT), but you can save money and receive more benefits by becoming a Taste of the West member for just £155. Send an email to Caroline Cook or visit our membership page to find out more.
If you enter your business in November or December 2024, you'll be one of the first establishments to be judged in 2025 - so if you win an award, you'll have all year to promote your success.
What's involved?
When you enter, you'll be visited - without notice - by one of our judges. They'll be looking out for where your products or ingredients come from, how well you communicate local sourcing to your customers, the quality of service, and assessing the atmosphere, ambience and value for money at your establishment.
If you're serving food and drink, they'll also be judging the quality of that too! Afterwards, you'll receive an objective evaluation of their experience.
Fantastic marketing opportunities
If your business wins an award we'll send you a certificate, window sticker and a digital logo. We'll also promote you as an award-winning establishment on our website. Winning an award generates great press and media coverage for your business, and most importantly it conveys the quality of your establishment to your customers.
Our Award Winners
Frequently Asked Questions
No you don’t have to be a member to enter, but you might miss out on other benefits that our members are entitled to. For more information about the perks of membership check out our membership page or speak to a member of the Taste of the West team.
All Hospitality, Retail, Silver Producer and Gold Producer members are entitled to at least one free entry into our Hospitality & Retail awards.
It’s quick and simple to enter. Simply complete the online entry form telling us which category/categories you would like to be judged in.
If you have any queries please send an email to Lily: [email protected]
We have 13 different categories. Here's a list of them:
Café, Dining Pub, Restaurant, Fine Dining, Casual Dining, Street Food & Drink, Bed & Breakfast, Hotel, Bar, Specialist Retailer/ Delicatessen, Farm Shop, Butcher’s Shop & Online Retailer.
For more information about each category and for advice on which would work best for you please speak to a member of the team.
In some cases, yes.
For instance, Hotel + B&B or Farm Shop + Cafe are common double category entries.
Unless you are one of our Gold Producer members (who are entitled to 2 free entries) then yes, it does cost more for additional category entries. For non-members it's £160 + VAT per category entry; for members we offer it at the reduced price of £100 +VAT per additional category. For more advice about additional category entries simply send an email to Lily: [email protected]
Our hospitality & retail awards programme is open all year round. If you enter your business now, you'll get judged in 2025 and could potentially win a Gold, Silver or Commended 2025 award.
If you enter between 1 July 2024 and 30 June 2025 and you're one of our highest scoring Gold winners, you may be selected as a finalist and/or overall champion winner within your category for 2024/2025.
If you enter between 1 July 2025 and 30 June 2026 and you're one of our highest scoring Gold winners, you may be selected as a finalist and/or overall champion winner within your category for 2025/2026.
It varies depending on the category, but on the whole our judges will be looking at the extent of your local sourcing and how well you communicate this to customers; the quality of the food & drink you serve or sell; your customer service; and assessing the atmosphere, ambience and value for money or environmental impact (Street Food & Drink) at your establishment.
At the end of their visit our judge will present you with a payment voucher that discloses that they are Taste of the West judges. We will have sent you a copy of the voucher before they visit so you will know what to expect.
We aim to inform you of your result and feedback from our judges visit within 4 weeks of them having visited.
If your establishment wins a Commended, Silver or Gold award, we will send you a digital award logo which you are permitted to display on your website and/or any other marketing material. We'll also send you a certificate and some window stickers to display at your premises, plus you'll have the opportunity to purchase a wall plaque.
Taste of the West promotes all award-winning establishments throughout the year. We will also send you a full report from the judges, following their visit.
If your business is shortlisted as a finalist in your category, you will be notified via email. All the finalists in each category compete to be named Best in category which will only be announced at our awards ceremony. The No.1 Place to Go is chosen from one of the Best in Category winners and is also announced at our ceremony.
We announced a shortlist of finalists in each Hospitality and Retail category for 2023/2024 in August 2024.
The overall champion winners of each category, alongside our No 1 Place to Go for 2023/2024, will be announced at our awards ceremony in the Autumn of 2024.