THREE businesses in Kirklees are celebrating success in the Great Taste Awards.

Moldgreen-based Shaws (Huddersfield) Ltd, Lockwood-based A J Pies and Pastries and Denby Dale ice cream maker Yummy Yorkshire were all winners in the annual competition run by the Guild of Fine Foods.

Pickle manufacturer Shaws was awarded a Gold Star for its Premium range Apricot & Ginger Chutney, which is part of the company’s new Heritage range to be launched shortly.

A J Pies and Pastries, which has won a string of awards, gained two Gold Stars – for its Steak and Ale Pie and its Pork and Stilton Pie.

And Yummy Yorkshire secured a Gold Star for its White Chocolate & Cherry Ripple ice cream, which it launched earlier this year.

The Great Taste Awards are acknowledged by producers, retailers and consumers as the definitive, independent benchmark for speciality food and drink. They have been described as the Oscars of the food world and the “epicurean equivalent of the Booker Prize”.

The 2012 Great Taste Awards saw more than 2,500 companies enter a total of 8,807 products, which were blind tasted by 350 independent experts comprising key buyers, retailers, chefs and food writers. Foods are judged by at least three different judging panels at three different venues over a period of 45 days.

It is the fourth consecutive year in which Yummy Yorkshire has won a Great Taste Award, bringing its total number of awards by the Guild of Fine Food to six.

Jeremy Holmes, co-founder of Yummy Yorkshire, said: “Winning a Great Taste Award is a major achievement for a small, family run business like ours as it is one of the most trusted benchmarks for fine food and drink.”

Laurel Gilbert, of Shaws (Huddersfield) Ltd, said: “We were really excited to find out that we received a Gold Star. We are really pleased as this is the new Heritage collection we are launching shortly and so to have an accolade at launch is fantastic!”