Cullys among the Great Taste winners of 2020!

Cully's Craft Bakery in Arvagh has been awarded a 1 Star Great Taste award for their Traditional Buttermilk Soda by Great Taste, the world’s most trusted food and drink awards.

Cully's Traditional Buttermilk Soda was chosen from 12,777 products sent in from 106 different countries, with judges commendingthe gorgeous wheat aroma, combined with the well-balanced savoury yet sweet nuttiness made for a simple, Irish soda bread that tastes just great.

Recognised as a stamp of excellence among consumers and retailers alike, Great Taste values taste above all else, with no regard for branding and packaging. Whether it is cake, coffee, kippers or kombucha being judged, all products are removed from their wrapper, jar, box or bottle before being tasted. The judges then savour, confer and re-taste to decide which products are worthy of a 1-, 2- or 3-star award.

The panel of judges this year included; cook, writer and champion of sustainable food, Melissa Hemsley, cook, writer, stylist and voice of modern vegetarian cooking, Anna Jones, celebrated Spanish chef, José Pizarro, Kavi Thakrar from Dishoom, food writer and cook, Xanthe Clay, and baker and author, Martha Collison, as well as food buyers from Selfridges, Fortnum & Mason and Waitrose.

Cully's is a family run business supplying bread to the midlands region since its beginnings in 1953.

Following his father Barney, Brían Cully is the third generation of the Cully family to step into the Managing Director role in Cullys Craft Bakery.

This was the first year the local company entered a product into the Great Taste awards.

“To be honest, we were only looking for some feedback; given the vast amount of entries from all over the world, we never dreamed our Buttermilk Soda would be recognised on this International platform,” says Brían. “It’s given us a great boost and reinforces our belief here in the bakery – Traditional Baking, Better Tasting!’