The owners of five delis are waiting to hear the results of a competition to find the Deli of the Year 2010.
Over 400 delis up and down the UK entered, or were nominated by their customers, and the five finalists have been warned that the final judging process is happening now.
Alongside delis from Suffolk, Manchester, Essex and Norfolk, there is a lone deli from Scotland and all five are being visited in secret, un-announced, and cloak and dagger too.
The panel of food experts will then reconvene to decide the eventual winner of the title. More than 11,000 votes have been received.
A panel of food journalists, buyers and experts in food retailing met at the Fortnum & Mason store in London to go through the entries and to identify the final list of just five delis, which will now be visited in secret to decide on the final winner of Deli of the Year 2010.
The winning Deli of the Year 2010 will be announced in early September at the UK’s leading Speciality Food exhibition where deli owners gather each year.
The winner’s prize will be an invitation to an olive growing area of Spain to take part in a special olive harvest and to learn more about olives from the experts on the ground, there will be a feast and an opportunity for the winner to bottle their own ‘first pressing’ olive oil.
There will also be a prize of a behind-the -scenes day at Fortnum & Mason in London learning how the world’s most famous food store works both behind the scenes and on the shop floor.
