True Story: Artisan Biscuits win Best New British Product at ISM

Ashbourne-based Artisan Biscuits’ ‘True Story’ Organic Dark Chocolate & Chilli Crunchy Cookie has won the Food from Britain Best New British Product Award at ISM, the international sweets and biscuits fair.

The ‘True Story’ range, which comprises six all-butter organic biscuits in a range of flavours – including Organic Dark Chocolate & Chilli, Organic Fig and Oat and Organic Spelt and Hazlenut - beat off stiff competition from the twenty other entrants, including Eat Natural’s Lunchies children’s fruit and nut bar and Lees of Scotland’s Strawberry Light Meringue Bar.

The Best New British Product Award identifies the product ‘most likely to succeed’, based on its originality, product quality and suitability for its target audience. The quality of entries impressed Judges Hans Strohmaier, Managing Director of international confectionery organisation Sweets Global Network, Angus Kennedy, Managing Director of international confectionery magazine Kennedy’s Confection; and Garry Browne, Managing Director of Australian marketer and distributor Stuart Alexander, who visited the shortlisted entries to taste the products and meet the suppliers.

Angus Kennedy commented: “Overall the quality and the creativity of what we saw from the British pavilion were excellent, far above what we had expected.  The children’s products were some of the most innovative we’ve seen, and I should know - I’ve got four kids under the age of eight! It really opened our eyes to how British companies are leading the way in innovation.”

Explaining the thinking behind Artisan Biscuits’ victory, Angus Kennedy said: “True Story’s Dark Chocolate and Chilli biscuit stood out as a great proposition. The biscuit market is notoriously difficult to excel in. True Story is different, original and has a good chance of carving its own niche in a very competitive market.”

Stephen Hodgetts, Managing Director of Artisan Biscuits, was delighted at True Story’s victory. “We want to prove that virtue can be indulgent, that organic consumers don’t have to wear a hair shirt. Our aim in creating True Story was to make a biscuit truly worthy of the name organic, which combined luxury with great taste and ‘good for you’ ingredients. This is an organic range that should be eaten at home by consenting adults over 21!”

ENDS

Notes for Editors

1. Food from Britain (FFB), the international market development network which works in over 30 international markets, helps some 700 British food and drink companies each year to build their international business.  For further information visit: www.foodfrombritain.com.        

2. For more information about Artisan Biscuits, visit www.artisanbiscuits.co.uk

29 January 2008