Oatcakes and biscuits are golden crunch at awards
By Gillian Wylie
(From The Orcadian dated August 23, 2001)

James Stockan, director of Tods of Orkney, displays samples of the company's prizewinning produce.

Yet another Orkney firm has shown that Orkney fare is among the best in the country, with local biscuit manufacturers, Tods of Orkney, picking up three top awards in London last week.

The company, who make and sell a range of biscuits including Stockan's oatcakes, and the Islander brand of biscuits, scooped two gold awards and one bronze at the Great Taste Awards 2001 - dubbed the United Kingdom's Fine Food Oscars - in London, run by the Guild of Fine Food Retailers.

Orkney sausages, beers and cheeses are among other recent winners of awards at south competitions.

The biscuits - gold winners Stockan's thin oatcakes, and petticoat shortbread, and bronze winner Islander Lemon cookies - were judged on their flavour, as judges compared like-for-like in a blind tasting session.

Only the very best were given awards in over 120 different categories of food - many categories not even qualifying for awards - and Tods of Orkney lifted two out of a mere 12 gold awards to be given to Scottish companies.

Director, James Stockan, said they were delighted with the result.

"It's quite a success for the staff," he said. "We've never entered one of these competitions before, so we decided we'd do the show in London. These awards are announced after the show."

He explained that they had sent samples down to be judged in July.

Perhaps the most satisfying was the gold award for the company's popular thin oatcakes in the "Biscuits for Cheese" category.

"Oatcakes are such a Scottish product, but the fact that it was awarded in the Biscuits for Cheese category makes it all worthwhile," he said.

Their petticoat tail shortbread also took a gold award in the plain shortbread section, while one of the company's newest products, the lemon cookie in the Islander range, which has only been on shelves for six months, lifted a bronze in the flavoured biscuit range.

Mr Stockan explained: "Some sections don't get awards - only those they think deserve it, and they can give more than one in a class gold. It is judged on the merit of the product.

"It's good for Orkney to say we produce things at this sort of level. It's good for the staff, particularly because it's a taste award."

He added that the North of Scotland had done particularly well: "The Highlands and Islands have the most awards of any region."

Winners of Gold awards go forward to be considered for two major overall awards, Best in Scotland and Supreme Champion of 2001 in which the biscuits will be judged against the other 117 categories of food - be it salmon or sausages.

Judging of Best in Scotland should be complete by now but there has been no word as yet. The Supreme championship has yet to be decided, but company representatives, including Mr Stockan himself, will be travelling to the London show which is held on September 9-11 to exhibit their award winning produce.