The unique ‘Green Tea Chai’ pyramid range from Galway-based Solaris Tea has been shortlisted for the finals of the prestigious Irish Quality Food and Drink Awards. Solaris ‘Green Tea Chai’ was one of almost a thousand product entries which underwent three weeks of tough judging at the Dublin Institute of Technology’s School of Culinary Arts and Food Technology.
These prestigious accolades, now in their third year, set out to recognise excellence in food and drink product development from a wide variety of companies across Ireland. And now, Solaris Tea are in with a chance to win one of these awards at a ceremony hosted by Irish celebrity Chef Derry Clarke, on September 16 at the Round Room, Mansion House, in Dublin. A selection of shortlisted and winning products will then be showcased at the ‘Food & Hospitality Ireland’ exhibition on September 17 in Dublin.
Solaris Tea, who hand-blend the premium organic ‘Green Tea Chai’ in Galway, say they are delighted with the news: “We have spent many years perfecting the product range, so we are absolutely delighted that we have been shortlisted. We are incredibly proud of this blend, which has been a favourite of our customers over the years, and we look forward to the opportunity to share it with many more. The news that we are also now in-line to avail of the excellent development opportunities from the sponsors makes this dream one step closer to becoming a reality!”
Solaris ‘Green Tea Chai’ has been shortlisted for the prestigious ‘Small Producer of the Year’ award which is sponsored by Tesco Ireland, and will be judged by a team from the company. In addition to the award, the winner will receive a prize of €2,500 and a place on the next ‘Taste Bud’ supplier development programme being run in partnership with Bord Bia. The winning small producer will receive mentoring from the ‘Taste Bud’ team and participate in a seven-month programme of workshops.
The event is repeating last year’s trade-media partnership with Retail News magazine, and consumer-media partnership with Easy Food magazine.
Organised by Metropolis Business Media, group events manager Lara Newton comments: “We have been blown away with the incredibly high standard of entries this year. It has been a difficult job for our teams of expert judges but we are very proud of the shortlist we announce today. We know how powerful winning an award can be for our entrants and we are delighted for all our finalists. As former winners can testify, picking up an Irish Quality Food and Drink Award is a powerful marketing tool, with many winners using the awards’ logos on their packaging and in national press, television and outdoor advertising.”
