Producer scoops top honours

2:56pm Friday 19th September 2008

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A LYONSHALL drinks producer made it a double by winning big in this year’s Great Taste Awards before taking centre stage at Ludlow’s prestigious food festival last weekend.

Jo Hilditch launched a brand new aperitif at the three-day event – a limited edition framboise – fresh from becoming the only fruit wine company to claim two gold stars for its cassis in the 2008 taste awards.

Jo, who uses blackcurrants grown at Whittern Farms Ltd in the village, said: “I am thrilled our cassis has achieved so much in only the third year of production.”

And she said the Ludlow event was an important step ahead of plans to expand the Jo Hilditch range and bring the framboise, mixed using locally sourced raspberries, to a wider market next year.

“We have been looking to increase the range of alcoholic drinks we produce for a while but with the recent successes of our British cassis, and with continually rising sales, now seems to be a good time to test the market for our framboise,” she said.

The cassis was also highly recommended in the Quality Drinks Awards and a finalist in the Country Living and Waitrose Made in Britain Awards 2008.