We do enjoy entering our preserves for judging in awards and have been lucky enough to produce many award winning preserves. We have listed all of our award winners here, with the most recent awards at the top of the page.
2019 Multi Award Winning Preserves
This year we added another four to our tally of Great Taste Award winning preserves.
Damson Extra Jam
This small blue fruit jam from the plum family is a perennial favourite with our customers. It is great as an accompaniment with cheese as well as with scones and cream.
Our Damson Extra Jam won one star in the Great Taste Awards 2019.
The judges said:
‘Lovely and glossy’ said a judge looking at this jar and the texture and taste lived up to the appearance. ‘I could eat that by the spoonful,’ said one judge. Full of fruity flavour and not too sweet. This jam maker knows what he/she is doing. A lovely colour and some good textures from the fruit. The judges enjoyed the acidity from the damsons and balance with the sweetness, the good depth of flavour and natural over all taste.
Seville Marmalade (Coarse cut)
Seville marmalade is a wonderfully bitter traditional marmalade, so it’s a real classic. Hand cut with chunky peel – just add toast!
Our Coarse cut Seville Marmalade won one star in the Great Taste Awards 2019.
The Judges Said:
Hearty pieces of rind are a welcome sight and add bite. Tartness and sweetness is well balanced while the bitterness that you would expect is there in abundance. The rind leaves a good length of flavour in the mouth. A soft set marmalade with generous peel. The peel is cooked well and there are pleasing orange bitter notes. The sweetness is not overpowering and overall this is a well balanced product. The texture of the peel is well judged, with just enough bite.
Chilli jam
Our range of chilli jams spans the Scoville scale. This is our entry level chilli jam that will suit most people who like a medium heat. It makes a great accompaniment to cheese, cold meats, salmon, burgers or you could also a tablespoonful to a stir fry or bolognese, for instance, to spice things up a bit.
Our Chilli Jam won one star in the Great Taste Awards 2019.
The Judges Said:
Fabulous aroma, good caramelization with subtle chilli and slight smoky notes coming through. Good balance of sweetness and tart, not too acidic with very subtle heat that judges thought would pair really nicely with cheeses. A jammy consistency and a rich red colour. Strong savoury notes on the nose. A mild heat to this jam, making it very approachable, balanced with a rich onion flavour. A fabulous product.
Carolina Reaper Chilli Jam
Now we go from one extreme to another. Carolina Reaper chilli jam is made from the official hottest chillies on the planet. This is not one for the novice, but if you can take the heat, then this chilli jam won’t disappoint.
The Judges Said:
There is the promise of heat here – on the nose never mind the description. The Reaper does come along with heat, but brings a fruitiness with it that balances along with the sweet caramel note. Rather well balanced in its intensity. The sweetness hits first, and it’s a very pleasant sweetness. Heat builds slowly to a crescendo. Certainly a product to use sparingly. But it does exactly what it sets out to do – a good, fighting chilli. Very well judged consistency.
2018 Award Winners
Trinidad Scorpion Chilli Jam
Chilli jam is a savoury jam, so is used to accompany savoury dishes. Our award winning Trinidad Scorpion chilli jam is made using Trinidad Scorpion (or Ghost chillies) and we also make other hot versions with Naga and Carolina Reaper Chillies for those who like even more heat! The Scorpion chilli has a sting in the tail. This is a versatile preserve that can accompany cheese, cold meats, fish or burgers equally well. Alternatively add a spoonful to a stew or stir-fry to spice things up a bit!
Our Trinidad Scorpion Chilli Jam won two stars in the Great Taste Awards 2018.
The judges said:
Yes this is hot, but not the purposeless blinding heat one might expect from a lesser product. A balanced sweetness and a heat that comes in gently and starts to build into a fiery delight make this sauce stand out above others of its kind. A good set, pleasant fruitiness, this has an intense heat but well balanced. Produced with skill and care.
Raspberry Extra Jam
We all love raspberry jam here at Jam Packed HQ. It doesn’t get much more traditional than this – I use my grandmother’s recipe, so when people say it tastes just like their Granny used to make it probably does! Raspberries have been grown in the UK for around 400 years. Raspberry jam is traditionally used as a Victoria sandwich cake filling (without the cream) and is also good in trifles and in jam tarts.
Our Raspberry Extra Jam won one star in the Great Taste Awards 2018.
The Judges Said:
Very attractive, vibrant colour. Good abundance of fruit seeds, true to the description this is a soft set preserve. A good, complex flavour, some sharp notes balancing out the sweet. A taste of British summer!
2017 Award Winners
In 2017 we added another two products to our collection of Great Taste Award winning preserves.
Naga Chilli Jam
We make our award winning Naga chilli jam with Naga, or Ghost chillies (Bhut Jolokia). We also make hotter versions with Trinidad Scorpion and Carolina Reaper Chillies for those who like even more heat! The Naga chilli has a wonderful sweet flavour. This chilli jam lulls your taste buds into a false sense of security before the full impact of the heat comes through. This is a versatile preserve that can accompany cheese, cold meats, fish or use it with a summer barbecue for instance.
The Naga chilli jam won one star in the Great Taste Awards in 2017.
The judges said:
Gorgeous bright colour and good consistency, with visible chilli seeds. Hot on the palate but not bitter. It has a great finish. If you like it hot, you will like this! As the description reads, this is a very, very, very hot Chilli jam. It has a nice set and good colour. This tastes like a sweet chilli jam and then the explosion kicks in. Does what it says on the jar.
Hot Chilli Jam
We make our hot chilli jam using Scotch Bonnet Chillies, but we also make an award winning milder version with medium red chillies for those who prefer a little less heat.
Our Hot Chilli Jam won one star in the Great Taste Awards 2017.
The Judges Said:
This is a punchy chilli sauce, tempered slightly with some sweetness. Judges liked the fact that this sauce carried both heat and flavour. Nice vibrant colour. Heat builds slowly, which works well rather than punching you in the face straight away.
2016 Award Winner
The annual Great Taste Awards run by the Guild of Fine Foods is the pinnacle of food awards, often known as the foodie “Oscars” and attracts 10,000 entries annually from around the world. Only one third of entries will receive one of the coveted 1, 2 or 3 star awards. 141 of the 3 star awards were made this year and 878 foods were awarded 2 stars.
Grapefruit Marmalade is a winner!
Jam Packed Preserves won a 2 star award for our grapefruit marmalade. This is our first Great Taste Award and we hope it will be the first of many. Only 12 marmalades were awarded 2 stars this year and no 3 star awards were given. So our marmalade is one of the top 12 marmalades in the world tasted this year and in the top 10.2% of all the foods entered.
The panel of judges included:
- TV chef and author, Valentine Warner,
- MasterChef judge and restaurant critic, Charles Campion,
- fifth generation baker, Tom Herbert from Hobbs House Bakery,
- and Great British Bake Off winner, Frances Quinn;
- food buyers from Harrods, Selfridges, Fortnum & Mason, Harvey Nichols and Waitrose and
- chefs including, James Golding, chef director of THE PIG Hotels, and Kevin Gratton, chef director of HIX Restaurants.
We were absolutely thrilled with the award, but even more so with the judges feedback. One table of judges commented:
There is “A great colour to this marmalade with its hearty chunks of peel. We really enjoyed this breakfast delight with its wake up call of grapefruit zing. Bring on the toast!” Other comments included: “There’s a delicate, appealing aroma to this beautifully shaded marmalade, leading to some lovely bright flavours. The peel is thin and delicate with good texture. Some found it a touch too sweet but others felt the bitterness and zestiness of the peel and of the jelly carried the sweetness well.
We have room to improve to achieve the coveted 3 star award. The judges’ feedback is helpful and has given us pointers on how to develop our marmalade. So don’t take their word for it – why not try this marmalade for yourself. We would love to have the feedback from you, our customers, as well!
2015 Award winning preserves
Wow! Four of our preserves won Chutney Awards in 2015 against competition from as far afield as New Zealand! A panel of chefs, restauranteurs, food critics and foodies judged these awards on taste alone. You can buy all of these award winning preserves in our shop so you can taste for yourself.
The award winners are:
